‘The Chaotic Science Lab’: Supporting trainee science teachers – a cross departmental project

This project supports science teachers in developing health and safety skills through the use of a virtual laboratory. In the laboratory they can carry out health and safety audits, develop their awareness of potential hazards and assess the possible risks involved. The students can visit the virtual world either individually or in groups, and then discuss the issues they have found to be a risk ‘in-world’ or later in the ‘real’ classroom. A web interface enables user registration and a user record for each session. Each session is recorded with time, date, location and scores for the user as they work through pre-programmed activities which enable the tracking and analysis of site usage. Early findings suggest that this is an intriguing and unexpected addition to the science teacher training curriculum, and that students are keen to develop the scenarios further. There are clear benefits for staff and students alike.