Implementing a Virtual Midterm to Identify Unknown Bacteria in a Microbiology Lab Course

Identification of unknown bacteria is an integral module in most introductory Microbiology laboratory courses. This laboratory activity typically involves identifying bacteria based on Gram staining for morphology and gram reaction followed by studying their biochemical characteristics. When instruction moved to online mode earlier this year due to the pandemic, we faced the challenge of moving this hands-on, skill-intensive laboratory activity to remote mode. Here we describe the modular approach we designed to implement the midterm practical of bacterial identification remotely while trying to keep the online format as close to the in-person format as possible in a multi-section synchronous laboratory course. This virtual module was implemented successfully in the summer and fall 2020 semesters.