THE LABORATORY
Introduction to Laboratories in Education
After exploring the work of major thinkers—psychologists, pedagogists, and educators—who advocated learning through doing and experimentation, we will now focus on laboratories and experiments as tools that enable and deepen knowledge. We will continue the discussion from earlier articles, examining how labs turn theoretical instruction into hands-on experience.
A laboratory is typically a dedicated space, separate from the usual classroom yet still within or near the educational setting. In a lab, learning happens through direct, unmediated interaction. While classrooms use books, multimedia, or blackboards, labs use tools that generate information rather than merely transmit it. We might view the lab, borrowing a phrase from another domain, as a “user-generated content” platform. Actually, the situation is more nuanced, because those who design lab tools and set up these spaces also shape the types of content that can emerge, influencing both the learning process and the experiences students can have.
Cognitive Artifacts and Active Learning
Seymour Papert referred to such resources as “cognitive artifacts,” meaning they amplify the user’s mental capabilities. Recognizing labs and their tools as cognitive artifacts is vital for educators, as it underscores how these environments don’t just deliver knowledge; they transform it. Students can explore, create, and learn in an active, collaborative way.
In contemporary educational models, the lab is more than a method; it represents a philosophy that puts learners at the center. The goal is to nurture citizens capable of making hypotheses, building instruments, measuring events, gathering data, and using that information for informed decision-making. These skills extend well beyond science, becoming crucial soft skills in many fields. Knowledge gains real meaning when learners experience it firsthand—by experimenting, constructing, and manipulating. This approach echoes Galileo Galilei’s scientific method, which teaches that true understanding arises from observation and experiment, not just memorization.
Global Trends in Lab-Based Learning
Policies worldwide increasingly highlight STEM skills, reshaping education to include more hands-on lab work. In Italy, for instance, recent initiatives have led to notable investments in school labs—particularly digital ateliers and FabLabs—funded by the National Operational Program (PON) for schools launched in 2014, which allocated around €1.5 billion to enhance educational infrastructure, including labs. This was followed by the 2015 National Digital School Plan (PNSD), providing an additional €1 billion for innovative learning spaces. A 2016 initiative earmarked around €28 million to create more than 1,800 “creative ateliers,” and the most recent Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) also supports new and upgraded FabLabs to give students modern tools for acquiring technological skills.
These investments foster a culture of innovation, broadening access to technology and championing lab-based learning in Italy. Similar approaches appear across Europe, from Germany’s emphasis on “MINT Labs” (Math, Informatics, Natural Sciences, and Technology) to France’s “École Numérique,” Spain’s “Aulas del Futuro,” and the Netherlands’ “Onderwijs2032”, all recognizing how labs develop practical and critical skills.
Conclusion: The Impact of Laboratories on Student Learning
In laboratories, students tackle real-world challenges, learn from mistakes, explore materials, and build solutions through active trial and error. This method is not limited to science; it applies to art, technology, economics, mathematics, and even the humanities. The aim is to let students learn by doing—engaging both mind and body in an integrated, hands-on process.
Ultimately, the key role of labs in modern education reflects a need to produce learners who can do more than memorize information; they can apply, adapt, and use knowledge to solve concrete problems. Labs transform schooling into a dynamic, immersive experience where students become the driving force of their own learning. Scientific tradition reminds us that genuine knowledge comes from firsthand observation, testing, and continually questioning what we already know. That’s the power of the laboratory: turning curiosity into competence and theory into tangible action, preparing students not just to understand the world but to change it.
Massimo Temporelli
President and founder of TheFabLab
