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The Practical Skills Passport: A Co-Curricular Program to Enhance Lab Skills Confidence in Undergraduate Neuroscience and Biology Students

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Title: The Practical Skills Passport: A Co-Curricular Program to Enhance Lab Skills Confidence in Undergraduate Neuroscience and Biology Students
Language: English
Authors: Anna E. Smith (ORCID 0000-0003-1438-2663), Fran der Weduwen (ORCID 0000-0002-1395-6939), Thomas Powell (ORCID 0000-0003-3752-6738), Gayle Doherty (ORCID 0000-0003-3494-5857)
Source: Advances in Physiology Education. 2025 49(3):696-703.
Availability: American Physiological Society. 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814-3991. Tel: 301-634-7164; Fax: 301-634-7241; e-mail: webmaster@the-aps.org; Web site: https://www.physiology.org/journal/advances
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 8
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Self Esteem, Laboratory Procedures, Extracurricular Activities, Neurosciences, Biology, Science Instruction, Foreign Countries, Program Effectiveness, In Person Learning
Geographic Terms: United Kingdom (Scotland)
DOI: 10.1152/advan.00204.2024
ISSN: 1043-4046
1522-1229
Abstract: During the years 2020-2022, COVID-19-related restrictions led to fewer in-person lab offerings in Neuroscience and Biology courses, resulting in negative impacts on students' skills and confidence. In this study, we investigate the impact of a co-curricular undergraduate lab skills program, the Practical Skills Passport (PSP), on student lab confidence. PSP tasks were designed based on informal student feedback and refined via pilot testing by postgraduates with no wet lab experience. Sessions were delivered weekly during the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years. The impact was evaluated using a survey of students who had attended at least one PSP session. Students at various stages of study in Neuroscience and Biology undergraduate programs attended the PSP. Survey respondents indicated that they felt their confidence in their lab skills improved following PSP attendance. Survey respondents rated the PSP positively overall and expressed interest in attending again. Attendance at the PSP peaked in the first few weeks of semester 1 in each year and declined thereafter, indicating that students are more interested in lab skills practice after returning from the summer break. Fewer students attended in 2022-2023 compared to 2021-2022, probably reflecting the return to all in-person learning as COVID-19 restrictions lifted. In general, "core" lab tasks were more popular in 2021-2022, and specialized tasks were more popular in 2022-2023.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1475639
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0187950981;apu01sep.25;2025Sep16.05:05;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0187950981-1">The practical skills passport: a co-curricular program to enhance lab skills confidence in undergraduate neuroscience and biology students </title> <p>During the years 2020–2022, COVID-19-related restrictions led to fewer in-person lab offerings in Neuroscience and Biology courses, resulting in negative impacts on students' skills and confidence. In this study, we investigate the impact of a co-curricular undergraduate lab skills program, the Practical Skills Passport (PSP), on student lab confidence. PSP tasks were designed based on informal student feedback and refined via pilot testing by postgraduates with no wet lab experience. Sessions were delivered weekly during the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 academic years. The impact was evaluated using a survey of students who had attended at least one PSP session. Students at various stages of study in Neuroscience and Biology undergraduate programs attended the PSP. Survey respondents indicated that they felt their confidence in their lab skills improved following PSP attendance. Survey respondents rated the PSP positively overall and expressed interest in attending again. Attendance at the PSP peaked in the first few weeks of semester 1 in each year and declined thereafter, indicating that students are more interested in lab skills practice after returning from the summer break. Fewer students attended in 2022–2023 compared to 2021–2022, probably reflecting the return to all in-person learning as COVID-19 restrictions lifted. In general, "core" lab tasks were more popular in 2021–2022, and specialized tasks were more popular in 2022–2023. NEW & NOTEWORTHY: The COVID-19 pandemic reduced opportunities for in-person lab classes, negatively impacting students' skills and confidence. We developed a co-curricular program of lab skills catch-up sessions with the aim of restoring student lab confidence during the return to in-person instruction. Here we describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of this program. Our evaluation indicates that engagement with the program positively impacted student lab confidence.</p> <p>Keywords: co-curricular program; COVID-19; lab confidence; lab skills; neuroscience education</p> <hd id="AN0187950981-2">INTRODUCTION</hd> <p>A solid understanding of practical laboratory skills is important for progression in Neuroscience, Biology, and related degrees. In March 2020, the UK was placed under lockdown due to the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref1">1</reflink>]). This led to the cessation of almost all in-person teaching at UK higher education (HE) and further education (FE) institutes and secondary schools. For the academic year 2020–2021, many laboratory classes that had previously been delivered in person were redesigned as virtual laboratories. Those that continued to be offered in person were modified to comply with safety protocols such as room occupancy limits, social distancing, and masking requirements. These changes led to shorter sessions and less interaction with instructors, equipment, and peers. Such conditions may have made it more challenging for students to achieve practical learning outcomes ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref2">2</reflink>]). Furthermore, a proportion of students (particularly international students) were studying remotely during 2020–2021, either by choice or due to travel or other restrictions. Consequently, they were unable to engage with in-person laboratories even when these were provided.</p> <p>Therefore, because of the pandemic, students since 2020–2021 have been arriving at university or reaching higher levels of their degree with less laboratory experience than prepandemic cohorts. The pivot to online learning during the pandemic had a negative impact on students' confidence in their learning abilities in general ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref3">3</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref4">4</reflink>]). In contrast, studies around the effects of remote learning on laboratory skills confidence specifically are more mixed. One study found that online laboratory instruction did not negatively impact student confidence in laboratory techniques in final-year undergraduates compared to a cohort who had completed the same laboratory course in person before the pandemic ([<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref5">5</reflink>]). However, as these were final-year students, both cohorts will have had laboratory experience at secondary school and during their first years of undergraduate study, which may have lessened the impact of learning remotely. Conversely, a study comparing first-year medical students who did a cadaveric dissection anatomy course in person, compared to a class who did the online equivalent of the same course (due to COVID-19), found that those students who had taken the online course were slightly, but significantly, less confident in their ability to carry out tasks such as identifying anatomical structures on a CT scan ([<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref6">6</reflink>]).</p> <p>Work is emerging on the effect of the return from remote to in-person learning. Instructors report that students are finding it harder to manage their time, to engage with peers in a classroom environment, and to be proactive and independent in their learning ([<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref7">7</reflink>]). A potential method to counteract eroded laboratory confidence is providing students with additional opportunities to practice fundamental laboratory skills ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref8">8</reflink>]). Here we provide an account of the development and delivery across 2 academic years of the Practical Skills Passport (PSP): a program of optional co-curricular laboratory sessions outside of scheduled classes in which students can practice a range of fundamental laboratory skills. Our aim with this program was to provide an opportunity for students to supplement their timetabled laboratory courses with additional practice to increase their laboratory confidence while working in a laboratory environment under COVID-19 restrictions. We hoped this increase in confidence would be maintained as restrictions lifted. We predicted that attendance at the PSP would lead to an increase in self-perceived confidence in the laboratory skills practiced.</p> <hd id="AN0187950981-3">MATERIALS AND METHODS</hd> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-4">Informal Preliminary Survey</hd1> <p>Research took place at the authors' HE institute, a small, research-intensive university in Scotland, UK. The PSP was a collaboration between the School of Psychology and Neuroscience and the School of Biology. To gauge student interest in additional laboratory skills sessions, an informal online survey was circulated to all students registered in Neuroscience and Biology modules. These students could be pursuing degrees in Neuroscience, Psychology, or any of 12 Biology-based undergraduate programs or be on related undergraduate (e.g., Chemistry) or postgraduate taught degrees. Responses were collected in June 2021. The survey asked students to rate their laboratory confidence, to select from a list of fundamental laboratory skills relevant to Biology and Neuroscience degrees that they would be interested in practicing, and to indicate how likely they were to attend at least one skills session. We received 148 responses to the survey, out of an estimated eligible participant pool of ∼650 students. The results indicated that respondents felt there was room for improvement in their laboratory confidence and that additional practice sessions would be helpful. Based on the results of the survey and discussions among the organizers, the PSP was developed.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-5">Task and Session Design</hd1> <p>The following 10 in-person tasks were designed for the PSP:</p> <p></p> <p> <ephtml> <table border="0" width="95%"><tr><td valign="top"><italic>1)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> How to use a light microscope;</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><italic>2)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> Using a hemocytometer;</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><italic>3)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> Preparing wet mount slides;</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><italic>4)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> How to use a dissecting microscope;</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><italic>5)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> How to use a balance accurately;</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><italic>6)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> How to use pipettes accurately and reliably;</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><italic>7)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> Using a spectrophotometer;</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><italic>8)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> Loading samples into a gel;</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><italic>9)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> Aseptic technique and safe liquid handling; and</p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><italic>10)</italic></td><td colspan="5" valign="top"><p> Small volume pipetting.</p></td></tr></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Each task was designed to be completed in ∼1 h with minimal intervention from demonstrators. The task protocols were designed to be suitable for students at any stage of their studies (see Supplemental Material S1 for the protocol for task 2 using a hemocytometer). For this reason, some protocols had branching sections depending on a student's level of experience or year of study. Each task had its own area in the PSP virtual learning environment (VLE), where students could read some more information about the task and access the protocol in advance if they chose to do so. The information provided on the VLE included the key skills that would be practiced in the task, an indication of what prior knowledge was required for the task, and a list of timetabled modules for which the task would be most relevant. Engagement with the extra information before attending the PSP was optional.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-6">Prelaunch Task Testing</hd1> <p>Draft versions of the tasks and instructions were initially tested by experienced demonstrators and technicians from the School of Biology. Based on informal feedback from the demonstrators and technicians, the tasks were updated. For the second session, we recruited five postgraduate students pursuing Psychology PhDs who had little or no prior experience in Neuroscience or Biology laboratory techniques (to simulate a first- or second-year student). They followed the task sheets with the authors' assistance, and we collected verbal feedback from them during the session. This feedback was used to further update the task sheets.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-7">Advertising and Enrolment</hd1> <p>The academic year comprises two 11-wk semesters. Semester 1 runs September to December, and semester 2 runs January to May. PSP sessions were offered in both semesters of academic years 2021–2022 and 2022–2023. The PSP was advertised at the start of each semester in which it was offered. An e-mail advertising the PSP was sent to all students registered for Biology and Neuroscience modules for that semester, and module organizers were asked to advertise the sessions in their introductory lectures. Advertisements contained a link or QR code that students could use to self-enroll in the course VLE. We estimate that ∼650 students were eligible to participate in the PSP.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-8">Format of Sessions</hd1> <p>Sessions were offered 1 day per week in the teaching laboratories, except where scheduling conflicts meant a session could not be run that week. The location was chosen because students would be familiar with these spaces from their module laboratory classes (or they would go on to encounter them in future modules). Teaching laboratories were open to students all day on PSP days, and equipment and instructions were provided for students to come in and carry out self-directed laboratory tasks. Timings of sessions were communicated to students via the VLE. Due to COVID-19-related room occupancy limits, attendance was capped, so students booked in advance using a booking calendar in the VLE. Students did not need to declare when booking which task they were intending to complete. Sessions were supervised by members of staff and/or postgraduate demonstrators. Students were encouraged to bring friends and talking was allowed to create an informal atmosphere within the sessions, except for the last hour of each day which was designated a "quiet session." Quiet sessions were offered for students who might prefer to complete the tasks in an environment where talking would be kept to a minimum; for example, students who find noise particularly distracting. National and local regulations were followed with regard to the prevention of COVID-19 transmission.</p> <p>Upon entering the laboratory, students would sign in, allowing us to track attendance and confirm when a student had completed a task. The laboratories were set up with 12 stations for each session. Each station contained all the necessary equipment to do any of the tasks (Fig. 1), except for a small number of tasks for which specialized equipment was used. In these cases, the equipment was placed in designated areas in the laboratory or was available on request from a demonstrator. Each station had a booklet containing the protocols for all tasks. Students were also able to access these protocols online if they preferred. Upon completion of tasks, students could claim "badges" via the VLE. These would not appear on a student's degree transcript but could be referenced on CVs and used in applications for internships, jobs, or further study.</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 1. A station set up for a Practical Skills Passport (PSP) session. The protocol book is shown on the far left. The equipment the students can use to complete the tasks is on and around the spill tray.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-9">Student Experience Survey</hd1> <p>To examine whether the PSP was achieving the aim of improving student laboratory confidence, we invited attendees to fill in a survey. The survey was approved by the Psychology and Neuroscience School Ethics Committee (Reference No. PS15772). All participants were undergraduate or postgraduate taught students at the university. The survey was conducted during the 2021–2022 academic year. There were two phases of recruitment: December 2021 (at the end of semester 1) and May 2022 (at the end of semester 2). Respondents were recruited by e-mails sent to students who had self-enrolled on the PSP VLE during the 2021–2022 academic year. Respondents were screened such that only those who had attended at least one PSP session could fill in the survey.</p> <p>Survey responses were anonymized, and all questions were optional. The survey comprised a mixture of closed- and open-ended questions. Closed questions included whether they felt their confidence had improved after practicing skill(s) via the PSP and whether they were likely to attend again. Open-ended questions included asking the students to say which degree program they were on, what the students liked most about the tasks they did during the PSP sessions, whether they thought anything could be improved, and any additional feedback. The participants' age, gender, and ethnicity were not collected in the survey.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-10">Statistical Analysis</hd1> <p>Participant responses to closed questions about laboratory confidence were analyzed as Likert scales. Each response was assigned a number (1 for "a lot less confident" to 5 for "a lot more confident"). The "I have not done this task" response option was not assigned a number as it did not relate directly to confidence, and this response was excluded from the data set for the purpose of this analysis. A median confidence score for the Likert scale was calculated for the survey respondents as a population. Because the data were not normally distributed (<emph>P</emph> = 0.045, Shapiro-Wilk test) a one-sample Wilcoxon-signed rank test was used to determine whether the median confidence score was significantly higher than 3 (which would be the expected median if the PSP had no effect on laboratory skills confidence). Statistical tests were performed using SPSS Statistics (IBM) and Microsoft Excel.</p> <hd id="AN0187950981-11">RESULTS</hd> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-12">Virtual Learning Environment</hd1> <p>The VLE comprised a home page with a selection of "tiles," each of which, when clicked, took the students to a page containing information. There was a tile for each of the tasks that were available on the PSP, and further tiles for information about what students needed to bring, directions to the laboratories, and a booking form for sessions. Students used the booking form on the PSP to register for the sessions.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-13">Session Attendance and Task Popularity</hd1> <p>Session attendance was tracked via the VLE during the academic years 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 (Table 1). The number of student bookings was higher for 2021–2022 than for 2022–2023, as was the proportion of students attending more than one session, and the maximum number of sessions attended by one student. In the academic year 2021–2022, bookings peaked at the beginning of each semester and then decreased as the semester progressed. In the academic year 2022–2023, bookings were highest at the start of semester 1 and then reduced steeply and did not pick up again in semester 2. Instances of students booking into a slot but not turning up were rare. Occasionally students would come to sessions despite not having booked in advance; these students were admitted provided there was space available.</p> <p>Table 1. Practical Skills Passport booking and attendance figures for academic years 2021–2022 and 2022–2023</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><col align="left" span="1" /><col align="char" span="1" /><col align="char" span="1" /><thead><tr><th align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><th align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2021–2022</th><th align="center" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2022–2023</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Number of students self-enrolled on the VLE</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Numbers not recorded for this year</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">152</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Number of unique students booking into at least one session</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">71</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">26</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Number of students attending</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 1 session</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">31</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 2 sessions</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">20</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 3 sessions</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">8</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">0</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 4 sessions</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">1</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">1</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 5 sessions</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">5</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">0</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 6–10 sessions</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">4</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">0</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1"> >10 sessions</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">2</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">0</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">Maximum number of sessions attended by a single student</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">14</td><td rowspan="1" colspan="1">4</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>1 VLE, virtual learning environment.</p> <p>The popularity of the different tasks offered was tracked based on the number of students completing that task in that academic year (Fig. 2). The hemocytometer and light microscope tasks were the most popular in both academic years. The two pipetting tasks, aseptic technique, loading samples into a gel, safe use of liquids, dissecting microscope, and accurate balance tasks were more popular in 2021–2022 versus 2022–2023. The hemocytometer, light microscope, wet mount slides, dilution calculation (online), spectrophotometer, and scale bars (online) were more popular in 2022–2023 versus 2021–2022. It should be noted that the loading samples into a gel and the spectrophotometer tasks were only available in one of the two teaching laboratories used for the PSP, which might have affected the number of students completing this task.</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 2. The popularity of each of the Practical Skills Passport (PSP) tasks in each academic year. *Online-only tasks that students could complete on the virtual learning environment (VLE) without attending an in-person lab session.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-14">Student Experience Survey</hd1> <p>A total of nine responses were recorded for the student experience survey: six in semester 1 and three in semester 2. This represents a response rate of 12.7% among the 71 students who attended at least one PSP session during the 2021–2022 academic year. Most respondents (5/9) were in their second year of study, and almost all (8/9) were on the Neuroscience or a Biology-related degree pathway. One question asked about practical attendance in the academic year 2020–2021 when strict COVID-19 restrictions were still in place. Of the five respondents who were at the university that year, three had attended in-person practicals and two had not.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-15">Students Perceived an Increase in Lab Skills Confidence after Attending the PSP</hd1> <p>We surveyed respondents about their feelings of confidence in each laboratory skill offered as a PSP task (Fig. 3). The median confidence score across all tasks was 5 (interquartile range: 4.5–5). This was significantly different from a hypothetical median of 3 (z = 2.82, <emph>P</emph> = 0.005), reflecting that for most tasks, most respondents felt that the PSP had a positive effect on their confidence in that skill.</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 3. Likert scale responses to the survey item asking students to rate their feelings of confidence in different lab skills after completion of the corresponding Practical Skills Passport (PSP) task.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-16">Students Gave Positive Ratings for the In-Person Elements of the PSP</hd1> <p>We investigated the students' experience of the in-person elements of the PSP by asking them to what extent they agreed with various statements (Fig. 4). The responses were overwhelmingly positive, with most respondents selecting "strongly agree" to statements about the usefulness of the skills, the ease with which the task sheets could be followed, the difficulty level and duration of the tasks, and the helpfulness of the demonstrators. Responses were more mixed for the quiet sessions. Most students did not attend these, and of those that did only one strongly agreed that the session was helpful, with one respondent neither agreeing or disagreeing and another selecting "somewhat disagree."</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 4. Student ratings of various aspects of the Practical Skills Passport (PSP).</p> <p>Students were asked to rate how likely they would be to recommend the PSP to a friend or course-mate on a scale of 1–10 (10 = would definitely recommend; 1= would not recommend). The average rating was 9.22 (SD 1.19). Most respondents (7/9) felt they would be likely to attend a PSP session in the following semester, one said they "probably" would attend, and one responded, "not applicable."</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-17">Free-Text Responses Highlighted the Positive Environment and Clear Instructions</hd1> <p>There were several open-ended questions included in the survey. When asked to highlight what they enjoyed most about the tasks, students mentioned the clarity and accessibility of the instructions, the attitude of the staff, and being able to work at their own pace. Several respondents used phrasing related to stress ("without the stress," "stress free ... environment," and "non stressful environment"). Interestingly, only one student commented on the content of the tasks themselves, saying "[the] tasks were creative and actually quite fun."</p> <p>The responses also offered insight into how students compared these sessions to the laboratory classes in their modules: "much easier to follow than the practicals for [module]"; "less intense/busy environment than our practicals"; "it increased my confidence in my abilities before... practicals and helped my solidify my understanding of the technique after"; and "it helped me catch up on the skills I had".</p> <p>Students did not highlight anything that could have been improved on the PSP. When asked if there was anything that stopped students from doing a task they would have otherwise liked to do, they cited "lack of self-discipline to attend more sessions" and "schedule conflicts."</p> <hd id="AN0187950981-18">DISCUSSION</hd> <p>The aim of the PSP program was to provide an opportunity for students to supplement their timetabled laboratory classes with additional practice to increase their laboratory confidence after the return to in-person learning. Participants in our student experience survey reported feeling a lot more confident in their laboratory skills after practicing them in PSP sessions. We found differing levels of attendance at the PSP over the course of two academic years and that some laboratory skills were more popular to practice than others. Respondents viewed the PSP positively and would recommend it to others.</p> <p>Results from the survey revealed that respondents felt that attending the PSP had improved their laboratory skills confidence. This is in line with our initial prediction and agrees with previous literature indicating that practicing practical skills in a safe setting increases students' confidence in those skills ([<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref9">9</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref10">10</reflink>]). More broadly, supplemental instruction has been linked to improved academic performance ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref11">11</reflink>]) although this was not tracked here. Furthermore, retention rates increase and dropout rates decrease when supplementary opportunities are offered ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref12">12</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref13">13</reflink>]). The PSP aimed solely to look at the development of laboratory skills, but the possibility that it has benefitted students in other aspects of their university journey exists and could be investigated in the future. As our surveys were circulated at the end of each semester, we can be reasonably confident that the self-reported increase in laboratory confidence was not due to recency bias because the students would have had time to reflect on the effect the PSP had on their confidence.</p> <p>We must be cautious in overinterpreting these data, however. The number of students responding to the survey (9/71 students who booked in for at least one session) represents only a fraction of the students who attended the PSP, and as these respondents were self-selecting, it is not clear the extent to which these results would generalize to all attendees of the PSP. A further limitation is the lack of data on student perceptions of their confidence in these tasks before they attended the PSP. Therefore, before-after comparisons could not be made to empirically measure changes in confidence. We also did not ask directly whether these self-ratings of confidence on specific PSP tasks generalized to an increased feeling of confidence in their curricular laboratory sessions, although one respondent's free-text response did suggest that this was the case for that individual.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-19">Student Perceptions of the PSP</hd1> <p>Respondents felt positive about most of the in-person elements of the PSP. Students reported that they were likely to recommend the PSP to classmates and return to the PSP in the following semester. This provides further evidence, in addition to the confidence ratings, that students found the PSP valuable. Students were most ambivalent about the quiet sessions, with most respondents not having attended one, and one respondent selecting "somewhat disagree" to the statement "the quiet sessions were helpful to me." This respondent did not follow up with any further information in the open-ended section of the survey, so the reason for this response is unclear. It is possible that one of the benefits of the PSP for this student was social contact, so a quiet session was not useful to them, or that the quiet session did not meet their expectations.</p> <p>When relaying what they liked about the PSP, several respondents referred to it being a low-stress environment. This implies that students were experiencing the standard laboratory environment in their modules as a stressful one. Previous literature has identified stress and anxiety associated with laboratory practicals in students, especially first-year undergraduates ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref14">14</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref15">15</reflink>]). However, without a larger pool of respondents, we cannot determine whether this reflects a general trend in the student population or whether students who find laboratories stressful where those most likely to both attend the PSP and respond to the survey. Interestingly, only one respondent commented on the nature of the tasks themselves. This may suggest that what students particularly appreciated about the PSP was the opportunity to come into the laboratory to practice skills per se and the precise nature of the activities was not the most important aspect of the experience. However, further investigation would be required to explore this fully. One student specifically mentioned confidence in their open-ended response, further supporting the evidence from the closed-ended questions that the PSP had a positive effect on laboratory confidence. This respondent also referenced using the PSP before and after laboratories, implying they were using it as part of a coordinated approach to their studies. The benefit of using the PSP specifically to enhance confidence within an integrated approach could be highlighted to future students to encourage uptake of the program and to reinforce the benefits of the PSP approach.</p> <p>The students did not cite any points for improvement in the open-ended questions. Again, this may reflect the self-selecting nature of the survey: students who had a positive experience with the PSP could be more likely to engage with requests to provide their opinions.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-20">Attendance and Task Popularity</hd1> <p>Fewer students attended the PSP in 2022–2023 compared to 2021–2022, and the maximum number of sessions attended by a single student was lower. In 2021–2022, attendance was highest at the start of each semester and after mid-semester breaks. In 2022–2023, attendance was highest at the start of semester 1 then declined, remaining low for the rest of the year. This reflects engagement patterns reported in another study of a co-curricular program, where engagement fell from 35% of the cohort at the start of the semester, to 2% of the cohort at the end ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref16">16</reflink>]). There may be several reasons behind these engagement patterns. This may reflect when advertising pushes were done for the PSP, or more general patterns in student engagement reported anecdotally by module staff. This reduction in attendance in 2022–2023 compared to 2021–2022 probably reflects the return to in-person teaching in 2022–2023, which would mean students were getting the normal program of laboratories in their modules and may therefore be less motivated to seek out co-curricular laboratory practice. Furthermore, students who were already at university in 2021–2022 will have had the opportunity to participate in the PSP in that academic year, meaning they may not wish to engage again in 2022–2023. The withdrawal of COVID-19 restrictions over 2021–2023 could also have led to more extracurricular and social activities competing for the students' time. Indeed, one of the students in our study identified scheduling conflicts as a reason why they did not attend more sessions, and this has been found elsewhere ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref17">17</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref18">18</reflink>]). A previous study looking at student motivation for engaging in co-curricular programs found that students were motivated by performance benchmarks, and less inclined to engage with activities that they did not see as necessary for achieving these ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref19">16</reflink>]), so this may also have influenced students' willingness to attend the PSP. Future work around the PSP could include engaging with students who were eligible to attend the PSP but have not done so, to understand why this was the case in our own institution.</p> <p>There was a difference in the relative popularity of the different tasks between 2021–2022 and 2022–2023. In general, core tasks were more popular in 2021–2022. These skills are more frequently covered in laboratory sessions in modules, so their higher popularity in 2021–2022 may reflect students not having had those laboratories in-modules (or in preuniversity education) under COVID-19-related restrictions in 2020–2021. In contrast to this trend, the hemacytometer and light microscopy tasks, core skills for Biology degree pathways, were relatively more popular in 2022–2023. It is not clear why this is the case, but it could be that students knew they were likely to encounter these skills in their modules and wanted to experience them in the PSP first, or alternatively use the PSP as a revision tool. Interestingly, the online tasks were more popular in 2022–2023. It is possible that students were using these to supplement the practical skills that were available in their modules, and online tasks were more appealing when less of their curricular education was occurring online. Indeed, there is evidence from before the pandemic of e-learning enhancing practical skills when used alongside traditional in-laboratory experiences ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref20">19</reflink>]), which suggests that adding additional learning opportunities to reinforce practical skills benefits students. Although the PSP is delivered in person rather than online, it would be interesting to determine whether it has the same skill-enhancing effects.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-21">Limitations</hd1> <p>There are several limitations to this study. As has been mentioned above, there was a relatively low response rate to the survey, only 9 students out of 71 who booked at least 1 PSP session that year responded. This means we do not know to what extent these findings would be generalizable to all students who interacted with the PSP. Only asking students to tell us whether they felt their confidence had increased following attendance at the PSP, rather than asking them to rate their confidence before and then after attending the PSP, means that we cannot compare post-PSP confidence to a baseline measure. Our limited collection of demographic data (year of study and degree program only) also prevents us from understanding whether there are demographics within the student body who are engaging with or benefitting from the PSP more than others. While studies looking at how student characteristics such as gender, nationality, or first-generation status did not find string associations between these characteristics and confidence in learning during the pandemic ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref21">3</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref22">4</reflink>]), less is known about how being part of vulnerable groups affected confidence during the return to in-person learning. We also did not measure directly whether feeling an increase in confidence after attending a PSP session translates to increased confidence in laboratory sessions more broadly, which is something we would hope would happen.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-22">Conclusions and Future Directions</hd1> <p>The results of this study indicate that the PSP was a useful initiative in improving laboratory confidence in students during the transition back to in-person teaching following the coronavirus pandemic. The findings in this study could be complemented by surveying students about their confidence before attending PSP sessions, as well as afterward. It would also be beneficial to investigate why students choose not to attend the PSP, with a view to making it more appealing and accessible to students who may benefit from it but have not yet attended.</p> <p>Based on attendance figures in 2022–2023, the utility of the year-round PSP will be limited going forward. However, given the present results suggesting a positive perceived impact on confidence among at least some of the students who attended, the PSP has been continued at our institution in the form of a one-day confidence-building initiative at the start of the first semester in each academic year. We advertise the PSP as an opportunity for returning students to refresh their laboratory skills at the start of the new semester and for new students to try out some university-level laboratory skills in a more casual and supportive environment. We recommend that PSP-like initiatives are presented as primarily as opportunities to refresh acquired skills and build confidence, rather than to achieve module intended learning outcomes (ILOs), as not all students are equally able to engage with co-curricular opportunities if they (for example) have employment or caring responsibilities.</p> <hd id="AN0187950981-23">DATA AVAILABILITY</hd> <p>The terms of the participants' consent do not allow raw data to be made publicly available.</p> <hd id="AN0187950981-24">SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL</hd> <p>Supplemental Material S1: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15396550.</p> <hd id="AN0187950981-25">GRANTS</hd> <p>This work was supported by the University of St Andrews, which provided funding to support demonstrator hire and the purchase of consumables for the PSP in 2021–2022.</p> <hd id="AN0187950981-26">DISCLOSURES</hd> <p>No conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the authors.</p> <hd id="AN0187950981-27">AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS</hd> <p>A.E.S., F.d.W., T.P., and G.D. conceived and designed research; A.E.S. performed experiments; A.E.S. and T.P. analyzed data; A.E.S. interpreted results of experiments; A.E.S. and T.P. prepared figures; A.E.S. drafted manuscript; A.E.S., F.d.W., T.P., and G.D. edited and revised manuscript; A.E.S., F.d.W., T.P., and G.D. approved final version of manuscript.</p> <hd1 id="AN0187950981-28">ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</hd1> <p>The authors thank the postgraduate demonstrators and technicians who assisted in testing and supervision of the PSP during 2021–2022 and to the students who participated in the survey.</p> <ref id="AN0187950981-29"> <title> REFERENCES </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 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Smith; Fran der Weduwen; Thomas Powell and Gayle Doherty</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author; Author; Author</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref11"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref12"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref13"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref14"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref16"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref17"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref18"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref20"></nolink>
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  Data: The Practical Skills Passport: A Co-Curricular Program to Enhance Lab Skills Confidence in Undergraduate Neuroscience and Biology Students
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Anna+E%2E+Smith%22">Anna E. Smith</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1438-2663">0000-0003-1438-2663</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fran+der+Weduwen%22">Fran der Weduwen</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1395-6939">0000-0002-1395-6939</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Thomas+Powell%22">Thomas Powell</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3752-6738">0000-0003-3752-6738</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gayle+Doherty%22">Gayle Doherty</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3494-5857">0000-0003-3494-5857</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Advances+in+Physiology+Education%22"><i>Advances in Physiology Education</i></searchLink>. 2025 49(3):696-703.
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  Data: American Physiological Society. 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814-3991. Tel: 301-634-7164; Fax: 301-634-7241; e-mail: webmaster@the-aps.org; Web site: https://www.physiology.org/journal/advances
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  Data: 10.1152/advan.00204.2024
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  Data: 1043-4046<br />1522-1229
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  Data: During the years 2020-2022, COVID-19-related restrictions led to fewer in-person lab offerings in Neuroscience and Biology courses, resulting in negative impacts on students' skills and confidence. In this study, we investigate the impact of a co-curricular undergraduate lab skills program, the Practical Skills Passport (PSP), on student lab confidence. PSP tasks were designed based on informal student feedback and refined via pilot testing by postgraduates with no wet lab experience. Sessions were delivered weekly during the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years. The impact was evaluated using a survey of students who had attended at least one PSP session. Students at various stages of study in Neuroscience and Biology undergraduate programs attended the PSP. Survey respondents indicated that they felt their confidence in their lab skills improved following PSP attendance. Survey respondents rated the PSP positively overall and expressed interest in attending again. Attendance at the PSP peaked in the first few weeks of semester 1 in each year and declined thereafter, indicating that students are more interested in lab skills practice after returning from the summer break. Fewer students attended in 2022-2023 compared to 2021-2022, probably reflecting the return to all in-person learning as COVID-19 restrictions lifted. In general, "core" lab tasks were more popular in 2021-2022, and specialized tasks were more popular in 2022-2023.
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