Sparking STEM - Universities

Online

Online training for academics in science-related fields, wishing to develop their skills and confidence to deliver successful outreach with children of school age.

What will you gain from this course?

Throughout this course you will receive individually tailored support and guidance to:

Develop detailed plans for an inspirational outreach session with children, specific to your individual field of research:

You'll come away with a structured lesson plan; activities; equipment lists; risk assessment, draft emails and more.
Learn methods to turn your research into engaging activities that will excite children in the short-term and inspire them in the long-term.
Take away a range of resources you will use again and again to plan and structure successful outreach.

Gain the confidence and skills to deliver successful outreach with children, both face to face and online:

Receive top tips and strategies to manage behaviour, make your outreach accessible and learn easy ways to level your language for different audiences.
Enjoy an opportunity to interact with an online panel of students. They'll be keen to ask and answer questions and allow you to practice your new skills!
Experience a range of methods to keep students engaged and inspired during online outreach.

Become familiar with school practices and procedures:

From criminal record checks to staff room etiquette, safeguarding to the school calendar... You'll gain familiarity with the school perspective so that you feel more confident to operate in schools and are more likely to be welcomed back.

Gain basic knowledge of the British education system and National Curriculum:

Learn to link your outreach to the curriculum objectives to give it the best chance of being welcomed by educational organisations.
Make sense of commonly used educational acronyms and use the curriculum to pitch your outreach effectively.

Who will benefit from this course?

The course is suitable for academics working in any science-related field and has been particularly beneficial to those at the early stages of their academic career (PhD students and Post-docs etc).
Researchers from a diverse range of departments have been benefiting from this course since 2019: Ecological sciences, Geographical sciences, Palaeo Oceanography, Biological sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Electrical engineering, Mathematical sciences, Life Sciences, Chemistry, Earth sciences, Psychology and more.
Whether you have previous outreach experience or none, whether you are introvert or extrovert you will find this course supports you to develop your skills and confidence to deliver successful outreach with children.

Online Course structure

The course is delivered using a blended approach comprising a careful balance of:

Live, interactive events (Zoom): opportunities for peer learning, guided support, feedback and question and answer sessions.
Independent learning tasks through a 'Moodle' virtual classroom: Participants access video tutorials and supportive resources to enable them to develop their skills and outreach event at their own pace.
1:1 meet & chat support: tailored one to one support is always on hand during independent learning tasks.
Small group "breakout sessions": opportunities to benefit from peer discussions and experience.

Online Course schedule

A very interactive, online course delivered via Zoom and Moodle over three consecutive days with a careful blend of live sessions and asynchronous independent tasks:

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Testimonials

"Amanda is an very experienced and knowledgeable outreach practitioner, and she has been a pleasure to work with from start to finish. Amanda delivered ‘Effective Outreach with Children’, a three-day course for postgraduate researchers at the University of Sheffield. The content of the course was perfectly pitched and Amanda gave her own unique insights and tips to our researchers that significantly improved their practice. Seeing our researchers go from never having delivered outreach to becoming confident and enthusiastic facilitators was fantastic. We have had glowing feedback from the researchers who took part, especially regarding the opportunities Amanda arranged for them to work directly with children as part of the course. I would wholeheartedly recommend Amanda’s programmes and look forward to working with her again!"

Dr. Emma Suret
Researcher Development Manager & Lead for PGR Supervisor Development
The University of Sheffield

Mean participant confidence scores before and after the course (5 point scale).

Facilitation

The course is facilitated by Amanda Childs; a qualified teacher (QTS, PGCE science / Biology specialism) with postgraduate science qualification (MSc Applied Entomology) and a total of over twelve years experience teaching science to secondary age students; engaging students in STEM subjects (ages 3 to 16); working with primary and secondary schools and collaborating with multiple departments in the University of Sheffield. Prior to this, Amanda has worked in agrochemical research and in animal welfare research, training teams of adult researchers across seven developing countries.

"Amanda was a fantastic course leader and her anecdotes and experience were very helpful. Everything was so clear and well structured."
(GW4 course participant 2020)

Course preparation

To take part, you will need:

An internet connection and (free) Zoom account.
A computer: participants find it easiest to join with a laptop or desktop computer (PC or Mac), tablet devices would also work.
You are asked to submit a short summary of your research prior to the course, to enable you to receive individually tailored support.
Nine pencils of full and equal length; a teaspoon (as lightweight as possible, plastic works well), 12 "loom" bands or small elastic bands (not hairbands! String or tape, would also work but would be harder to use); one medium-sized elastic band and a pom-pom or cotton wool or ping-pong ball or tissue paper.

It's a very interactive course!

Registration

If you would like to know more about course dates and pricing, or would like to enquire about setting up a course for your cohort, please complete this form and we'll be in touch.

Effective OutreachwithChildren