Teaching Microscopy Remotely: Two Engaging Options

The rapid switch to remote teaching with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced educators to become resourceful and creative to meet course learning objectives. This was especially challenging for undergraduate microbiology laboratory exercises. The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Recommended Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Microbiology Education includes providing students with a microscopy experience. To meet these learning objectives in an at-home setting, we utilized two methods which we present as options for remote teaching of microscopy. One method involves students taking home microscopes equipped with oil immersion objective lenses. The other employs the remote operation of a confocal and/or scanning electron microscope through participation in the University of Toledo’s SCOPE (Scientists Changing Our Pre-College Education) program. These techniques allowed students to develop competency and confidence in the operation of a microscope. The SCOPE program provided experience with types of microscopes not commonly available to undergraduate students even when in person. In addition to these unique experiences, students can gain microscopy expertise utilizing various virtual microscopy simulations. Together these techniques provide an exciting and robust online microscopy experience for undergraduate microbiology students that can be employed for use in regularly taught online microbiology courses.