Students will have ability to fulfill lab requirements at home
This fall semester, Virginia Western Community College is offering a completely online chemistry course designed with the non-science major in mind. Virginia Western is one of only a few schools within the Virginia Community College System offering the full two-semester sequence, Chemistry 101 and 102 with an at-home lab kit.
Social science, liberal arts, general education and business administration students enrolled at the college, many of whom transfer as non-science majors to Bachelor of Arts programs, and those currently enrolled at four-year schools who need to take a science sequence course are candidates for this course offering. Chemistry professor Owen Lofthus says “an estimated one-third of the student population at Virginia Western could potentially benefit from this offering, as well as students enrolled in other four-year schools.”
The course sequence provides students flexibility at Virginia Western’s affordable tuition and fulfills the science requirement for graduation. Students purchase lab kits created by Hands-On Labs, a world leader in distance learning science materials, to use at home. If a student is already receiving financial aid, then financial aid coverage for the lab kit is possible by ordering through the bookstore.
As with all classes at Virginia Western, the instructor is available through online communication and office hours to distance learning students, and there are the traditional onsite resources such as tutoring, career services, academic link support, etc. The testing center hosts tests for students to take throughout the semester within announced ranges of time for students to take as their schedule permits.
Virginia Western is pleased to continue expanding distance learning offerings this semester, accommodating the needs of students and supporting their life-long professional goals. To learn more about this new course offering and other courses for the fall semester, please visit: https://www.virginiawestern.edu.
