Virtual StudioLab, a Virtual Science Classroom Designed by Chula Doctorate Student, Wins a Global Award 

A Chula Ph.D. student has developed Virtual StudioLab, an innovative virtual science classroom that earned her a gold medal in South Korea, sparking scientific creativity and training Thai children to learn reflectively and participate in the real world. 

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. 

The start of the innovation 

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.” 

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.” 

STEAM tools — Outstanding Features of Virtual StudioLab 

Ms. Kulchaya said that what makes Virtual StudioLab stand out from other innovations in the Learning Innovation Contest is the use of STEAM tools in the design, teaching, and creation by learners in the online virtual world (STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). 

“Currently, this tool is not widespread and is not yet fully utilized, so we have collected a variety of STEAM tools on the“ My Studio ”platform or website for learners to use freely to develop their work and innovation,” Kulchaya explained, giving examples of teaching biology where instructors give students natural resource problems. “In general, teachers may let students choose a problem that they want to solve, but we would like to encourage more creativity, so when students come up with a topic, they must develop tools to go with it.” These tools they create are from the use of STEAM and external websites, for example, Metaverse or Spatial Analysis 3D.” 

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. 

“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. 

Virtual StudioLab Adds Values and Enhances Learning Skills 

Kulchaya summarizes the benefits that learners receive from learning with Virtual StudioLab as follows: 

• Virtual StudioLab allows learners to receive feedback, and thanks to the platform’s learning flexibility, learners can make the most complete adjustments and apply such experiences in their daily lives. 
• Through hands-on practice in science, technology, and the arts, learners learn from situations and challenges from real-life problems. 
• Using STEAM tools to design and perform activities, learners practice reflections, which reduces the fear of making mistakes in the development of their work and promotes their scientific creativity. 
• Solo work provides learners with self-awareness and, as a result, creates learning to adapt and be flexible in group work, a necessary skill for the future. 

Enhanced learning in other courses

Based on the success of the teaching practicum classes, Kulchaya plans to expand the Virtual StudioLab learning experiment into other courses at the secondary school level. The first phase will be for the STEAM courses, namely Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. 

“We can apply this innovation to any line of teaching because this platform is implemented in 6 steps, as mentioned. The scenarios and topics can be changed to fit the needs of the instructors.” In addition to learning experiments in other courses, Kulchaya elaborated on future intentions: “Finally, I want the STEAM community to work together not only with this platform but also with other interesting tools to develop learning processes and approaches that foster creativity and innovation for students.” 

6 Virtual StudioLab Learning Processes 

1. Situation: The teacher guides the use of the Studio Lab web application consisting of the menus My Studio, My Module, and Show Case, then asks the learner to search for information to determine the problem with a focus on learning from real-life situations or those related to the learner’s daily life. This step is located in My Studio Menu. 
2. Task (workload): Exploring information for problem solving. Learners can study the content from the My Module menu. My studio menu will contain the breakdown of the steps of the activity that the instructor will assign for learners so that they can come up with solutions to problems in the form of open discussion. 
3. Uniqueness: Design and plan solutions that integrate knowledge across disciplines to generate diverse and unique ideas for discussion. 
4. Design (and planning of solutions): Together, learners analyze and synthesize data to design the best solutions with STEAM tools such as Tinkercad (Autodesk), Spatial SketchUp, etc. 
5. Illustration: The development of an innovation, workpiece, or idea that is useful or valuable to oneself and society, which may be an idea or workpiece in which specific knowledge and skills are applied in a particular scientific context, scientific process, and creativity in a general context. 
6. Open-mindedness: to enable learners to bring their ideas to improve their work through the Metaverse platform, to openly hear from teachers and friends, to guide them in improving their work or innovation, and to present their complete work in the Showcase.

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