New Delhi: Learning science at Delhi University will soon get more exciting. DU is preparing e-labs for students where they will be able to see animations of the experiments provided in the curriculum while understanding the process and concept behind it. The virtual labs are a part of e-content being prepared by Institute of Life Long Learning (ILLL) to provide resource material to students on the internet.

Science courses have hardly been an attraction in DU, considering the number of students who withdraw admissions every year. However, ILLL is now trying to make science more fun and meaningful. Besides animation, the institute will also video record live experiments in college labs. The purpose is to make students understand the concepts of science behind the experiments so that they can try going beyond the curriculum once they hit the lab.

“We want students to shift from learning by rote to out-of-box thinking. The virtual experiments will be put up on the website so that students can see how they have to be done in the labs,’’ said Professor A K Bakhshi, director, ILLL.

“Once the students go through detailed animations, they will not have to wait for the teacher to give them directions. They can even go beyond the experiment and try it differently if they understand the concept.’’

Practical work, including experiments, constitute 25%-35% marks in graduation. The e-labs will also provide students with prelab and in-lab information along with the calculations required in a particular experiment.

The e-labs will clarify the basics to students, said ILLL officials. Said Vimal Rarh, academic secretary at ILLL, ‘‘Sometimes students do not even know the difference between a volumetric flask and a titration flask. We will explain everything from using different apparatus to how the reactions happen,’’ The elabs will be accessible once the ILLL portal is launched.

source: TOI