Description
I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here is an online activity where school students get to meet and interact with scientists.
It’s a competition between scientists, where the students are the judges.
Students challenge the scientists over intense, fast-paced, online live Chats, and are given the opportunity to Ask the scientists all the questions they want to. Afterwich the students Vote for their favourite scientist they have spoken to.
Target Audience
- Children 7-12
- Teenagers
You can do it with all those groups, but we did it with professionals from different fields like public engagement or the cultural and creative sector.
Benefits
Benefits
This event is personally relevant to students and their lives, elicits and values students’ questions and experiences, and provides support for building some of the dimensions of science capital.
Together, its various elements create an environment in which students are able to contribute from their own interests and experiences.
Consequently, through participating in IAS, students can come to see science as more personally relevant to them and to appreciate that scientists are ‘normal people’. Moreover, ultimately it is the participating students who are in control in I’m a Scientist — it is their votes that determine the winner.
This environment, we believe, reinforces that the ‘field’ of I’m a Scientist is one in which it is students’ valued and valuable opinions that count the most.
Together, then, the elements of IAS can support students’ science capital, meaning IAS can play an important role in helping young people see that science just might be ‘for me’. This, in turn, can contribute to nurturing science aspirations.
Preparations
I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here activites are organised through their website primarily, as this is a format that has been developed by a independent organisation. So if you would like to use their services to organise a IAS event which is externally faciliated, using their online platforms, it is advised to get in contact through their website.
However it is possible to organise your own event in the same style, by reaching out to researchers and professionals in fields that would be of interest to your students and arranging an online meeting, with challenges and QnA sessions. This will involve extensive coordination on the parts of the organiser and the external contributors, but could result in a more bespoke experince which is better tailored to your audeince. Although you may need to consider renaming the event.
