Virtual laboratories improve accessibility and language awareness in science education

Samuel Girmay, a doctoral researcher at Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering, has received funding from the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation for a project to develop accessible and language-informed science education in secondary schools through virtual laboratories. The virtual laboratories will allow students to explore science practices flexibly and at their own pace, thus contributing to the accessibility of teaching.

The aim of Girmay's project is to bring virtual laboratories to secondary school science education. The virtual laboratories have been piloted as part of secondary school teaching in Helsinki and Mikkeli in spring 2024. "During the piloting phase, it was noted that the virtual laboratories support accessibility and language-aware teaching in science education. There are significant differences in the accessibility of science education, for example, in terms of which schools are able to organize visits to research laboratories for their students. Challenges to the provision of laboratory education in chemistry include safety and resources," Girmay says.

Free virtual labs expand learning opportunities

The benefits of the virtual laboratories are not limited to the accessibility of content; they also support language-aware teaching. Feedback from the piloted schools shows that virtual labs are particularly useful for language-aware teaching. For example, children with a migrant background whose native language is not Finnish may find it difficult to keep up with science lessons if they are not familiar with Finnish terminology. In the virtual laboratory environment, students can familiarize themselves with the vocabulary and methods at their own pace, for example, by completing a preliminary task. Virtual labs can also help students with learning challenges such as reading difficulties or neuropsychiatric disorders.

The variety of learning materials in virtual labs –texts, images, videos, and the possibility to explore the virtual lab environment –supports the needs of different learners and offers the opportunity to learn at their own pace. 'Virtual labs provide significant support to the laboratory teaching of chemical engineering at Aalto University, and the AALTOLAB virtual labs developed at Aalto are run more than 1,000 times a year. Student feedback from university and secondary school students on the virtual laboratories has been very positive. It is great that the project, funded by the Wihuri Foundation, will also bring virtual laboratories to science education in secondary schools,' says Professor Antti Karttunen from the School of Chemical Engineering.

Free of charge and open to all, virtual laboratories will also add variety to teaching and help broaden understanding of the possibilities of science learning. Secondary school teachers who have tested the virtual labs have commented that the virtual labs motivate science learning. "We will need more and more science experts in the future to solve a wide range of challenges. It has been great to hear students comment that this has inspired them to continue studying science," says Girmay.