Nancy Kerner, LSA - Chemistry, created CoLABnet (Collaborative Laboratories through Networked Computers) in order to give science students experience with how experiments are conducted and conclusions are reached in the “real world.” 

Students work in the lab in teams, with each using its own set of samples and/or conditions. Each team funnels its data into the CoLABnet software program, which then collects, pools and summarizes the qualitative and quantitative data and places it into a customized databank. Students can then study, manipulate and analyze the data in a laboratory context that simulates the scientific process that they might follow as professional scientists.