Video-Based Training: Accelerate Learning, Cut Lab Costs

Researchers and educators juggle multiple roles: running experiments, teaching, managing labs, and onboarding new members. This often leaves little time for thorough, hands-on training. As a result, demos may be shortened or inconsistent, and new learners often need repeated guidance. This leads to delays and inconsistent training quality across students or lab personnel.

When training involves expensive reagents, specialized equipment, or delicate samples, errors and repeated trials can considerably increase overall costs. New students and researchers often spend significant time on trial and error, consuming reagents, disposable supplies, and valuable samples while building proficiency. To get an idea of the impact this has, here’s a snapshot of common costs for labs doing research in the life sciences. 

• 🔶 Antibodies: A single vial of a specialized antibody can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
  
• 🔶 Cell culture media: Keeping cells alive for a project requires a steady supply of culture media, typically costing between $50 and $100 per liter. 
• 🔶 RT-qPCR master mix: A core component of the gold-standard method for measuring gene expression, 10 mL of this mix can cost over $1,000.

Whether in a professional research environment or a student lab, training often benefits from clear, repeatable demonstrations.

Animations and live-action demos can help learners grasp complex processes that are hard to see or explain in person. Video instruction offers a practical way to reduce training time and improve consistency by shifting foundational learning outside the lab. What’s more, videos help by delivering identical lessons that can be scaled to large groups in different locations, improving standardization and reproducibility.

In the recent JoVE webinar Cost-Saving Lab Training with Video-Based Articles, Poornima Raveendran, Senior Teaching Associate at IISER Pune in India, shared her experience. Since 2019, she has trained over 2,500 undergraduate and high school biology students. Poornima highlighted the importance of scaling training under resource constraints, commenting on how infrastructure shortages, large class sizes, and time limits can hinder effective molecular biology training.

Given these challenges, Poornima uses video to make lab training more efficient, affordable, and streamlined. By assigning video playlists in advance, her team ensures students enter the lab with a solid grasp of core concepts before they get to work. This approach allows time for teaching higher-level concepts, like troubleshooting and experimental design, rather than repeating basic procedural demos. Post-workshop videos are also used to reinforce lab learning.

Standardized video training isn't only a cost- and time-saving measure, it's a method that improves learning outcomes. Poornima’s strategy has been effective for learners of different skill levels. She has used the same video resources to train both undergrad students in complex gene expression analysis and 9th to 12th graders in foundational molecular biology techniques. 

The ability to use a single platform and protocol for a wide range of trainees is a key advantage. And the students’ feedback speaks for itself: they rated the videos as highly informative, useful, and interesting.

Here are a few snippets from the webinar:

The benefits of video training are not limited to improving student outcomes. Principal investigators and research teams can standardize lab procedures, accelerate onboarding, and quickly learn complex new methods. Ensuring that everyone follows the same best practices reduces variability in results, supports reproducibility, and makes collaboration between groups smoother and more productive.

By minimizing failed experiments, labs see direct cost savings. In turn, researchers reclaim hours otherwise spent repeating demonstrations or fixing preventable mistakes. This time can be redirected toward designing experiments, mentoring, publishing research, and preparing grant applications.

At the institutional level, video training lowers overall recurring expenses by reducing the need for repeated in-person demos and the consumables they require—delivering a more cost-effective training ecosystem. It also provides a durable knowledge archive, preserving expertise when experienced staff move on and ensuring continuity

These benefits strengthen not only the quality and efficiency of research, but also the institution’s ability to drive academic success and innovation.

Anyone involved in lab training knows how much effort it takes to teach and learn hands-on techniques properly. Cost-effective, high-impact training in labs means saving time and money without compromising the science. 

Ultimately, the goal is streamlined and effective lab training without breaking budgets or schedules. For labs looking to maximize their resources, video training offers a practical, scalable solution that meets modern needs and supports continued excellence in research.

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