All University of Manchester (UoM) SBS Honours undergraduate students complete a final year research project. There are a number of different project types ranging from the traditional laboratory to science communication, including education and science media projects. These science communication projects often provide students with an opportunity to engage with people within the local community in various settings. As our student numbers rise, we are under increasing pressure to identify more opportunities for students to carry out these projects with. UoM hosts a public engagement schools fair annually during British Science Week (BSW). For the last 3 years, we have utilised this event for our students to deliver their physiology focused education projects. Each year, up to four students have delivered their projects in this setting. This study aims to evaluate this involvement and experience for our project students as well as the benefits to the attendees. Across the week, approximately one thousand 11-14 year olds from local secondary schools and two hundred 10-11 year olds from local primary schools attend. These projects therefore must map onto areas of either the KS2 or KS3 curriculum related to human biology. Example projects include: an interactive resource and game on how the heart works; what is blood made of using a model and a life size interactive GI tract model to show how the body handles water. Through delivery of these projects, our students gain an appreciation of the social responsibility aspect of UoM as well as exposure to importance of widening participation in HE. Preliminary results show this experience helps our project students improve their communication of science to a unique audience. Furthermore, it is an opportunity to use their interactive physiology focused teaching tool that they have designed and developed. This also helped develop their project management skills and improve their ability to troubleshoot. Individual comments included: ‘although it was based around education and communication it was extremely beneficial for my current job which is based around building medical education materials (from Pharma companies) for HCPs’ and ‘It was essential in showing me that I could still work in science without being in a lab’ For the attendees, it offers an opportunity for exposure to HE as well introducing them to different scientific subject areas in an interactive education setting outside the school classroom. All children attending our physiology stand commented positively. Some common words in their feedback on the learning experience included ‘fun’, ‘creative’, ‘making’, ‘explained’ and ‘clear’. In addition, these science communication projects in combination with the public engagement setting are vital in increasing awareness of physiology as a subject to the next generation of scientists.
Physiology 2019 (Aberdeen, UK) (2019) Proc Physiol Soc 43, C028
Oral Communications: Increasing public engagement opportunities for final year physiology focused science communication projects
M. Keown1, E. Sheader1
1. Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
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Where applicable, experiments conform with Society ethical requirements.