Amman Baccalaureate School Uses Virtual Labs to Help Students Visualize Scientific Concepts

Ms. Rana Al Liddawi and Ms. Rania Barham teach IB diploma program, higher-level sciences, at Amman Baccalaureate School (ABS). Miss Rana teaches Biology, and Miss Rania teaches Chemistry. Some concepts, like intermolecular forces, cannot easily be visualized. Ms. Rana and Ms. Rania use Labster as an interactive teaching tool to explore these concepts in a gamified learning environment. 

Discover how ABS uses Labster to do experiments that would not otherwise be accessible, how they get real-time feedback on how their students are doing with the concepts, and how Ms. Rana and Ms. Rania engage students whose attention is challenging to maintain. 

Virtual Labs used:

• Atomic Structure (Principles): Atoms and isotopes
• Cellular Respiration: Glycolysis 
• Gene Expression Unit: Use sequencing to unveil a gene linked to obesity
• Intermolecular Forces: Rediscover the forces to save the world! 
• Introduction to Groups of the Periodic Table 
• Ionic and Covalent Bonds 
• Periodic Table of Elements: Get the table organized in time!
• Photosynthesis: Algae pigment analysis 

‍Enables students to do the impossible

“It's sometimes not enough to explain things in class, but through Labster, they get to understand more. For example, examining the periodic table is something you cannot do directly in the lab. We like to look at what they cannot see, like intermolecular forces, ionic bonds, and covenants. Labster is interesting to use in chemistry classes.”

Teaching with virtual labs

“I use them to understand as a way to extend the lesson even more. Using Labster quizzes, it’s nice to get feedback to see if they got the point or not. I can benefit from teaching and using virtual labs, plus you ask them questions while they’re using the Labster labs in class. They can sometimes do a simulation on their laptop, or sometimes I'll do it as group work where they use the interactive board to go through the simulation.” 

Student feedback

“Students feel like it's a game like they are inside this specific game. And you know, this new generation likes games a lot. This format helps them to understand. During the Labster virtual lab, they connect the concepts to something related to real life. For me, for example, in chemistry, sometimes it's not easy for them to imagine the atom, the bond between the atom, the intermolecular forces, and the attraction. So, it’s helpful for them to understand more.”

Labster engages

“After COVID, after spending two years at home online, it was difficult to make the students stay in the class, sit down, and participate. They are not used to sitting down and listening, but using Labster in class keeps them engaged because they enjoy it. There's a theory they can read, answer the questions, and do the virtual labs. “