He doesn't know either: Gilbert demonstrating the magnet before Queen Elizabeth /Wellcome Images

Last year I saw A C Grayling talk on happiness and it’s importance. He said that he bans his students from using the word ‘happy’, that it’s a lazy portmanteau word. He thinks that if you are forced to choose a different word – hopeful, exhilarated, content – you’ll think about what you really mean far more clearly.

I think the same can sometimes be true of jargon. Scientists taking part in I’m a Scientist have told us before that explaining yourself without using jargon is hard work, but unexpectedly rewarding. It means you have to think through what you mean and it exposes your mental shortcuts.

We saw a great example of this in Imaging Zone. A fairly innocuous-seeming question (Why do magnets attract and repel?) pretty much lead to the scientists realising that they don’t actually know how magnets worked. Not really. Not when they tried to actually explain it to other people, without using jargon.

Now these scientists include a man who spends many of his days working with an fMRI scanner, containing a magnet so powerful that you have to remove any ferrous object from your person before entering the room. But still, magnetism turned out to be one of those things that he learned about years ago, and sort of assumed he understood.

I’m expecting that some of you have the same feeling I did when reading that Q+A – ‘OMG, I don’t REALLY understand how magnets work either. How did I not notice that before?’ I think the thing is, most of us rarely discuss how magnets work. And when we do, we use technical words (‘dipole’, ‘electromagnetic’, ‘electron shell’) which we and our listeners all know, which can obscure the fact that you don’t truly understand the underlying mechanism.

By all accounts this question, and the attempts to answer it, lead to an awful lot of magnetism-related discussions at scientific breakfast tables and coffee machines around the country. So, one outcome, of just this question, has been much thinking about and discussing the mysteries of physics, by scientists, with colleagues, and others, about a subject they all thought they understood, but actually it turns out they’ve got lots of questions about it.

If the essence of science is asking questions and taking nothing for granted, then I’d call this a result.

This post started life as part of a mammoth post I’ve been writing about how June’s I’m a Scientist event went. The post has taken about three days so far and we’re up to 3,000 words. So I thought I should really break it into bits and start bunging some up now.

For two weeks 100 scientists, in 20 different zones, have been answering questions from school students and having online live chats with them. The students have now voted for who they think should win and the final votes have now been counted.

It really does give us the most enormous pleasure to announce that the winners are…

This has been the largest I’m a Scientist event ever staged – four times the size of earlier pilot events. All thanks to a generous grant from the Wellcome Trust.

The event puts young people in the driving seat and gets them truly engaging with real science and real scientists. It gives them an insight into issues like ‘how do we decide what science to fund?’  shows them that scientists are real people they can relate to and inspires them with a taste of what it’s like to study cutting edge science.

For the scientists it’s a rollercoaster masterclass in communicating what they do. It’s a chance to connect with young people and find out how they view science. And it’s an inspiring and energising experience.

The event has involved people in a way science engagement activities rarely do. Students have been forming fanclubs in school and cheerleading for their favourite scientists. Scientists have been staying up all night making videos for the event. They’ve been so dedicated to making the live chats that one requisitioned a stranger’s computer at a conference, another got up at 4.30am to take part from the States while another was typing away in the toilet queue at Glastonbury!

Scientists have also been meeting scientists from other research areas and getting support from other scientists both on twitter and in their departments. It’s got students and scientists making new connections and excited about talking about science.

Scientists:-

“If any scientist is feeling jaded, run down, disillusioned with their lot, I thoroughly recommend IAS therapy. The energy, the intensity, the free uninhibited approach to asking science questions displayed by a class of energised and interested teenagers, is far better for the scientific psyche than any shrink could manage, it got me pumped again.”

Dr Mark Fogg, York University, in a moving blogpost about the event

Students:-

“thankyu for this whole experiance ive learnt loads in this experience and we ar deffinatly voting for you good look with ur phd and hope u will b called the doctor soon and become very succesful!”

“Science really is truly mind baffling and you have all just made it even more fascinating, therefore tres bien! Good luck with the eviction Joanna you are my favourite.”

“This has been the best chemistry lesson ever”

Teachers:-

“The I’m a Scientist event is one of the most exciting, interactive, cutting edge activities that my pupils and I have taken part it.  My pupils love being in contact with real Scientists and finding out about their research.”

“They worked so hard during this event, but they didn’t seem to think of it as work”

Notes for Editors

Interview opportunity
Participant pupils and scientists from this, or previous pilot events are available for interview on request.

Scale of event
This largest event ever has run from 14th – 25th June with:-

• 20 zones
• 100 scientists (five scientists in each zone)
• 5,100 students
• in 152 schools and colleges
• 7,500 questions asked
• 68,000 visits to the site
• 493,075 Pageviews

About ‘I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here!’
‘I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here!’ is a science dialogue event where school students talk to real scientists online for two weeks. It’s in the form of an X Factor-style competition between scientists, who compete for a prize of £500.
For two weeks students read about the scientists’ work, ask them questions and engage in live text chats with them. The students vote for the scientist they want to get the money. The scientists with the fewest votes are evicted until only one is left to be crowned the winner in each zone. The event is supported by carefully developed and tested teaching resources that develop students’ skills and deepen their understanding.
The event is funded by a Society Award from the Wellcome Trust, with additional support from the National Science Learning Centres and the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement.
http://imascientist.org.uk/

Information about the scientists taking part in the June event.

The names of all the schools taking part in June

The hashtag to follow the event on twitter is #ias2010

About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charity dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust’s breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests.

What’s This?

Here is the evaluation report on the first half of the debate kits project, comprising the first two kits (from Summer and Autumn 2009). Obviously I was supposed to publish this MONTHS ago, but it’s fallen by the wayside, until now.

Why now?

We have just brought out the third IAS debate kit, on Stem Cells. We posted out 1,500 stem cells debate kits earlier this week.  I got an email from a teacher this morning saying ‘Just got the Stem cell pack…fantastic!’ so I’m hopeful they’ll be as popular as previous kits:-)

What are the debate kits?

The debate kits are designed to get students in their science lessons debating and discussing science issues, seeing things from different points of view and learning to back up their opinions with evidence. Each kit is developed in consultation with teachers, and fact checked with scientists.

Evaluation summary

“This is great I couldn’t have done a debate without it”

I’m a Scientist debate kits is a project to help get more debate and discussion going in the UK’s science classrooms. We are developing and distributing debate kits to UK science teachers. The kits are designed to give a teacher everything they need to run a structured debate on a set topic and help their students develop their discussion skills. The activity gives them a structured way to start discussing and gets them practicing the behaviour. The Wellcome Trust have funded Gallomanor to produce and distribute three sets of kits in 2009/10.

The first kit was developed as part of I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here!, in 2008. This first kit was re-printed and distributed to 1,500 teachers and science communicators in Summer term 2009 as the first nationally distributed IAS debate kit. We also provide an electronic version of each kit, which more people can download from the website. The second kit was produced in Autumn term 2009. The topic (suggested and picked by teachers) was ‘Are we too clean?’ The third kit will be produced and distributed in Spring term 2010. A fourth kit will be developed in Summer term and distributed electronically.

Outcomes

Key aims met:-

• Kits well used
• The resources worked ‘straight out of the box
• They really engaged the students
• They developed students’ discussion and critical thinking skills

Kits also:-

• Were good way for students to learn new content
• Were effective with a range of students
• Got quieter students talking
• Inspired teachers to start making their own!

Recommendations

• Next kit in Summer term 2010, on stem cells (done!)
• Produce an electronic large print version (done!)
• Produce DIY debate kit templates for teachers to use (done!)
• Increase print run to 2,000 (done!)

More details in the full Debate Kits Interim Report (pdf).

If you would like to order a copy of the latest debate kit (they are free!) go here

If you would like to download a copy of one of the kits go here

If you’d like to know more about the kits or the project there’s more info here, or feel free to get in touch and ask us!

Place your order now!

Maybe you read all the things that we’ve written about the debate kits and think, ‘Well they would say that, wouldn’t they?’ I know I would.

Handily, an independent opinion is to hand! School Science Review, the journal of the Association for Science Education (ASE), has reviewed our debate kits. And boy did they like them!

As we all know, the ASE are the bee’s knees when it comes to science education, so you should definitely listen to them.

Sign up for these kits now if you have not done so already; they are too good to miss. The IVF ‘kit’ (cards in a wallet) is the first of four to be produced by the ‘I’m a Scientist’ team. The second, Are we too clean?, is now also available. Paper stocks of both kits, sent out to teachers, have run out, but they can be downloaded from the site and are freely photocopiable; the convenient size of the cards means that you can get four to a page. It might be sensible to laminate the cards before using with pupils. The remaining two kits will be produced over the next two academic terms in 2010.

Developed in consultation with teachers, these kits work. They are simple but very effective and well thought out. Intended for use at key stage 4 (ages 14-16), they hit the ‘How science works’ nail on the head with their 50-minute lesson plan, which includes a starter and a plenary, by promoting knowledgeable debate. Background notes are provided for the teacher and suitable homework suggested. There is no reason why the kit could not be used with older or younger pupils if thought appropriate by the teacher. Not all characters need to be used and some with potentially sensitive issues, such as cancer patients and lesbian couples, teachers might want to select which cards to use in advance. This would not affect the overall activity.

I am looking forward to kits number three and four.

Sue Howarth

School Science Review, March 2010, Vol 91 Number 336

Next kit: Stem Cells

Orders now open

FREE!

The moderators and I do hate the evictions. It’s excruciating having to say goodbye to people who’ve put in lots of effort and been great contestants. But evictions are a big part of what makes the event exciting for young people, they create a buzz and a tension. And I guess we should all remember that it’s the taking part that counts (tell that to my Dad on pub quiz night…).

However, these are my top tips on surviving evictions, based on running events in this format over 6 years. I think the things that make students vote for someone are:-

1. How worthwhile they think your work is – in IAS terms curing cancer scores high. As does stopping people starving in the developing world. It’s not only heroic lifesaving scientists who have won the event in the past though – but it is worth thinking about how you explain to teenagers what benefit your work brings to the world.

2. How much they’ve interacted with you and how they felt about that interaction. Common comments when we ask students why they voted for a particular scientist or councillor are ‘They answered our questions’, ‘They weren’t patronising’, ‘They listened to us’, ‘They seemed nice’.

3. Smiley photo. In my exp, kids don’t vote for the best looking person,  but they do vote for the one who looks genuinely friendly. We actually did a test of this once with I’m a Councillor by getting friends to rate the attractiveness and smileyness of councillor photos then comparing to who won. It was only a small sample but attractiveness did not correlate with winning, smiley photos did. But of course we can’t rule out the fact that perhaps a person with a smiley photo does much better at number 2.

There is a discussion of what made students vote for particular scientists in the I’m a Scientist evaluation report, in section 1.1.7, if you are that keen!

Zones

There will be 20 zones on June. The last event in March only had 5 zones, so this time is a lot bigger! In each zone there are 5 scientists, competing for a prize of £500. There are 20 classes of students per zone, usually this will mean about 400 students. Only those students can ask questions, have live chats and vote in that zone, although everyone can read the questions and answers and so on.

Themed zones

10 of the zones are themed. The themed zones are:-

Brain
Genes
Are we too clean?
IVF
Imaging
Evolution
Cancer research
Sports Science
Drugs Development
Use of chemicals in everyday life

One or two of you worried that you aren’t expert enough in the zone topic. Please bear in mind that the students you will be talking to are mainly 13/14 years old. Of course as academic scientists you have exacting standards of what constitutes expertise in an area, but in terms of the students level of knowledge and what’s in their curriculum you really are an expert!

Also, the zones were suggested by teachers and scientists, and then voted for by the teachers taking part (there’s nothing you can teach us about two-way engagement!). They reflect what teachers want to cover in their classes. It wouldn’t always be possible to provide five scientists whose work epitomised the topic, but we’ve tried to make sure they all overlap with the topic in some way and that each scientist brings a different perspective to the topic.

General zones

The other zones are all general zones – meaning they have a diverse collection of scientists from completely different areas and no overall theme. These zones are named after elements. The general zones are:-

Beryllium
Boron
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Fluorine
Neon
Sodium
Magnesium
Aluminium
Silicon

What do we need from you right now?

At the moment, just your postal address (apart from scientists outside the UK – we will send you electronic versions of everything instead). And a photo. You can change the photo later if you decide you don’t like it, but we need something this week in order to create your profile pages.

What is involved in taking part?

Before the event starts you need to put up some information about yourself and answer some profile questions. It’s very helpful if you can do this by 1st June so that teachers can start doing background work with students. You can have a look at the profiles of the scientists from March, to see what the questions are.

During the event scientists usually spend 1-2 hours a day participating, for the ten weekdays that the event is on. This will vary according to how busy your zone is and how much detail you go into with your answers. Don’t worry if work is taking you abroad during the event, you can easily take part from there, as long as you have access to the internet and some free time. In fact several of our scientists are permanently based outside the UK.

Questions

About half of this time is spent answering questions submitted on the website – you can do this at whatever time is convenient for you. They will include questions about your work, general science questions, questions about you as a person and about what you plan to do with the prize money.

Some of the general science questions will be about topics well outside your area of expertise (for example rainbows, or chameleons…) but please don’t just ignore them! Many of the students have never had the chance to speak to a real scientist before and it is a big deal to them. If we just ignore their question then it’s not very encouraging for them. If you feel you don’t have the expertise to comment, please answer by saying that, and perhaps suggesting where they might find out, or what area of science it is.

Part of the point of the event is that students come to realise that real scientists are not like in the movies – they don’t know about everything! But also that they have conversations with you and feel they are engaging with real scientists – whatever you have to say in response to their question is a valid way to start that conversation!

Live chats

The other half of the time is spent having live chats with students. Everybody loves this part of the event – scientists, teachers and students all give chats the highest rating in feedback. The chats are text only, a bit like MSN or google chat. You don’t need any special software or anything, just your computer and access to the internet.

Chats are are booked by the teacher, to coincide with their science lesson, so the time is fixed, but we don’t expect all the scientists to make each one as we know you all have other commitments. We do explain this to teachers and students.

As long as a couple of scientists attend each chat the students will get a lot out of it. Although, be warned, students are most likely to vote for scientists they have chatted too! Maybe you think it’s the taking part and not the winning that counts, but you might change your mind when the first eviction is looming:-)

We don’t know when the chats will be yet, but as bookings are made you will be sent an email with the details. There will also be an online calendar you can consult telling you of all the chats in your zone.

I hope this answers all your questions for the moment. Do get back to us if you want to know more. We are here to help! But also feel free to use the comments section below to ask questions or make comments, as many people will have the same questions as you.

We are having five ‘zones’ in March (in each zone there are five scientists, talking to 20 classes of students, with one prize up for grabs in each zone). Two of these zones have a theme (the Genes Zone and the Brain Zone) and the other are general, with a broad mix of scientists. The general zones are named after elements.

The themed zones are a new thing we are trying out for this event, and teachers seem to really like the idea, so I think they’ll turn out well.

The event runs 15th – 26th March, and you can watch everything that happens on the website.  Only the students taking part can ask questions, chat to the scientists and vote, but everyone is welcome to read all about it and see what’s going on.

Brain Zone

Scientists

Schools

Genes Zone

Scientists

Schools

Hydrogen Zone

Scientists

Schools

Helium Zone

Scientists

Schools

Lithium Zone

Scientists

Schools

Choosing the schools has been agonising as we’d love to include everyone but we’ve been very over-subscribed with five classes wanting to take part for every space. We’ve tried to ensure a mix of types of school, types of class and school location.

Many teachers wanted to take part with a whole year group (or two or three whole year groups in some cases!), which is great. We know from I’m a Councillor that getting the whole year group involved really adds to the buzz about the event and has students talking about it outside the classroom. However, as March is a fairly small scale event we have restricted it to one or two classes per school.

I hope that the teachers will see March as a way to test out the event, and then take part in June with many more classes. We know that having seen it in action once helps teachers make the most out of the event the second time.

Teachers can now register their interest in the June event

Scientists

We are still taking registrations for scientists who want to take part in March. We’ll close registrations and choose the scientists next Friday (19th Feb). So far all sorts of fascinating scientists have signed up. Here’s just a few of the things they are studying:-

• Climate change in Antarctica
• What happened just after the big bang
• Undersea volcanoes
• The origins of co-operative behaviour
• The molecular basis of schizophrenia
• Ways to reduce the use of animals in research

And loads more! Choosing the scientists next week is going to be every bit as agonising… But, there’s still plenty of time to sign up if you are interested in taking part. Please pass it on to any scientists you think may be interested.

Info for scientists here

Registration for scientists here

When is the event?

Teacher registration closes: 9th Feb – we will let everyone know that day if they have been selected
Scientist registration closes: 19th Feb – we will let everyone know that day if they have been selected
Event begins: March 15th
Event ends: March 26th

The event lasts for two weeks. The first week is ‘getting to know the scientists’ week, the second week is chucking them off week:-D. We have evictions almost every day in week two, with the winner in each zone being announced on the Friday.

Where is the event?

It’s online! You can take part from anywhere with an internet connection. Your students don’t need to go anywhere.

When do the students talk to the scientists?

Students interact with the scientists in two ways:

Sending scientists questions can happen at any time (students can even log in at home. Yes, we moderate the questions…).

Live chats are booked by the teacher for the time that suits them. We are very happy for chats to be at lunch time or after school (e.g. if you are taking part with the science club). Scientists, of course, have their own jobs to do so won’t be able to make every chat. The important thing is that the students get to talk to some scientists and (hopefully) realise they are normal people, and possibly even quite nice.

What age groups is it suitable for?

In the pilot we had a post-16 zone and two pre-16 zones. The classes in the pre-16 zones were mostly year 9s, with some year 10s and 11s (S2-S4 in Scotland). The post-16 classes included A Level, AS level, BTEC and Higher classes. All of these students got a lot out of taking part.

We produce three sets of supporting resources

1. Post-16
2. Pre-16 foundation
3. Pre-16 extension

The resources will probably be too advanced for younger groups, but the format of the event itself is very flexible. Because students ask the questions they want to, they can take part whatever their level. Our sister event, I’m a Councillor, Get me out of Here! often has primary schools taking part and they really love it.

However, I’m a Scientist has mainly been designed to support How Science Works (HSW) for GCSE and above. If there’s enough interest in it we might run a version for younger students in the future.

If you want to have a look at them, the teaching materials from the pilot are here. This may help you to see whether they would be suitable for your students. We will be making some minor changes, but mainly the resources will be the same.

Can my Scottish/Irish/Welsh school take part?

Yes! Scottish and Welsh schools have taken part in the pilot and Northern Irish schools have taken part in I’m a Councillor, our sister event. We are also happy for schools in the Republic of Ireland to apply. As long as you feel it will help with your curriculum then you are very welcome.

Can my SEN pupils take part?

Yes! Oak Lodge Special school took part in the pilot event and found it worthwhile, here is a case study about their experience.  The supporting resources will not be geared towards your pupils, which may cause you extra work, sorry. We hope to be able to produce specialized resources for SEN at some point, but we don’t have the resource to do it at the moment.

How do I register?

Fill in this form

You will then get sent a confirmation email and you need to click the link in it to confirm. If the email hasn’t arrived in a few minutes then check your spam folder as some of them have been going in there.

You haven’t answered my question!

Sorry. There is more info about the event and what’s involved for teachers here. If you still have a question, please email me (or put it in the comments below). But please make your question specific! I’ve got several emails saying ‘please send me more info’ and it’s hard to know what they want me to tell them. There is really a lot of info on the website already…

We are ready to hear from classes and scientists who want to take part in I’m a Scientist, Get me out of Here! 2010.

Teachers should register here.

Scientists should register here.

Getting us this far has taken a large proportion of my professional life for the last three years. Too large a part, Mr McCracken would say. It’s also taken loads of work from dozens of  other people – the lovely (and long-suffering)  teachers panel, all the previous participants, the people who’ve worked with us and the many people who’ve supported us.

I’m proud of what we’ve done. Thank you everyone. The event this year is going to be amazing. But I tell you what, if I’d known what hard work it was all going to be, I might have kept my mouth shut when I had that bright idea, all those years ago.

We are making a lot of improvements to the event this year, building on the things like live chats that we know really work. We think we’ll be making the site easier to use, more interactive, more personalised, but also more thought-provoking. Come and join in!

Timetable for March 2010 event

9th Feb: Teacher registration closes
19th Feb: Scientist registration closes
March 15th: Event begins
March 26th: Event ends

More info

Hear from Professor Peter Styring, one of our previous participants…

…Or read more about what’s involved

For scientists

For teachers

Or you can register here.

If you simply want updates without registering to take part then give us your email address below: