Navigating Analytical Chemistry Laboratories during COVID-19: Perspective of a Nigerian University

E-learning is not a new concept to the American University of Nigeria (AUN); however, it has always been applied to the lectures but not in the laboratories for the chemistry courses before and during the first phase of the COVID-19 lockdown. The sudden disruption of learning caused by the forced lockdown issued by the government authority in an attempt to curb the spread of the pandemic left most institutions of learning with unfinished syllabi as it occurred in the middle of the spring semester. Although some universities attempted to provide students with the lessons via remote classes, it was not without challenges, as the issuance met everyone unprepared. Hence, before the resumption of the Fall 2020 semester, the Petroleum chemistry department of AUN made it a point of duty to modify lab sessions to wedge against unforeseen circumstances such as pandemics that can cause an interruption to physical meetings. Herein we report a hybrid lab implementation in which physical lab meetings and virtual laboratories were combined alternately to cover a section of the lab scheme assigned for an analytical chemistry course. It aided our understanding of student reception and preference to the different learning styles and provided insight on alternatives to sustain learning amidst disruptions in normal learning structure by circumstances like the pandemic.