Lifelong learning lab: collaborative design of hands-on science for chinese schools

A new kind of lab is being established to study and promote collaborative learning and hands-on creativity in China: the Lifelong Learning Lab. The goal of this lab is to support current reform efforts in the Chinese education system, with its traditional focus on rote learning and exam results, by developing effective ways to integrate collaborative and hands-on learning experiences. The emphasis is on collaboration between different age groups, from pre-K to primary school through high school and university and even beyond, to the emerging world of online education in China. As a prototype of this lifelong learning approach, we describe here results from an initiative called LEGO2NANO, where undergraduate and graduate students from China and the UK collaborated with Chinese high school and middle-school students to design a novel hands-on science learning experience based on a DIY Atomic Force Microscope. We detail a range of outcomes of this student-led collaborative design initiative, ranging from hardware and software development to interactive design and child psychology.