At Leone XIII Middle School in Perugia 5, Principal Fabio Gallina introduces 'Lad', active learning laboratories designed to enhance educational experiences.
Gallina is transforming the traditional educational model by redesigning classroom spaces to be more functional, engaging, and efficient. The key concept of this contemporary approach is 'Lad', an acronym for laboratories-classrooms-disciplines, akin to university setups.
“With the Lad,” explains Gallina, “we abandon the traditional organizational structure of learning spaces divided into classrooms in favor of discipline-specific laboratories designed to ensure hands-on learning for individual subjects and/or related disciplines.”
The Lad encompass various subjects, including music, science, Italian, history, and art education. “There is a language lab, well-equipped and modern, through which we have significantly increased the number of students achieving language certifications in English and French; while in the technology lab,” Gallina continues, “students engage in robotics, ecology, mineralogy, designing and constructing tools such as small solar panels and models of buildings, as well as designing classroom interiors, utilizing the two 3D printers available at the school.”
“However, the pride of Perugia 5 is the Math and Science Lab where, thanks to a mobile laboratory and other resources, including 16 microscopes and a high-performance active panel, students can conduct experiments in chemistry, physics, and geology, while also learning math through hands-on experiences. In this environment, our students have presented their studies on constructing a space beam, the nature of 'black holes' in astronomy, and the functions of DNA in biology. This way, they become scientist-presenters, free from the constraints of traditional four-walled classrooms.”
What are the benefits for learning? “The discipline-specific laboratory classroom,” concludes Gallina, “significantly improves the teaching-learning process by integrating traditional lecture-based instruction (which will still be part of daily teaching practice) with a form of active and effective learning.”