Pre-lab video demonstrations to enhance students' laboratory experience in a first-year chemical engineering class.

The limited capabilities of teaching laboratories, combined with an increasing number of students enrolled in university, require constant augmentation of instructional approaches. By enhancing laboratory demonstrations with digital technology, these structural issues can be addressed while at the same time enhancing student understanding and learning. Our case study focuses on the fermentation lab part of the Reaction Equilibria and Thermodynamics (RET) module, a first-year chemical engineering course at the University of Birmingham. Video demonstrations were used to introduce students to the laboratory set-ups and walk them through each step and technique. The video demonstrations allowed the students to attend the in-person lab sessions having established knowledge and understanding of the processes involved and the outcomes desired, which decreased the burden on the facilities and the staff. A knowledge-based quiz and a student survey conducted at the end of the module showed that the pre-lab videos encouraged more active participation in the laboratory sessions and reinforced learning. Approximately 70% of the students polled in the first survey conducted within this project felt more confident going into the laboratory sessions after watching the pre-lab videos and attempting the knowledge quiz, while 92% of the students polled in the second survey judged the pre-lab video sessions as beneficial to them. Overall, the teaching method has the potential to improve student participation and access, boost confidence and learning, and provided a more structured and flexible approach to laboratory learning outcomes.

COVID-19 pandemic: A review of the global lockdown and its far-reaching effects.

COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 11th of March 2020, leading to some form of lockdown across almost all countries of the world. The extent of the global pandemic due to COVID-19 has a significant impact on our lives that must be studied carefully to combat it. This study highlights the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on crucial aspects of daily life globally, including; Food security, Global economy, Education, Tourism, hospitality, sports and leisure, Gender Relation, Domestic Violence/Abuse, Mental Health and Environmental air pollution through a systematic search of the literature. The COVID-19 global lockdown was initiated to stem the spread of the virus and 'flatten the curve' of the pandemic. However, the impact of the lockdown has had far-reaching effects in different strata of life, including; changes in the accessibility and structure of education delivery to students, food insecurity as a result of unavailability and fluctuation in prices, the depression of the global economy, increase in mental health challenges, wellbeing and quality of life amongst others. This review article highlights the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown across the globe. As the global lockdown is being lifted in a phased manner in various countries of the world, it is necessary to explore its impacts to understand its consequences comprehensively. This will guide future decisions that will be made in a possible future wave of the COVID-19 pandemic or other global disease outbreak.