Purdue's Commitment to In-Person Labs

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Returning to campus this fall during the middle of a pandemic, I was very excited to switch from all online to in-person and hybrid classes and labs. This year Purdue classes were either fully in-person, hybrid (meaning students would attend class for one day and be online for the rest), as well as fully online classes. Since lab is so fundamental for students’ understanding of many engineering topics, Purdue committed to having in-person labs for this fall semester.

For many students to truly learn the material covered in their courses and lectures, they must actively practice through labs. Labs help us actively learn the concepts discussed in lecture through a very hands-on approach. Additionally, students are expected to work in teams during lab, as they will in the workplace. The collaborative environment in lab allows students to learn how to work with others on an engineering project team. Thus, in-person labs truly enrich an engineering education.

               As a civil engineering student and BIM (construction graphics) minor, I have two or three labs every semester. I truly rely on having the opportunity to have hands-on practice with many state-of-the-art pieces of equipment and computer programs and software that I will be using when I work as an engineer in the field. 

   

To fulfill the in-person lab commitment, Purdue took a hybrid approach to many labs. Most 2 to 3-hour lab periods with approximately 10 to 24 students were broken into 2 to 4 sections so that only 6 students would be in lab at a time. With only 6 students and the requirement of face shields and masks, students are able to easily socially distance and follow the Protect Purdue protocols. Personally, I love having a smaller lab class size. With fewer students in my lab, I have a more personalized experience and even more hands-on involvement.

Prior to Covid-19, most civil engineering labs consisted of a lecture and theory portion at the beginning of the period and then the experimental portion at the latter. This semester, with the hybrid approach, most lecture parts of the classes have been online so that students can still attend lab and complete the experiment during their allotted section.

During a pandemic with many online lectures, I truly benefit from having in-person labs to gain hands-on experience and enrich my education. I’m truly grateful for Purdue’s commitment to in-person labs and creative scheduling to help students actively learn. 

JT Sarisky, Civil Engineering '22

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