I am very proud to announce that Smart Science Education Inc. has a contract to supply our online hands-on science labs to the 23 campuses of the California State University, the largest university system in the United States with over 400,000 students enrolled.
Smart Science® labs are the only virtual labs developed outside of the CSU system to be chosen for use in the program to add virtual labs to science courses at CSU campuses. This action comes as a result of a mandate by the state's governor to remove system bottlenecks in all state colleges, including the University of California and the California Community College system. With rising enrollments, available lab seats have held back many students from graduating on time because of the necessity of fulfilling a laboratory science requirement.
The Smart Science approach to online labs differs from all others in that it uses real experiments, video recorded, and has sophisticated software that allows students to take their own data using their care and judgment just as in typical classroom labs. This approach is patented, and more patents are in process.
The point of science labs should be to do real science, to inquire, investigate, and discover. In general education classes, there's no real necessity for learning laboratory technique. It is, however, crucial to have an understanding of the nature of science, to develop scientific thinking skills, and to appreciate the complexity and ambiguity of empirical data. In many instances, Smart Science explorations fulfill these goals better than the traditional lab experiences.
© 2013 by Smart Science Education Inc., U.S.A. www.smartscience.net
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2 comments:
Great news, Harry! I wish we had had this when I was taking science classes at Pierce.
Thank you, Rosemary. More news to come!
Stop by ETC-Journal (etcjournal.com) anytime to see my latest columns, including a continuing lively discussion of Mars One.
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