Multi-view Protocols: Visualizing the Macro and the Micro of a Laboratory Method

We present a novel adaptation of a typical science laboratory protocol, which we have termed multi-view protocols (MVPs). The purpose of MVPs is to answer and link three common questions asked by students when first learning a laboratory technique: (1) What am I supposed to do? (2) Where and how am I supposed to do it? (3) What exactly am I doing, anyway? The intent of MVPs is to facilitate parallel comprehension of both the physical “movements” of a technique and the theoretical principles behind each step of a protocol. With MVPs, we achieve this through three parallel columns that include a textual description of the protocol, photographs of the protocol being performed in the laboratory space, and an illustrative column that visually depicts the molecular details of the corresponding steps. Variations of MVPs may include having students create one or more of the parallel columns themselves. In the age of near ubiquitous high-resolution camera phones, MVPs are a practical and efficient way to simultaneously teach laboratory method and theory, adaptable to nearly any laboratory protocol.