‘I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here!’ is a science education and engagement tool, developed with kind funding from The Wellcome Trust.
What is I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here? Read the rest of this entry »
Firstly, one of our nice teachers from the pilot has asked me to help publicise another ‘webchats with scientists’ project:-
Here is is, all 125 glorious pages of it. The I’m a Scientist Evaluation report.
If you’re interested in how the event went and what people got out of it then look at Section 1 (findings) and Section 3 (case studies). If you’re a fellow science communication professional, and want to know more about how we did things and learn from our experience, then look at Section 2 (development) and Appendix 3 (formative evaluation findings).
The key messages were:-
Students said: “i learnt loads and feel much more confident to put my hand up and ask questions and know that ok sometimes i will get it wrong”
Teachers said: “The pupils were looking forward to their science lessons, asking about them in the corridor etc.”
Scientists said: “It engaged the kids in a way I’ve never seen before.”
Every scientist and teacher surveyed said they would recommend it to a colleague.
Key Outcomes
- Students realised scientists are real, interesting, fun people
- Students were inspired and enthused
- Developed debate and discussion and How Science Works (HSW) skills
Key reasons it worked
- Giving some power to young people gives them a reason to engage and shows that they are trusted
- The fact that it’s real – real scientists, real science, real prize money – makes it far more vivid
- The intimacy of the medium makes it easier to break down barriers and make connections
The key lessons for others were
- Teachers want to use more debate and discussion for the new GCSE but feel they and/or the students don’t know how to do it. So resources which help are welcome.
- Many existing resources to support the new GCSE feel ‘rushed out’ and don’t always ‘get’ what How Science Works is.
- A teacher panel is a really useful way to include teachers in development of your project.
- A project blog is a great way to be transparent and keep everyone informed.
I hope this is useful to people.
We got a great response to our request for suggestions on who to approach for funding - thanks everyone! Suggestions included Learned Societies and Institutes, companies, charities and public bodies like NESTA, SETpoints and the SLC.
Some of these people I did contact when we were originally looking for funding for the pilot, but didn’t get very far. Pretty much everyone said they didn’t have any money, but suggested we tried the Wellcome Trust People Awards (who came up trumps). However, now we have a tried and tested event it should be a different proposition. Hopefully.
I keep reading about how there’s going to be a skills gap, young people are being turned off science and technology and everyone wants to invest in projects to combat this, and all I can think is, “We can do it! Give us some money!”.
Ian at the International Conference on Traffic and Transport Psychology in Washington DC. Note the bags!
During I’m a Scientist students voted and decided which scientist they wanted to give £500 to. It’s very powerful that the event gives young people a real say about something: it makes the whole thing much more real and vivid and makes them feel important. As one student said, “[I liked best] how it was totally up to us and not influenced by adults.”
The event evaluation report is now nearly finished. Sorry for a bit of a hiatus while we were running I’m a Councillor (just because we’ve got our new IAS baby, doesn’t mean we can neglect our first born:-)).
We hope to get the evaluation report online some time next week (plus a summary - the whole thing is over 100 pages long. Even I don’t think anyone will want to read all of it, beautifully crafted prose though it is). The extremely short version is that everyone loved it and every single teacher and scientist who responded said they would recommend the event to a colleague. Even the teachers who got it dumped on them at the last minute loved it. Read the rest of this entry »
Just to let you all know that now that schools are back, we’ve posted out I’m a Scientist mugs to all the teachers who took part in the pilot event. They are just a little thank you for your support and the effort you put in to make the event a success. We really couldn’t have done it without you. Hope you like them!
Feel free to liven up the blog by sending us photos of yourselves with your mugs:-)
Here in the office we’re busy getting ready for ‘I’m a Councillor, Get me out of Here!’, which will be in October, for Local Democracy Week. I’m a Councillor is the event I’m a Scientist is based on, and we’ve been running it for five years now. If any of you know Citizenship or Politics teachers who might be interested in the event, then point them in the direction of the information for teachers on our website. The council needs to sign up (to volunteer some councillors), but we have a list of which councils are doing it, and who would be organising it at each council.
A crateload of very stylish “I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here” mugs just arrived at Gallomanor HQ. Mugs are on the way, as a small thank you present, to scientists, teachers, and friends of IAS. More info (and pictures) after the cut.
In other news, the final evaluation report is nearly finished and will be available soon.
So much so, we suggest you have other people’s say too! Or, to put it another way, the government are running a consultation on how to increase the engagement between science and society, and you can join in. Read the rest of this entry »
BBC Radio Oxford interviewed Dr. Liv Hibbitt this week. You can listen to the interview, hear all about Liv’s experience of I’m a Scientist, her gene therapy research, who could beat Chuck Norris in a fight, and find out why Marmite is better in New Zealand.
Cheers, Liv!
If you can’t listen to MP3s on your computer, drop me an email (ben@imascientist.org.uk) and I will send you a written transcript of the interview.
Audio courtesy of BBC Oxford 95.2FM. Their website is www.bbc.co.uk/oxford
(apologies for last week’s broken link… it works now, honest!)
