Shift Education Lab brings innovation to the evolving K-12 landscape

By Kyle Pineault

For the Shift Education Lab, the classroom itself is the assignment. The Virginia Commonwealth University initiative is testing ideas and pursuing practical solutions to improve K-12 education.

Supported by the Office of Innovation and Strategic Design, VCU's Shift Labs bring together students, faculty and community partners to tackle real-world challenges through human-centered design, rapid prototyping and strategic foresight. The Shift Education Lab, established in 2024, aims to bridge the gap between traditional instruction and modern technological change.

With projects including design jams for students, teacher training, STEM curriculum development, academic research and global education experiences, "the goal is for people to recognize the work as truly shifting education," said lab director Brandin Conrath, Ph.D. "It's an opportunity hub of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in service to finding solutions that support K-12 education."

The Shift Education Lab supports the broader mission of Office of Innovation and Strategic Design, which promotes interdisciplinary collaboration. Among the lab's frequent VCU partners are the School of Education and its Center for Teacher Leadership, as well the School of Life Sciences and Sustainability, part of the College of Humanities and Sciences, with a focus on the VCU Rice Rivers Center. Beyond campus, primary partners are regional public and private K-12 school divisions.

Here, Conrath shares additional insights.

What gap or opportunity in education is the lab working to address?

The field of education is always changing, with new insights on how or what students should be learning. Shift Education Lab seeks to address a critical opportunity: moving from traditional forms of instruction to more innovative methods that prepare learners to be scientifically literate and to thrive in a modern technological society.

What does innovation look like in real classrooms?

In that setting, innovation is grounded by integrating new curriculums, tools and experiences directly into students' learning environment. One example is our integration of virtual reality headsets into middle school classrooms to support STEM instruction.

The lab works with K-12 schools and community partners. How does that influence its work?

The lab operates in service of its partners, tailoring its support to their specific needs, whether those are for educators or students. A partner might reach out to us for use of our technologies or for professional development in areas like extended reality, STEM data science, LEGO Serious Play or design thinking. We then collaboratively develop a solution.

Can you share a project that captures the lab's goals?

One project is our study abroad program in Lisbon, Portugal. This VCU spring break program is a collaboration between the Office of Innovation and Strategic Design, Shift Education Lab, the Global Education Office and the School of Education's Center for Teacher Leadership. It's an intensive one-credit course that gives pre-service teachers a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in Portugal's international education system.

What's on the horizon?

A second project in development also speaks to the essence of collaboration. It's focused on supporting data science in STEM education, and while I can't share too much yet, our partners will include the VCU Rice Rivers Center, Pennsylvania State University, a nonprofit organization and local secondary science teachers and students.

What gives you hope about the future of education ?

There are still students out there who are excited to learn and want to try new things. It actually feels great when I don't have enough VR headsets for students on an open house night. We need to foster that excitement through innovative educational opportunities.

A longer version of this Q&A was originally published on the Office of the Provost blog.