Science classrooms are a great place to cultivate innovative skills and creativity. Unfortunately, science and technology laboratories in many schools have limited space. Experimental tools are not ready and not enough to create innovation. Moreover, the traditional atmosphere and teaching process often deprive learners of the motivation and courage to experiment because they are afraid to make mistakes.
These problems sparked the interest in Ms. Kulchaya Piboon, a Ph.D. student at the Department of Educational Technology and Communications, Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University, to develop a new virtual learning platform: the Virtual StudioLab.
“The pain point of learning in the classroom is that some experiments can be done and some can’t, but in the virtual world, we can do almost anything that will give students more courage to experiment and exchange knowledge,” Kulchaya said of the beginning of developing the Virtual StudioLab platform with her advisors, Prof. Dr. Jinvee Klai-sang (principal advisor) and Associate Professor Dr. Prakob Koraneekij (co-advisor).
This innovation has received much attention from international academic communities. In mid-2024, the project “Virtual StudioLab: Igniting Scientific Creativity: Fostering Scientific Creativity through STEAM Tools, Reflective Learning, and Real-World Engagement” won a gold medal at the 13th 2024 World Invention Creativity Olympics & Conference hosted by the Korea University Invention Association (KUIA) and World Invention Intellectual Property Association (WIIPA) in Seoul, the Republic of Korea. “Metaverse virtual tours are something that the judges have seen a lot in the contest, but what makes Virtual StudioLab stand out from other innovations is the STEAM Tools that the judges are quite interested in because no one has created an online science classroom like this before.”
Ph.D Student, Department of Educational Technology and Communications Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University. Photo: Chulalongkorn University.
What is a Virtual Studio Lab?
Virtual StudioLab is a platform that offers a better and different approach to science learning and its process in an environment that allows learners trials and errors through the use of various online tools and devices to design and create in a virtual world.
“Virtual StudioLab is a conceptual innovation. In the Virtual StudioLab, we have developed a total of 6 learning steps on a website platform where learners will complete learning activities through these steps. In simple terms, it is an online virtual classroom on a website.”
Ms. Kulchaya explained that the six-step learning process starts from searching for information to define problems, thinking of solutions by exchanging ideas, designing and planning solutions by integrating knowledge from many disciplines, analyzing and synthesizing information, and developing innovations that are valuable to oneself and society.
“This kind of learning process stimulates and promotes scientific creativity; learners learn through practice, exchanging ideas with other peers and instructors to improve their work or ideas.”
Real learning, real fun, while creating in the virtual world
As a biology instructor, Kulchaya introduced Virtual StudioLab in her teaching practicum classes for 12th-grade students for one semester and found that the learners showed higher creativity and also searched for more tools on the platform. This was quite unexpected and reflective of the students’ understanding of the use of technology and creativity.
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“The main feature that students like is to project design through games. For example, in water waste management or city planning problems, the students would apply a city-building game to manage the space to rebuild the city. It is a tool that the students have added themselves.” And because it is an online platform, learners can learn anywhere, at any time, not just in class. Normally, students are given extra material to study more on their own anyway, so they can study and work on the material easily on their own devices like a cell phone or iPad.
Read the full article and see more picture, please visit https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/210231/
By Chulalongkorn University
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