433 Offering a Horticultural Laboratory Experience at a Distance

The horticulture faculty at Texas Tech Univ. has developed an introductory horticulture laboratory course offered asynchronously through several media. A print version has been developed as a traditional correspondence course. Students can also choose to access the course over the World Wide Web with laboratory instruction provided from an accompanying CD-ROM. The course is based on an introductory horticulture textbook and is supplemented by additional information. Students conduct the laboratory exercises at a location of their choice and return photographs or video tapes of their results along with a formal lab report. Self-help exercises, worksheets, and proctored exams are submitted by correspondence or electronically via the World Wide Web. The most challenging aspect of this project was the development of laboratory exercises that ensured adequate experiential learning. This was accomplished by using easily accessible materials for laboratories that would allow students to apply the scientific method. A CD-ROM version of the lab includes compressed video segments used to demonstrate laboratory techniques. Details of these laboratory components and samples of student work will be presented.