A snapshot of UK pre-lab practices and instructor perceptions of their purpose and effective design

Prelaboratory exercises are a widely used and powerful method of supporting and maximizing laboratory learning. In this work, we took a snapshot of current prelab practices in the United Kingdom by surveying instructors responsible for running lab courses. We found that prelabs very often took the form of three core activities of “read the manual, watch the video, do the questions”, with about half additionally employing digital lab simulations and a marked decline in traditional prelab practices of live demonstrations or formal lectures. We also investigated the factors that influence prelab design, the challenges of designing or using prelabs, and what instructors felt the purpose of a prelab was. Main challenges were seen as lack of time or resources to design consistent, effective prelabs, and difficulty in ensuring meaningful engagement from students. Instructors felt that prelabs had a number of purposes, such as improving operation of a lab itself or improving students’ learning and affective outcomes by reducing stress or anxiety.