How is Global Lab Different? (t)

Global Lab seeks to build a learning environment that provides an authentic setting for real science. Such an environment would allow students to share information, communication, and investigative tools, as well as social and cultural conditions that stimulate and benefit the science learner. Components include:

Authentic Investigative Questions

Authentic investigative questions for which students feel a sense of engagement are critical. Whether they themselves propose the question or received it from their peers or professional scientists, students should be able to internalize the question as theirs. Students gain an ability to pose questions through practical experiences and through sharing these experiences in community discourse. Questions often arise from discussions among small groups of people with similar interests.

An Authentic Object of Study

The second is an authentic object of study. An authentic object of study is connected to students' lives and to life in their communities. For this reason, we ask students to select a part of their local environment for their object of study.

Authentic Tools and Methodologies

The third component is authentic tools and methodologies. Working with Global Lab tools, students gain experience with scientific rigor. They come to understand the importance of protocols and shared methodologies as they participate in collaborative experiments.

Authentic Community

Last, but perhaps most important, is participation in an authentic community, a worldwide community of teachers and students connected through telecommunications. Through community participation, students acquire the communication and collaboration skills that will be so essential in the twenty-first century workplace.

A high school version of Global Lab was created by TERC of Cambridge, MA, and has been supported by the National Science Foundation of the USA. Now a new version lets younger students join the world-wide lab.