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Between the Brackets: a MediaWiki PodcastBrent Laabs🕑 1 hour 35 minutes Brent Laabs (user name Labster) is chair of the board and acting president of the WikiTide Foundation, the nonprofit foundation that runs the wiki farm Miraheze. Links for some of the topics discussed: Miraheze WikiTide Foundation Between the Brackets Episode 31: John Lewis All The Tropes wiki Miraheze-WikiTide merger FAQ Requests for Comment/Reorganization of Miraheze (December 2023) Requests for Comment/Miraheze's name and branding (April 2024) WikiForge DynamicPageList3 MediaWiki extension Miraheze finance page Miraheze donation page 2024-08-141h 35
The Labster Podcast“I see my mother in all my students here”In this episode, our special guest Dr. Edgardo Sanabria-Valentín shares the story of how his mother’s experience as a first-generation college student shaped his approach to teaching biology and continues to inform his leadership as Associate Director of PRISM, the Program for Research Initiatives in Science and Math at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a Hispanic-Serving institution within the City University of New York (CUNY). You’ll hear exactly how PRISM intentionally “meets students where they are” by actively recruiting undergraduate forensics students for faculty mentoring, career research, and professional development opportunities. PRISM increases student persistence and completio...2023-06-0127 minThe Labster PodcastHow Bonnie Nieves teaches science through the lens of social, emotional, and behavioral instructionIn this conversation, Bonnie Nieves, M. Ed., shares how she “shrinks” class sizes, differentiates instruction with creative grouping, and guides her students to use ChatGPT prompts as a tool to track and summarize their research in a way that helps them to flesh out their own, unique ideas. This episode is Part Two of SJ’s conversation with Bonnie Nieves, M. Ed., a biology teacher at Nipmuc Regional High School in Massachusetts and author of the book Be Awesome on Purpose.2023-05-1820 minThe Labster Podcast“Letting go” to lead a student-driven biology courseIn this conversation, we meet Bonnie Nieves, M. Ed., a high school biology teacher who has taken an evidence-based, iterative approach to optimize student learning outcomes without increasing her time spent outside of class. Listen as Bonnie tells the true story of the aha! moment that followed her painful realization that her students were signing out bathroom passes more often when she was talking than at any other time during class. Equipped with nothing more than a gradebook, student feedback, and her own observations, Bonnie put her hypotheses to the test and experimented with student-driven, self-directed learning. You’ll hear ev...2023-05-0422 minThe Labster PodcastDr. Bruno Poellhuber’s research on how to motivate and engage students with LabsterWhat is the “best” way to teach with Labster simulations, according to the data? Dr. Bruno Poellhuber wanted to find out. Bruno is a professor of education and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Montreal. Partnering with co-researchers at the University of Montreal and six other colleges, he ran an experiment with 6,000 students and 39 instructors who participated over the course of three terms. Bruno’s team noticed the most successful instructors leaned into using tools based on the pre-briefing, briefing, integration, and debriefing phases from the Jeffries model of teaching with simulation in the nursin...2023-04-2023 minThe Labster PodcastTeaching high school biology as a digital pioneerMeet Matthias Polte, the first public high school teacher in Germany to teach with Labster. Motivated by his belief that students need to learn more than just facts, Matthias sought out tools and techniques that would allow his students to build 21st-century skills like creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. In this episode, Matthias tells how he spent years advocating for funding to provide at-school internet access for every biology student at RHG Krefeld. Today, Matthias is successfully teaching with digital learning tools and active learning strategies that help his students understand science at a deeper level - and training...2023-04-0632 min
Scaling So Far... with Roxana Dobrescu, Chief People Officer at LabsterIn series 3 episode 8 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Roxana Dobrescu, Chief People Officer at Labster.
Labster is reimagining the future of education by building the world’s leading platform for virtual labs and science simulations.
Trusted by over 2,000 institutions, Labster is used at the California State University, Harvard, MIT, and Exeter University amongst others internationally. Their vision is to make science education accessible to any student with an internet connection and a laptop.
Hot off the back of hitting their 5-million student milestone, Labster has just this month (April 2022) raised $47 million in new...2022-04-1242 minThe Labster PodcastBiotech in Action Encourages High School Students to Invent a Better FutureMemorable Moments: Nia: [00:04:32] We tell students about a neurodegenerative disease, and this year we focus on Alzheimer's disease, which is a really terrible and prevalent disease that more and more students are coming in contact with over the course of their life. And then we challenge them to do research on their own neurodegenerative disease and really identify opportunities where invention could happen. Alex: [00:08:30] So we use Labster in Biotech in Action and we'll tell the students this is kind of like a video game meets science and it's going to be really cool. And it...2022-03-2925 minThe Labster PodcastHow to prepare science students to go out and change the worldMemorable Moments:Lori Banks [00:03:11] I think the biggest part of that is just them not choosing to do something because of a negative interaction that they've had with the professor, which has unfortunately been more common than it should be with those of us in previous generations where somebody says, 'Well, you know, well, your kind of people don't do that 'or 'that's not really a woman thing’ or whatever, both of which I have personally heard.Lori Banks [00:03:54] In my research, we work on novel antiviral development, which is obviously very needed right now. But the bigger th...2022-03-0721 minThe Labster PodcastWhat’s the value of a liberal arts education to future scientists?Memorable Moments:Dr. Lori Banks: They're definitely learning the nuts and bolts of the chemistry, the biology, the physics and the math, but in more of an application or problem-based learning kind of way rather than just these are the things that we need you to memorize because we said so. Dr. Lori Banks: You do need to consider what are you sending these people out into the world with now that you've granted them this bachelor's degree, what are they actually really going to be able to do with it? And do they have the s...2022-01-3122 minThe Labster PodcastCoaching for High School Science TeachersMemorable Moments:Liz: [08:15] The teachers are able to determine what their growth area is, and each time that we meet, we really looked at making these small shifts really for big rewards at the end around their practices Liz: [09:17] The great thing about it is that the teacher is in the driver's seat. So when you're thinking about those shifts that you want to make in your classroom, you have a thought partner to support you. Liz: [12:33] Any time that I lead any of my sessions with teachers, I'm always relating it back to my classroom an...2021-12-0624 minThe Labster PodcastHow to Be a Faculty MentorMemorable Moments:Lucia: [03:30] Fundamentally, I think it's an ethical duty, it's a moral imperative to make science shared with everybody. And that is not easy. Lucia: [06:52] Science has to be accessible not just to my cell bio students or cancer bio students, or to surgery residents or to med students. It has to be accessible to everybody. Lucia: [17:35] Mentoring is shepherding, but letting the person experience. Give advice but not impose, listen and give an opinion, and but don't be impositive in your advice. And always, always, always tell the truth. Luc...2021-10-1226 minThe Labster Podcast"Equity and Representation in STEM Education (Part 1) "Memorable Moments:Cord [00:03:09] And it just got me so excited and fired up to be around other scientists that looked like me. They were excited about chemistry. And so it just made me decide to say, you know what, I'm going to Jackson State University. Cord [00:05:17] She said, ‘don't let your title [make you] forget who you are as a person and forget where you came from.’ So I think going to [an] HBCU as a student and also working at Fisk gave me a better perspective, better appreciation of Black culture, and learning the histo...2021-08-3018 minThe Labster Podcast"Equity and Representation in STEM Education (Part 2) "Memorable Moments:Brianna [00:02:52] I feel as if the universities and colleges can definitely show you where this degree can take you in different jobs. There's so many other things that you can do with your degree. And Fisk has a roadmap for us that shows us the different jobs and different career paths that we can take with this degree, with your chosen degree, which is really cool. Brianna [00:03:56] Fortunately, I've had teachers like that say, 'you want to be a doctor? I got you. Here are some resources. Here, I can help.' And F...2021-08-3018 minThe Labster PodcastThe Tool is Not Your CourseMemorable Moments: Karen:[00:05:15] Faculty need to know much sooner how students are doing in the classroom. … If we don't address those learners very early, probably before three weeks, their trajectory downward cannot be reversed. Karen: [00:10:45] You're having students check in once, twice, three times a week, but you're not having them actively show you something that they're learning … But we need to know a lot more at the granular level about their learning behavior rather than assuming that their demographic information is going to predict how they do in the classroom. SJ: [00:11:40] I'm a first...2021-07-3125 minThe Labster PodcastResearch on Labster in the ClassroomMemorable Moments:Melody: [06:19] I noticed outside my little bubble, how much women are struggling to be heard and how their work is not recognized as much as a man's work is. And that's when I started to do my part.Melody: [07:46] It has got to be a mentorship in every class that we teach, that you tell people, 'hey, you can do this.' I have a student assistant and I usually try to have students from different backgrounds so everyone in my class can say, oh, look, that person looks like me, they're doing...2021-07-1422 minThe Labster PodcastAcademic Technologists: the unsung heroes of pandemic teachingMemorable Moments: Leslie: [11:52] And that was quite challenging to understand what kind of tools would potentially help them, especially in the science courses, because they were used to writing on whiteboards. And how am I going to do that now in the virtual environment?Leslie: [13:25] So many of our faculty rose to the occasion, it was just amazing and inspiring, actually, to be involved with. That’s been an amazing learning takeaway from this pandemic experience. Leslie: [18:11] We don't quite know how this is all going to turn out, whether we go back and suddenly within six...2021-05-2023 minThe Labster PodcastReflection is the KeyMemorable Moments: Amber: [00:06:26] We are a society that needs people to be critical thinkers. We need people to use clinical judgment. And we can't activate that thought process if we aren't asking them to apply learning. Amber: [00:08:12] The student doesn't necessarily learn in the simulation, whether it be virtual or traditional. That's not when they're engaging in their learning because they don't know what they don't know. So we ask them to read, whether it's prepping for a virtual simulation or virtual experience, we ask them to prep, we ask them to read the objectives, and then we...2021-05-0521 min
Ignite EdTech PodcastApril 30 2021 - Episode 47April 30 2021 - Episode 47The Ignite EdTech Podcast with @mrkempnz1. Introduction2. Question for you - What Professional Learning courses you love and the people that lead them?3. EdTech Tool of the Week - Labster4. EdTech Tip of the Week - Professional Learning5. Interview with Jed Dearybury6. Win this weeks prize (BeeBot Robot) by going to bit.ly/edtechwin and completing the...2021-04-2921 minThe Labster PodcastAnswering Your FAQs: Labster for High SchoolMemorable Moments: Carlin: [00:02:17] For me, the high school age is the perfect time for students to start growing an interest in solutions that can help us through things like this in the future. SJ: [00:06:42] We're in a very unique position to visualize or create interactions around abstract concepts to help students kind of break through the threshold concepts that are so hard to break and have their own lightbulb moments. SJ: [00:10:53] Class sizes are getting larger, teachers are stretched. They have a lot more planning to do. They have a lot more a lot more to do...2021-04-2227 minThe Labster PodcastSTEM for All (part 2)Memorable moments:[00:04:12] They're the eyes and ears of the faculty member, right? Because when they have their weekly meetings with their faculty colleague, they're going to say 'Sophia understood X, but when you got to Y she didn't get it.’[00:05:11] What we're finding is that kind of synergy, that redesigned coursework so that it's active, and then these instructional supports - LAs - along with traditional supports, TAs, are really moving the needle at our institution. We're seeing our DFW rates drop.[00:11:07] How can I improve this so that my students are achieving more? Think th...2021-04-0818 minThe Labster PodcastSTEM for All (Part 1)Memorable moments: [00:01:50] And so for me, democratizing that or having STEM for all means that those students, adults, whomever - they see themselves in science too, and that they have the sense of belonging, they know that they can and will do science. [00:04:55] My line that I say to my friends is that they are geniuses at the beginning, science geniuses, and then school and society de-geniuses them.[00:07:53] I would like to see the content itself change such that it is culturally responsive. I know that there is money in big production of science materials that co...2021-03-2519 minThe Labster PodcastDiversity in the Online Classroom[00:04:31] A lot of these students want that relationship with that instructor.They want to get to know the instructor. And at the same time, the instructor is also feeling that need to connect with their students. [06:47] They go in and they do their work. And you don't know who they are. They don't attend your Zoom sessions. They don't attend the lectures. And how do you interact with them? You know, they're just MIA on you.[00:22:13] And the difficulty is, and especially in biology, it's one, learning the language of biology because we have a lot of t...2021-03-1128 minThe Labster PodcastMultistream Science Education for Nontraditional StudentsMemorable moments:[00:04:21] What I would like is for higher education to be reimagined so that we can provide a mechanism to allow nontraditional students to earn college credits or degrees in an unconventional way in the sciences. [00:11:01] We could engage industry, so engage the nontraditional student's employer to determine what their general role is at work, and then they could help us determine if badging would be appropriate. [00:14:02] We know the traditional science education consists of what is typically thought of as being four years, although now we're pushing to five or six years and it...2021-02-2528 minThe Labster PodcastIdeas for Teaching with Labster (Part 2)Memorable moments:[00:05:37] Caitlin: There are only things to be gained from trying new approaches and really pushing yourself, especially when it comes to teaching and pedagogical practices. [00:07:41] Caitlin: There are a lot of advantages to using an online testing platform. And some of our faculty members are saying, I'm never going back to writing a paper exam. 00:15:36] Felicia: We're trying to demystify these sort of concepts that some people have some real big, strong beliefs on, but don't always have the background to understand what's behind all of these concepts. And that was our main goal fo...2021-02-2521 minThe Labster Podcast"Ideas for Teaching with Labster (Part 1) "Memorable moments:[00:09:34] Caitlin: Speaking specifically to virtual lab simulations, we have two main ways that we integrate them into our curriculum. So one is exactly as you said, we do it for marks and the other is really more for play. [00:11:34] Felicia: They have, I think it's worth very little like five percent of their mark, and they get multiple attempts and they have the highest one. But what I really wanted to do is I wanted it to be more like a gamified intervention type idea.[00:14:14] Felicia: I want them to have enjoyment out o...2021-02-2523 minThe Labster PodcastGamified Learning and EngagementMemorable Moments:[00:03:01] SJ: If a student is just looking to kind of win the session or to get to the end and get the grade by sticking to the rules, learning what they are, and really doing whatever they need to do to satisfy those criteria, then all we're doing is teaching a student to get that badge and to learn the rules.[00:08:42] SJ: Lots of gamified learning ignores that process of starting easy and getting harder with little checkpoints along the way, and instead tries to just put something fun together and have a one-shot...2021-02-2526 minThe Labster PodcastInclusion in the Virtual LabMemorable moments:[00:03:27] SJ: What we aim to do is break down the barriers that stop the user from, stop a student or an educator from really engaging with the learning opportunities that are contained within. [00:05:38] SJ: What you might not know is that everything that they pick up on in terms of issues for access or cultural bias or suggestions for how we might improve the diversity of representation within our simulations comes to the content team. And we listen and we try and formulate responses that are useful that we can actually implement within our c...2021-02-2522 minThe Labster PodcastTrailer: The Labster PodcastThe Labster Podcast gives science educators like you a chance to hear from peers who teach with Labster’s virtual labs and other educational technologies. We’ll reflect on learning and curriculum design, and leave you feeling inspired and energized about reaching and teaching your students.2021-02-2501 min