Lab in a Box (LiB) is an educational project of the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência and its main objectives are the promotion and democratization of science.
It has been in the Municipality of Oeiras since 2019 and since then it has already trained approximately 50 teachers and directly impacted around 2000 students.
For a better understanding of this project, here are the words of Maria João Verdasca, IGC Schools Program and Lab in a Box coordinator.
A laboratory in a box – that is the promise of the Lab in a Box educational project. What is this project?
Lab in a Box (LiB) is an educational project of the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) designed to develop critical thinking, creativity and scientific curiosity. It focuses on training teachers for regular experimental science teaching practices and on providing all the necessary materials for their implementation in the classroom, free of charge.
With the support of the Municipality of Oeiras each teacher participating in the project is offered certified training in experimental teaching and a kit with materials and practical protocols relevant to the school curriculum. The promotion and democratization of science are the areas where LiB operated, relying on three main axes:
– Social innovation: through training offered to the teaching community which encourages co-creation activities involving both teachers and students and by supporting the establishment of autonomous communities, active in the implementation and promotion of experimental science teaching.
– Accessibility: through the development of educational resources accessible to all audiences (school and non-school) on the project’s website, free of charge.
– Economic and environmental sustainability: attention to the use of simple, inexpensive and environmentally sustainable materials.
In summary, I can say that Lab in a Box is an innovative project that allows: i) to transform science classes into dynamic learning laboratories; ii) to increase the frequency and the quality of experimental teaching in schools; iii) to create an enthusiastic teaching community and mobilize it for an innovative intervention in science teaching.
It was in 2016 that LiB was implemented for the first time in Cape Verde. What is your assessment of the last 7 years?
It is really an extremely positive one! In Cape Verde, Angola and Guinea alone, and with the support of the Merk Family Foundation, we were able to train around 100 teachers who are now replicating the project’s experiences in classrooms on the African continent.
In Portugal, and with the support of the Municipality of Oeiras, we have already trained close to 50 teachers (elementary school) since 2019, and it is currently a very cherished project in the municipality. We have dozens of teachers on the waiting list for the next school year, which reflects the size and demand that Lab in a Box has in the municipality.
The implementation of the project directly impacted around 2000 children and young scientists in Oeiras last year alone. This impact was felt far beyond the classroom, since several teachers shared the materials available in their kit with other teachers and other classes, and the experiments learned were presented by the children themselves at science fairs, congresses and in the different schools of the school districts.
At the moment, in Portugal, we can only find Lab in a Box in the schools of the Municipality of Oeiras. Are there plans to expand the project to other municipalities?
Yes, we are currently evaluating what would be the best way of doing so. Our goal is not only to expand Lab in a Box to other municipalities, but also to other levels of education beyond elementary school. We are making a series of efforts with that in mind.
We recently presented the project to the Directorate-General for Education and submitted an application to the Sonae Education Award. At an early stage, the idea is to territorially expand Lab in a Box to preschool and also to AECs (Curriculum Enrichment Activities) where there is currently a gap in what concerns activities related to science.
Then we also want to reach middle schools and high schools. At the same time, and in terms of lifelong learning, we want to continue to bring experimental research activities to audiences of all ages focusing as well on minority communities, as a means to facilitate their access to science and/or their social reintegration.
How did the citizens of Oeiras, namely parents, teachers and students, receive this project?
The Lab in a Box project is being very well received by school community in Oeiras and it is currently a structural project in the municipality’s educational landscape. The waiting list we currently have (almost triple the available places) to attend the training and the enthusiasm in the classroom whenever the day comes to carry out the LiB experiments is proof of this.
The engagement of teachers, students and parents around this project was evident with the I Lab in a Box Meeting, where children from different educational levels presented the science projects they developed in the classroom to an audience of almost 200 people. When it comes to the teachers, their engagement this past year went far beyond what is required in a training context, with a clear sense of belonging to the project and a great motivation to continue implementing LiB experiments.
Finally, what can you tell us about the future generation of Oeiras scientists?
Learning is more effective when it is guided by interest and when it generates emotions, and this is an advantage the Lab in a Box project brings, achieving this by placing children in the role of scientists who are investigating a given problem situation. To solve it, they will have to ask questions, hypothesize, make predictions and suggest ideas to test them. In the end, the idea is that they can reach a conclusion on their own and not by something that has been unilaterally transmitted to them.
This is how Lab in a Box creates opportunities for effective learning and the acquisition of skills such as creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and also learning how to be a good collaborative worker. With this, I truly believe that the future generation of scientists from Oeiras will be better prepared to face the challenges of our ever-changing society, and also more informed and possessing greater autonomy whenever their decision-making abilities are needed.
