Kemi Jona, Ph.D Northwestern University This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant OCI However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommendations are those of the investigators and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

High School Science Lab in 1900

High School Science Lab Today

Science Lab: The Real World

100 years later  With the exception of indoor plumbing, why does the school science lab look the same?  Where are the productivity gains in science education that we have seen in industry?

Science Education is in Trouble  “Most high school students participate in a limited range of laboratory activities that do not help them to fully understand science process”  “The quality of current laboratory experiences is poor for most students”  “Students in schools with higher concentrations of non- Asian minorities spend less time in laboratory instruction than students in other schools… …. And some students have no access to any type of laboratory experience.” (ALR, page 6)

“ the epistemology of many school inquiry tasks is antithetical to the epistemology of authentic science.” Following a rote lab procedure Inquiring about unknown phenomenon Experimental design and controls already provided Adapting experimental procedures based on data Doing an experiment only onceTrying to find a single right answer Repeating an experiment multiple times to ensure accuracy and reliability of results Looking at other people’s data = cheatingMaking mistakes = badGive results to the teacher for a grade Using existing body of knowledge as leverage for new directions in scientific research Peer review as a way of building consensus School Science Authentic Scientific Research Chinn & Malhotra (2002)

X ~140,000 elementary/secondary schools in US

Cloud Computing Software as a Service Web hosting services

What if we could do the same thing for science labs?

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Pilot Results (N= 594 students) Overall Learning Gain (% score increase, 18 items) 15% Statistical significanceP ≤ Effect size0.80 Content Learning21% Statistical significanceP ≤ Effect size1.03 Process Learning8% Statistical significanceP ≤ Effect size0.37

A Lot of Experiments!

When did students do the lab?

MIT Neutron Beam iLab

A Science Lab Server Farm at University of Technology Sydney

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL SCIENCE LAB OF THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE? ?

Transformative at Multiple Levels

Advantages of The iLab Network  Broadens access to expensive or delicate high-end equipment  Provides students with access to remotely-hosted science lab facilities rather than just local ones  More time on task / less setup & cleanup  More experimental runs  Safer  Can do labs before and after class, at home – not limited to 50 min class period  Share & compare data locally or globally – just like scientists do  Enables new economic models and public/private partnerships for provisioning lab equipment for schools

We can not expect to fill the pipeline for a 21st century STEM workforce with 19th century curriculum, tools, and policies.

Cyberlearning tools like the iLab Network can drive the transformation of STEM education and broaden access to high- quality STEM learning opportunities for all students