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what are people's opinions on virtual labs (specifically for bio-process lab)? i was thinking about how it would be more interactive for competitors and such, and having sort of a more "in person" feel since they're actually doing a lab, but also the time spent out of the browser would make it harder to tell if people cheated. would it just be up to trusting people not to cheat? also in the case that anyone is planning to use virtual labs in their tests, how are you planning to implement it- like getting them to record results in scilympiad, etc?

(this post was cross-posted from Discord)

rachel12 wrote: ↑October 12th, 2021, 8:16 am what are people's opinions on virtual labs (specifically for bio-process lab)? i was thinking about how it would be more interactive for competitors and such, and having sort of a more "in person" feel since they're actually doing a lab, but also the time spent out of the browser would make it harder to tell if people cheated. would it just be up to trusting people not to cheat? also in the case that anyone is planning to use virtual labs in their tests, how are you planning to implement it- like getting them to record results in scilympiad, etc?

not inherently opposed to using virtual labs for bio-process lab but i find that they're often poorly designed and inadequate when it comes to relaying the concepts. virtual labs are also prone to technical issues in my experience, and from an ES standpoint it feels like a hassle to manage. in lieu of something like that i'd prefer to implement more difficult conceptual questions that test over the same concepts; while it's not the same as running an actual lab or experiment to demonstrate something, it still challenges students in an online format. it reminds me of some of the adaptations that crime busters and forensics had to make last season, and i feel like this season it will largely be up to the test author what gets done/how the "lab" portion of bio-process lab is handled\

i think to begin with it's kind of shoehorned in already and that the rules for the event are vague enough as is so i honestly have no strong feelings about whether or not to include virtual labs in BPL exams. the rules leave a heck of a lot open to interpretation and i think it's possible to write a perfectly fine test without that sort of component. if you were to include one i would suggest recording results in scilympiad or including a link to a dropbox/having students email results to a specified email (like files are in WICI).

but honestly do what you want with an exam that's just my thoughts as a BPL author

(this post was cross-posted from Discord)

ah ok, i didn’t think about possible technical issues that could mess with it, that’s a good point. i do agree with the rules being vague ;-; and so i don’t know what competitors are expecting/wanting in a good test. tysm jasp!!

jaspattack wrote: ↑October 12th, 2021, 8:18 am virtual labs are also prone to technical issues in my experience,

Just chiming in to second this. Consider that a number of kids will be using a school chromebook or something, which will be pretty locked down and may not be able to run your virtual lab. Especially, there's no guarantee that all your schools will allow access to dropbox or whatever other fileshare site you choose. Also note that email is a problem - around here, middle school kids can't send email outside the school district.