Sophia Learning, an online and on-demand learning platform providing general education-level courses to students at any stage of their higher education journey, has recently announced that it has partnered with Labster, the world’s leading EdTech platform for virtual labs and interactive science, to deliver college-level science courses incorporating Labster’s simulation content.
The partnership is designed to help meet the evolving higher education needs of Sophia Learning’s students and working adults, according to a press statement.
Labster allows educators to digitally explore and enhance science offerings and supplement their classroom activities. The platform now offers more than 300 titles in its catalog of STEM curriculum-aligned virtual lab simulations, suitable for more than 50 academic courses. Labster also integrates with existing learning management systems, making it easy for instructors to view student performance data and tailor decisions on coaching, as well as reduce time spent on grading.
Over 5 million students in high schools and universities in 70 countries have used Labster to perform realistic experiments, learn key science concepts and practice their skills in a risk-free learning environment. Labster has collaborations with over 3,000 leading educational institutions across the world.
“I continue to be amazed by the enrollment growth of Sophia, which is a true testament to the team’s constant drive to enrich its curriculum and offerings to meet our students’ evolving needs and support their credit advancement and affordable education journey,” said Karl McDonnell, CEO of Strategic Education. “We’re thrilled to partner with Labster and I look forward to seeing how our course designers will leverage the platform’s innovative simulations to enhance our science lab offerings.”
Sophia Learning is a subsidiary of Strategic Education, Inc., an education company dedicated to improving college affordability, student engagement, and workforce readiness.
The Chemistry lab course developed with Labster is American Council on Education (ACE®) recommended for college credit. Other courses are currently being reviewed by ACE for potential credit recommendation. These courses present an attractive option for earning low-cost college-level credits in STEM fields.
Sophia’s Chemistry lab course was the first to launch with Labster simulations in December 2022. Throughout 2023, Sophia Learning will build four additional online lab courses with Labster’s simulations. The courses will include additional Labster supplemental content such as lab manuals, lab reports, formative assessments, and introductory videos to aid students in completing the lab simulations. When they go live, the five Sophia Learning courses with Labster-integrated labs will be Introduction to Chemistry, Human Biology, Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology I, and Anatomy and Physiology II.
“The Sophia Learning team has curriculum-design expertise that allows them to wrap theory, instruction and assessment around our interactive simulated laboratories to present ACE-recommended courses,” said Mark Michelson, head of strategic partnerships for Labster. “They’ve shown true leadership in their commitment to developing professional advancement in STEM fields.”
Sophia Learning offers dozens of online, low-cost general education-level courses that are ACE®-recommended for college credit. Sophia Learning pairs high-quality online courses for college-level credit with a curriculum committed to meeting the higher education needs of students and working adults, and over 1,000 colleges and universities have been sent Sophia transcripts.
