Semester-Long Assessment of Aseptic Technique in Microbiology Labs

Biology educators emphasize aseptic technique when teaching lab courses. Aseptic technique is very important in microbiology to ensure safety and prevent cross-contamination. Although it can be assessed throughout the semester by examining the students’ technique and observation of contamination, this tool offers a simple semester-long graded assessment of each student’s technique. The procedures allow the students to perform a quick exercise that can determine if cross-contamination occurs, thus determining if aseptic technique was observed. Instructors can quickly check for the presence of cross-contamination. After implementing this procedure, a quantifiable improvement in my students’ aseptic technique throughout the semester was observed. It was noted that between the middle and end of the semester there was a slight increase in the amount of cross-contamination but still well below the contamination observed at the beginning of the semester. This procedure was a valuable way to assess aseptic technique during the course of a semester. A search for “aseptic technique” on the American Society of Microbiology website reveals that several lab experiments and job opportunities men