Incorporating a collaborative web‐based virtual laboratory in an undergraduate bioinformatics course

Face‐to‐face bioinformatics courses commonly include a weekly, in‐person computer lab to facilitate active learning, reinforce conceptual material, and teach practical skills. Similarly, fully‐online bioinformatics courses employ hands‐on exercises to achieve these outcomes, although students typically perform this work offsite. Combining a face‐to‐face lecture course with a web‐based virtual laboratory presents new opportunities for collaborative learning of the conceptual material, and for fostering peer support of technical bioinformatics questions. To explore this combination, an in‐person lecture‐only undergraduate bioinformatics course was augmented with a remote web‐based laboratory, and tested with a large class. This study hypothesized that the collaborative virtual lab would foster active learning and peer support, and tested this hypothesis by conducting a student survey near the end of the semester. Respondents broadly reported strong benefits from the online laboratory, and strong benefits from peer‐provided technical support. In comparison with traditional in‐person teaching labs, students preferred the virtual lab by a factor of two. Key aspects of the course architecture and design are described to encourage further experimentation in teaching collaborative online bioinformatics laboratories.