Introducing the first year laboratory to undergraduate chemistry students with an interactive 360° experience

The chemistry laboratory can be a daunting place for first year university students, especially those entering one for the first time with little or no prior laboratory experience. Increasing financial constraints placed on secondary schools has restricted the ability to provide rich laboratory experiences for students before entering tertiary education. As a result, first year chemistry cohorts arrive at university with a range of previous laboratory experiences. Through surveys of a first-year student cohort it was identified that students experienced high levels of negative feelings with respect to the laboratory. In an attempt to alleviate this, a 360° virtual laboratory tour, including annotations, was developed giving students virtual access to the actual laboratory they would be working in prior to the start of the laboratory classes. In this technology report, we discuss the development of the 360o virtual laboratory tour over a three-semester period. After each version of the resource we conducted an evaluation via survey distribution to determine if it helped with student familiarity and preparation for the upcoming laboratory program.