The Investigating Real-World Problems project is an exciting new suite of interactive workshops, drawing on live issues like coronavirus, climate change and genetic modification to develop students’ epistemic insight (‘knowledge about knowledge’). Through mock committee activities, students will learn multidisciplinary approaches to complex real-world problems and how science works with other disciplines to shape decision-making. The workshops will give students the opportunity to:
- Build problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
- Improve their understanding of the nature, power and limitations of science.
- Engage with how beliefs, values and meanings influence human life.
- Notice the wide relevance of STEM skills and careers.
- Develop their curiosity about Big Questions that matter in the world today.
We are offering these workshops FREE to all secondary schools using online delivery (either live or asynchronous). The workshops are designed for Key Stages 4 and 5 and can be standalone or part of a series. Some of the topics we cover include:
- Sustainability and Survival
- Robots and Responsibility
- Driverless Cars
- Vaccinating Covid-19
Here is some recent feedback from student participants:
“It’s surprised me because there’s so many disciplines involved that I’ve never considered before.”
“Just an amazing insight into the world today.”
“It was really enjoyable and interactive.”
If you work in a secondary school and would like to know more the project or think you might be interested in taking part, please contact the lead research fellow, Josh Heyes on lasar@canterbury.ac.uk