IASUK RSC Zones 2013-21 Evaluation Report (Click image to read full report, [PDF])

Between 2013 and 2021 the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC, rsc.org) funded or part funded 32 IAS zones to engage students with chemists.

This report is a summary of the activity in, and an evaluation of, the impact of those zones.

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The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) directly part-funded 3 IAS zones in 2021 and members of the RSC participated in a further 7 zones. Overall, 7,327 students from 185 schools engaged with RSC members in 180 live chats, with 80% actively engaging. 64% of participating schools were in underserved areas, and 51 RSC members from various fields within science engaged with the students.

Participation in IAS supports students’ science capital and has a positive impact on RSC members, with 83% reporting an increase in skill in communicating with lay people and 77% being more interested in continuing with other forms of engagement activities after IAS.

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Between 2018 and 2020 the Medical Research Council (MRC, mrc.ukri.org) funded 5 IAS zones to engage students with MRC research. This report is a summary of the activity in, and an evaluation of, the impact of those zones. Read the full report [PDF] ❯ Summary

• We ran 5 zones between June 2018 and November 2020
• 5,335 students logged in with 80% actively engaging:
  • Students from 141 schools took part.
  • 59% of participating schools were widening participation or in underserved areas.

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I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here is an online, student-led STEM enrichment activity. Since 2008, we have connected school students with scientists through energetic instant messaging-style chats. With the fast onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m a Scientist, Stay at home was planned in a short four week period of turmoil and uncertainty from late-March to mid-April 2020. The pandemic completely changed the way we run our activity. Read the full report ❯ This report is a summary of the activity in, lessons learnt, and an evaluation of the impact of this event. Our capacity modelling was based on 5% of UK schools requesting space in the activity. This seemed reasonable based on promotional support and our unique position of being able to provide online STEM enrichment at scale. This would involve up to 150,000 students connecting with 1,800 scientists. Recruitment Interest levels were excellent. By the end … Continue reading →

Summary We ran 24 zones across 5 events between November 2018 and March 2020: 20 IAS zones 4 IAE zones 142 STEM professionals took part: Scientists and engineers showed students a wide range of backgrounds, careers, and routes into STEM. 9,516 students logged in with 91% actively engaging. Students from 169 schools engaged. 67% of participating schools were widening participation or in underserved areas. The activity had a positive impact on students, teachers, and scientists and engineers: Teachers reported that the activity was effective in improving students’ motivations towards STEM, helping students see how STEM relates to the world around them, challenging stereotypes, and developing students’ awareness that STEM qualifications can be useful even if students don’t want to work in science. [A student] took part in the family live chat in the evening. The next day she was so excited and told me she couldn’t believe her luck in … Continue reading →

Following school closures from 20 March 2020 due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, the Green Zone was run as a pilot for further I’m a Scientist, Stay at home zones planned for the 2020 Summer Term. The Green Zone was run as a pilot zone to work out what improvements would be required to enable a massive upscaling of the I’m a Scientist activity. It was an online space in which teachers could book live chats for their students prior to the Easter break. Delivery included moderation, and management and liaison with teachers and scientists. Read the evaluation report [PDF] Additionally, a summary of key data on activity in the Zone, with examples of engagement and some analysis of popular discussion topics is available in the Green Zone Report.

In June 2014, teamed up with The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) to run two Big Data themed zones: The Genomics Zone and the Bioinformatics Zone, each featuring at least two TGAC scientists. And these were our main findings: The students were interested in the scientists: Students read the scientist profiles and asked about the research of each individual scientist. They were also very keen to learn more about the scientists; daily lives and hobbies, as well about their opinions on topical issues like animal testing. Students were interested in Genomics and Bioinformatics: Two difficult subjects which many of the students might not have been familiar with before the event. In fact, one teacher in the Genomics zone said she was pleasantly surprised with the level of the students’ questions and how the scientists explained what genomics is. The Bioinformatics and Genomics Zones exposed students to the new trends in biology: … Continue reading →

The CHRISTMAS LECTURES are a series of science talks, which have been held at the Royal Institution (Ri) since 1825. In December 2013, the Royal Institution teamed up with us to extend the discussion around the CHRISTMAS LECTURES, and give everyone the opportunity to ask questions to real scientists online. This was the first time we ran an I’m a Scientist zone alongside the CHRISTMAS LECTURES, so evaluating it was particularly important: we wanted to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the event and suggest improvements for future editions. These were our main findings: Almost 600 people participated in the CHRISTMAS LECTURES Zone, of whom 78% were students, 8% were teachers, and 14% were members of the general public. All of the teachers that answered our feedback survey agreed that we should run the CHRISTMAS LECTURES Zone next year. The two scientists who we interviewed after the event said … Continue reading →

In November 2013 we run I’m a Scientist in Ireland for the second time. We run 4 zones: two themed on Nanotechnology and Space and two general zones named Helium and Lithium with a mix of 5 scientists. This report looks at how the event went. One of the main points of the report is our analysis of the impact that the event had on students’ perception of science. We found out that students’ interest in science and science related careers is clearly increased after taking part in I’m a Scientist. We also report on teacher and scientist feedback, which was generally very positive. As one teacher said: “This event offers the opportunity to do something different; an activity that brings out new strengths and abilities”. Sandra Byrne. Teacher Download the report here.