In LabXchange's Educator Connect webinars, real educators from around the world share tips, tricks, and strategies for using LabXchange in their classrooms. Below, read about the strategies used by one of our featured educators.

Gabryella Wilder, M.Ed., teaches biology in Slatington, Pennsylvania, where she balances AP® Biology, Keystone Biology, and freshman environmental science, with each course carrying its own expectations for rigor, pacing, and student readiness. Keystone Biology students are preparing for Pennsylvania's state Keystone Biology exam, while AP® students are working toward one of the most content-dense exams in the high school curriculum. Wilder's challenge is one that many biology teachers share: how do you ensure that students have time to do real science in class without leaving gaps in background knowledge or losing students who needed more time to process?

Her answer was to use LabXchange pathways as pre- and post-class bookends.

Wilder structures her classroom around the 5E instructional model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate)—modified slightly to include “Extend”—and she identified LabXchange’s pathways as a resource uniquely suited to strengthening the first and last stages without pulling time away from the middle. Before class, students complete an “Engage” pathway built around videos, readings, interactive simulations, and formative questions. By the time they arrive in the classroom, they share a common baseline of background knowledge. After class, an “Extend” pathway gives them structured space to deepen their understanding through practice, data analysis, and targeted review.

“This just builds their capabilities before our lesson [and] gives time in class to protect that inquiry-based exploration for students, while also giving time at the end to give structured expansion or targeted review.”

The AP® Biology unit on enzyme kinetics illustrates Wilder's approach clearly. Before the enzyme catalysis lab, students complete a pre-class Engage pathway with an interactive simulation on enzyme activity and data-based question sets. The in-class session is reserved entirely for hands-on experimentation and data analysis. Afterward, the Extend pathway guides students through a text-based deep-dive on the topic, higher-order thinking questions, and AP®-style free response practice.

• To learn more about creating and using your own custom pathways, see: How to Create and Edit Pathways and Best Practices for Pathway Design.

In her Keystone Biology classes, the structure works similarly, though Wilder adjusts the content and expectations to meet students where they are at while still holding the bar high.

For a Keystone cellular respiration unit, the pre-class pathway includes a video introduction, a simulation of electron transport and proton flow, and a Keystone-aligned question set. In class, students do hands-on lab activities and inquiry-based modeling around aerobic and anaerobic respiration processes, which are essential for the state standards. The post-class pathway then circles back with a photosynthesis and cellular respiration simulation, a reading on aerobic respiration, and metabolism-focused science practice questions to extend and assess the students’ understanding. One feature of pathways that Wilder finds especially valuable is the ability to track students’ progress through a pathway. This gives her a clearer window into where students are still struggling and allows her to provide more targeted support when needed.

Beyond her own classroom, Wilder serves as a part-time curriculum coach and has spent three years supporting her district's transition to Pennsylvania's Science, Technology & Engineering, and Environmental Literacy & Sustainability (STEELS) standards, which emphasizes inquiry-based, three-dimensional science learning. She uses LabXchange’s virtual labs and simulations to get students to use models, analyze data, and construct evidence-based explanations, which are all central to the STEELS framework.

"LabXchange fits perfectly with three-dimensional learning. It seamlessly integrates the science and engineering practices, the crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. There's a lot of focus on engaging in the science rather than rote memorization, which I think is a big shift from our old standards. We're focusing less on the memorization of facts and applying our content knowledge to real-world problems—and I think LabXchange is an amazing tool to help do that."

Wilder’s approach to using pathways in her lesson design is something that every educator can incorporate into their practice. For more tips and tricks about teaching with LabXchange, attend our next Educator Connect webinar (May 20, 2026, with sessions at 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM Eastern Time), where you can hear practical advice from real educators.