The Health Zone ran from 2 to 27 November 2020. The Zone was one of 4 Zones that ran as part of I’m a Scientist: On Demand in November 2020.
I’m a Scientist: On Demand aims to offer greater flexibility to teachers in how, and when, they can take part in I’m a Scientist. This is in response to the COVID-19 situation and greater restrictions and uncertainty in schools.
The Health Zone was jointly funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and the British Society for Immunology (BSI). There were weekly evening chats for students to join from home, with two of these focussed on the topic of vaccinations.
Scientists
- 50 scientists created profiles in the Zone.
- 10 reported being members of the RSC and 16 as members of the BSI.
- 48 scientists engaged with students through live Chats and/or Ask questions.
- Scientists were from a broad range of fields and career stages. For example:
- Samantha Watson – radiation scientist at Public Health England
- Bhagteshwar Singh – Clinical research fellow at The University of Liverpool
- Abbie Smith – trainee Medical Physicist working for the NHS
Students
- 486 students from 23 schools all over the UK logged into the Zone.
- 42% of active students were from target schools (WP and/or U).
- 21% were from widening participation (WP) schools
- 21% were from underserved (U) schools.
Chats & Questions
- 30 live Chats took place took place during the activity.
- 46 live Chats were booked (61% of capacity), but dropout was significantly higher thanusual with 10 cancellations and 6 ‘school no shows’.
- On average, 8 scientists attended each live Chat session.
- 3 teachers typed questions in a live Chat on behalf of their students, so the number ofstudents engaged will be higher.
- 44 student questions were approved. Scientists responded with 201 answers.
