The objectives of the study were to (1) describe the demographics of faculty teaching with distance education technology; (2) explore faculty perceptions of the best practices for distance education in teaching and the innovative ways used to deliver laboratory courses within the bench sciences and to (3) describe the perceived effectiveness and barriers associated with distance education courses. Qualitative research methods were used to conduct interviews with bench science professors at various land-grant universities. Eight domains and 21 themes were found that influence the effectiveness, barriers and challenges associated with the bench science laboratories. The key domains found in this study were effectiveness, barriers, technology and incentives. The themes categorized in the domains were innovations, extra time, laboratory equipment and no extra pay. This paper highlights the aspects of distance education by using the theory, Diffusion of Innovations by Rogers. The theory focuses on the innovations of the faculty and looks in depth of implementation stage of diffusion of innovations. By using this theory, this paper argues that developing a course in bench science laboratories has to be approached differently than in the past.