At Mentis Sciences, our MSET graduate and undergraduate procedures are designed to connect STEM students with powerful tools for gaining (and retaining) crucial concepts, paving the way for a truly well-rounded education.
But of course, no lesson exists in a vacuum! Just as our STEM virtual labs can help reinforce subjects your students are already learning about, you can supplement the labs themselves with a variety of enriching activities that drive big ideas home. Keep reading as we share a few fun ways to bolster your next STEM lab.
Fun & Games
Think back to your favorite classroom experiences from your school days — chances are, some of them involved a bit of fun and games! According to a 2014 study in the National Library of Medicine, risk-based learning games (think a bit of healthy competition with classmates) were linked to long-term retention of knowledge. As an educator, that’s something to feel good about!
Bring Class Outside
Another potentially helpful way to encourage long-term retention of key concepts? Take your class to the great outdoors! As Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine notes, multiple studies have shown positive impacts for children learning in or near outdoor spaces — such as improving attention spans, and making students more engaged with the material they’re learning about.
While these studies might be about younger learners, we think the takeaways absolutely apply to students at the undergraduate and graduate learners as well. After all, who doesn’t feel more relaxed and inspired when surrounded by the beauty of nature and fresh air?
Plus, the backdrop of nature provides a handy way to illustrate concepts from the lesson. After all, many of the most fundamental science discoveries happened while observing the great outdoors.
Talk About Real-World Applications
Speaking of...
It can be extremely beneficial to talk about real-world applications of scientific concepts as a regular practice in your classroom. For example, Mentis Sciences’ educational tools demonstrate properties such as tension, friction, buoyancy, and much more — and all of these concepts are reflected in real-life processes that happen around us every day! You could even encourage students to seek out such examples and present about them between virtual labs.
Host Virtual Check-Ins
Of course, not every class has the means of physically meeting in the same place at the same time. Fortunately, one of the great things about modern STEM education is that there’s no shortage of ways to stay connected online. Regular online check-ins or office hours can give students a convenient way to talk more about what they learned in the virtual lab, and address any topics they might want to go over in further detail.
Encourage Questions
Even as adults, it can sometimes be difficult to ask questions or voice confusion about a tricky concept — or to even be able to articulate what, exactly, you’re unsure about. This is why it can be a great, welcome practice to encourage questions before and after hosting STEM virtual labs.
Mentis Sciences’ STEM virtual labs are designed to bring essential concepts to life — and today’s ideas help keep the learning going! Please contact us today to learn more about our educational tools for graduate and undergraduate students alike. We can’t wait to work with you and your students as you make exciting strides in STEM.
