Students create hands-on activities to engage the public

Students on the Public Engagement Horizons module created activities exploring the health impacts of pollutants inside our homes.

Imperial students participating in the Public Engagement Horizons module this year collaborated with the WellHome-West London Healthy Home and Environment Study to create hands-on activities exploring the potential health impacts of pollutants inside our homes. Students engaged over 100 visitors at the Imperial Horizons and WellHome Student Showcase in February 2023 and Imperial Lates: Play in March 2023. In activity ‘Find the Pollution Sources’ visitors raced the clock to identify potential pollutants within our homes, before exploring how these pollutants can trigger dangerous attacks in asthmatic children and adults in the activity ‘Sticky Lungs’. Students further empowered visitors to take simple steps to improve their indoor air quality, such as ventilating the room when cooking with gas.

Faculty of Medicine undergraduate student Janushana Sutharsan reflected, ‘The Lates is an incredible opportunity to engage Imperial students and members of the public to current research. It was new and interesting trying to adapt our skills from talking to Imperial students to then talking to small children and getting them excited about science.’ Research lead for community engagement Diana Varaden said of the collaboration, ‘I love it! It was really good to get the word out about WellHome.’

Previous Horizons cohorts have delivered interactive stands as part of a pop-up Student Showcase and recorded ‘Day in the Life of’ interviews for Imperial Lates Online. The newest iteration of the module: I-Explore Public Engagement: Connecting audiences and research is enrolling now for Spring 2024. 

I-Explore modules are interdisciplinary and enroll students across faculties, supporting Imperial students to develop new skills, collaborate with peers and broaden their perspectives outside of their degree discipline. The Public Engagement module will be delivered for second year undergraduates over 10 weeks in the spring term by the Public Engagement Team.  

Within this highly interactive module students reflect on their role and responsibility as future STEM professionals to engage with broader audiences. Across class discussions, visits by guest speakers and practical activities students develop their own understanding of both the purposes and practice of public engagement to communicate research, learn from communities and develop knowledge together. A previous student said that the module ‘Taught me about how public engagement is essential to communicate specialised knowledge to the general public in a creative and fun way.’ 

Throughout the course students develop and refine an engagement activity idea based on current Imperial research for a public audience. Inspired by the STEM Activity Packs supporting informal learning at home, in 2024 students will design self-led activities for local children and families. Students liaise with Imperial researchers to understand and communicate the science content with support from the Public Engagement team to refine their ideas and source materials.

Find out more on the I-Explore webpages. Module selection for the next academic year closes 07 June 2023. Explore our other Public Engagement training for staff and students and check out our Engagement Toolkit for how-to guides and inspirational case studies. Sign up to our monthly newsletter for the latest engagement news, funding and opportunities delivered straight to your inbox.