The AirLab in Action: Democratizing Access to High School Research Literacy
METHODS: Responsive evaluative case study approach (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), guided by the Evaluand-Oriented Responsive Evaluation Model (EREM) (Jorrín-Abellán & Stake, 2009).Goal: Assess the usefulness of the IRML-AirLab. Data Collection: Data were collected through photos, fieldnotes, questionnaires, and artifact analysis. Procedure: Three workshop sessions were delivered to three groups of 10th grade students on separate days during the months of January and February of 2025:
- 104 students in the Information Technology career pathway
- 90 students in the engineering career pathway
- 158 students in the health science pathway.
Iván M. Jorrín-Abellán, Mei-Lin Chang, Anete Vásquez, Rocío González SuárezKennesaw State University. Interactive Research Methods Lab
ijorrina@kennesaw.edu
FINDINGS: Data indicate that students found the AirLab and its accompanying interactive resources both helpful and informative. Participants reported that the AirLab provided a clear, step-by-step framework for developing strong research designs tailored to their AP Research projects.
INTRODUCTION: The Interactive Research Methods Lab (IRML) has developed the AirLab—an affordable, portable, inflatable version of the lab—designed to democratize the teaching and learning of research methods among high school students participating in Advanced Placement (AP) Capstone programs. The AirLab is paired with a newly created AI-powered web application, and both tools were piloted with three cohorts of students (approximately 500) at a metro-Atlanta high school.
The workshops integrated the 5E Learning Cycle (Bybee & Landes, 1990), a student-centered, inquiry-based instructional model that uses five phases to promote learning and understanding.
The qualitative data from the study is currently being analyzed with very promising findings. The quotations below were shared by high school students and teachers participating in the study:
"I love how organized the process is because research can be messy and get very unorganized but also being able to take a picture and it upload my writing is very helpful and fast. (High School student -Session 1/31/2025)"
DISCUSSION: This study highlights the IRML AirLab and AI app as an accessible, user-friendly approach to fostering research literacy in secondary education, especially for students engaged in capstone and research-driven coursework.
Figure 2. Summary of Descriptive Statistics: Boxplots by Student Groups.
The AirLab in Action: Democratizing Access to High School Research Literacy
ijorrina
Created on June 10, 2025
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
View
Vision Board
View
SWOT Challenge: Classify Key Factors
View
Explainer Video: Keys to Effective Communication
View
Explainer Video: AI for Companies
View
Corporate CV
View
Flow Presentation
View
Geographical Challenge: Drag to the map
Explore all templates
Transcript
The AirLab in Action: Democratizing Access to High School Research Literacy
METHODS: Responsive evaluative case study approach (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), guided by the Evaluand-Oriented Responsive Evaluation Model (EREM) (Jorrín-Abellán & Stake, 2009).Goal: Assess the usefulness of the IRML-AirLab. Data Collection: Data were collected through photos, fieldnotes, questionnaires, and artifact analysis. Procedure: Three workshop sessions were delivered to three groups of 10th grade students on separate days during the months of January and February of 2025:
Iván M. Jorrín-Abellán, Mei-Lin Chang, Anete Vásquez, Rocío González SuárezKennesaw State University. Interactive Research Methods Lab
ijorrina@kennesaw.edu
FINDINGS: Data indicate that students found the AirLab and its accompanying interactive resources both helpful and informative. Participants reported that the AirLab provided a clear, step-by-step framework for developing strong research designs tailored to their AP Research projects.
INTRODUCTION: The Interactive Research Methods Lab (IRML) has developed the AirLab—an affordable, portable, inflatable version of the lab—designed to democratize the teaching and learning of research methods among high school students participating in Advanced Placement (AP) Capstone programs. The AirLab is paired with a newly created AI-powered web application, and both tools were piloted with three cohorts of students (approximately 500) at a metro-Atlanta high school.
The workshops integrated the 5E Learning Cycle (Bybee & Landes, 1990), a student-centered, inquiry-based instructional model that uses five phases to promote learning and understanding.
The qualitative data from the study is currently being analyzed with very promising findings. The quotations below were shared by high school students and teachers participating in the study: "I love how organized the process is because research can be messy and get very unorganized but also being able to take a picture and it upload my writing is very helpful and fast. (High School student -Session 1/31/2025)"
DISCUSSION: This study highlights the IRML AirLab and AI app as an accessible, user-friendly approach to fostering research literacy in secondary education, especially for students engaged in capstone and research-driven coursework.
Figure 2. Summary of Descriptive Statistics: Boxplots by Student Groups.