Bond Chemical Education Team

I was the project initiator, designing and incorporating the first resources into the classroom. I have continued developing and guiding this project along the way. After sharing tools and techniques this body of work has grown enormously with the help of my team members.

Discovering fresh technologies combined with computational skills allowed me to create our repository, The Virtual Scientist. This has enabled us to increase the accessibility to our resources, while being able to manage everything in-house.

The impact of this resource can be seen locally, nationally, and internationally, with approximately 2,000 views per month from across the globe since the website was launched in late 2021. These resources, which are free and easy to access, help us move towards global equality in science education, where students are no longer hindered by the resources available.

For me, this work just feels natural. I don’t need extra motivation, it’s like breathing. I think this comes from the evident benefits of these resources. By continuing this work, we are actively building towards reduced inequality in science education while improving the scholarship of learning and teaching.

I think it’s the fact that we have such a good combination of skills which makes this team work really well together. I have the technological knowhow; Stephanie has strong understanding of chemical education and the drive to see this project succeed. Then, Amanda has the design and multimedia experience which allows her to know what goes into making a good video, especially for this generation of students. This diversity in our skill set means that this work is really enjoyable to do, and we know that together we can overcome any roadblock.

My role was to edit, animate and publish many of the university-targeted virtual laboratories, along with managing the study which evaluated student outcomes with and without the use of the virtual laboratory.

As the co-leader of this project, my role involves managing timelines for the team and ensuring that we are consistently refining and enhancing our digital resources. I convene key chemistry subjects where the activities are trialed and have designed, filmed, and developed the virtual laboratories. I used my network with high school educators and key stakeholders to progress the project.

I was able to bring my knowledge and experience from teaching chemistry laboratories into the design and structure of the virtual laboratories. My project management skills were crucial to our success.

Within the next 3–5 years, we will continue expanding our library of virtual laboratories, working towards having a complete library of virtual laboratories for the Queensland schooling system. By incorporating stakeholder feedback in an evidence-based approach, we will customise the laboratories for the specific learning outcomes of the subjects and the most beneficial pedagogical approach for that grade. At this stage, we will also begin incorporating other resources into The Virtual Scientist, such as virtual reality, worksheets and other activities. This way, we will ensure that the tools available on The Virtual Scientist stay relevant, engaging and useful to the domestic and international science community.

I agree, it is so important that each student gets the opportunity to engage with science, and although we currently design these resources for the QLD curriculum, the learnings are applicable to many education systems around the world.