Researchers' Night 2025 at JYU: Lights, Shadows and Technology
This year, our researchers' from the Innovative Learning Environments research group organised a total of three ongoing workshops with more than a hundred school participants!
The RGB-workshop was a part of the STEXperiments Erasmus+ project's many real scientific experiments that one can do at school, in person and online! The project aims to create a series of learning activities based on both real and virtual STEM experiments, supporting teachers in integrating engaging and meaningful STEM content into their lessons. As part of the researchers' night activities, we explored physics with RGB lights by testing and studying the shadows of characters crafted by students, created using RGB lights. To learn about the connections between different colors of light, the eye, and the brain we also experimented with an online RGB light simulation. For more information on the STEXperiments Project (Project number:2023-1-CZ01-KA220-SCH-000161648), please see: https://stexperiments.pedf.cuni.cz/about-the-project/
Combining RGB lights with characters created by the students can create both magical and educational experiences.
The AI Worshop was part of the AIWARE Erasmus + Project's activities, which aims to promote competencies for using artificial intelligence in the classrooms. During the Researcher's Night Workshop, the Students were able to get their hands on AI and create their own speaking characters from scratch – whether it was a war speech from a viking raider, encouraging words from a princess or motivational speech from a soldier. The point of the cheerful characters created using artificial intelligence was media education, demonstrating how anyone can easily create believable fake content from anything. For more information of the AIWARE Project (Project number:101087136), please see: https://www.jyu.fi/en/projects/artificial-intelligence-aware-classroom-aiware
By creating playful AI characters, studying artificial intelligence literacy can be fun!
During the evening the workshops shifted into gaming mode with the STEAMcraft Erasmus+ Project. This international project gives a little twist to famous videogame Minecraft. This modded version of the game challenges players to think through their actions in the form of pollution: if they wish to use coal-powered furnaces to progress in the game, they must also get rid of the pollution the furnaces cause – or make their own game world unhabitable. The STEAMcraft Erasmus+ project dives into the intricacies of renewable energy and smart city development through a Minecraft game modification. For more information of the STEAMcraft project (Project number:21000062701), please see: https://www.steamcraft.eu/about-the-project
Gamification of learning can be a good way to simulate real-world phenomena.
Through these workshops students and adults alike were able to observe and participate in diverse lessons and topics that are part of the everyday life. With virtual and ”real-life” phenomena the participants have seen the glimpse of possibilities and dangers that are among us and realised they can affect the world around them in different ways!
Thank you for being a part of this magical event! Our was once again delighted to be able to bring joy to the darkening evenings of Jyväskylä! See the videos below for impressions from the event!
