RECOVER swim performance and visual acuity virtual lab demographic and content-based information

The RECOVER Consortium developed a web-based interactive educational website and application to effectively disseminate oil spill science and research to students – ranging from elementary to collegiate levels – and the general public. The RECOVER Virtual Lab application allows users to conduct virtual experiments on the impacts of oil on fish physiology, similar to those of RECOVER researchers. By using the Virtual Lab, students, teachers and the general public are able to understand the real-world applications of data, experimental designs, and results generated by RECOVER researchers. Both Virtual Lab lessons utilize data produced by GoMRI scientists which are made available to students and the public to expand the reach of the oil spill science to individuals that may not otherwise have access to oil spill science and data. At the end of each lesson, students complete a demographic questionnaire and answer content-based questions through quizzes developed in Google Forms. From this data, the Virtual Lab has been used within 30 different states and 2 international countries, with a total usership of over 1,000 students.