Labster is a company which develops interactive advanced lab simulations for broad range subjects including chemistry, sciences, medicine, and biology, etc. It aims to provide the educators various laboratory simulations which can be used in teaching the STEM students. Labster launched its lab simulation software back in 2013, so far it has created about 71 simulations, covering life science topics – from a basic introduction to acid and bases where students perform a simulation of handling corrosive chemicals and get to see the consequences of not following good lab safety protocol, to a simulation of using a confocal microscope.
All the 3D simulations include game and challenges are designed to keep students engaged and learning – such as mystery puzzles and multiple choice quiz questions, with text theory also available for students’ references. The 3D environments are designed more like adventure games, meaning that lab equipment can be interacted with and the environments can be navigated by clicking around.
For this evaluation, we will give an overview of the Labster lab simulation platform and its pricing model. Labster is an interactive advanced lab simulation for STEM subjects. A trial account has been set up for IT Innovation Centre to test and run the virtual labs. Based on the testing, we will evaluate its potential applications in the university scenarios and see how students could learn and benefit from it. Finally, we will do the SWOP analysis and the evaluation matrix scores, and give our conclusion and recommendations as to how the university can use the lobster lab simulation platform.