The Institute for Excellence in Distance Science Education – IEDSE

is a 501c3, tax-exempt, non-profit science education foundation with a mission to promote science literacy in conjunction with today's distance education delivery methods. IEDSE serves distance education students by training and assisting teachers in best practices and proven methods of effectively teaching laboratory science courses online. IEDSE creates and provides comprehensive Professional Development Programs and supportive resources for secondary and post-secondary science educators.

IEDSE fulfills its mission by:

IEDSE will soon offer Distance Science Education Certification.

Challenges of Teaching Lab Science Online

There are unique challenges to teaching an online science course that has a laboratory component. Online laboratory courses have specific and significant issues that are different from other content areas. According to focus groups conducted by IEDSE, issues specific to online lab science courses include:

• How to ensure safety
• How to track lab-based student progress
• How to establish formative assessments of lab progress throughout the course
• How to illustrate laboratory techniques online, and
• How to confirm students are correctly conducting laboratory experiments

Some pioneering online science instructors have conquered these challenges, and IEDSE is tapping into their expertise to develop a practical professional development program.

IEDSE's goal is to become a national leader and clearinghouse for professional development and research related to distance science education at the secondary and post-secondary levels.