The Role of Oral Tests in the Advanced Lab ~ Impact of Covid

Our Advanced Lab is a University Studies Program COM 3 class, in which communication skills in the field are honed. Class size at our small, public, Rocky Mountain university is about 12, usually all majors in physics and astronomy. Communication skills trained include professional report writing, equipment seminar presentations, oral prelabs (student preparedness for lab and safety), and oral exams (assess a student’s proficiency in lab and data analysis skills). We investigate the impact the covid closure and subsequent going online of classes has had on students (one class changed mode at midterm during Alpha wave), a later class was fully online during the peak of the Delta wave. Online classes were conducted via Zoom, and old data from previous students were handed out and were supported by lab equipment and lab performance videos.