Key messages | |
• | To maintain the continued growth and sustainability that the Life Sciences Challenge/Her Gwyddorau Bywyd has achieved requires input from a multidisciplinary team of researchers, students and engagement professionals. The involvement of a new cohort of PhD students every year ensures that the Life Sciences Challenge/Her Gwyddorau Bywyd remains fresh, creative, innovative, scientifically challenging and, most importantly, fun. |
• | The introduction of an online preliminary round has enabled the participation and engagement of schools across the whole of Wales. |
• | Offering the quiz bilingually has set it apart from other initiatives, and has supported successful engagement with over 70 per cent of Welsh-medium/bilingual schools in Wales. |
Introduction
Engaging young people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has long been a priority for universities (Archer Ker et al., 2013), fuelled by a STEM skills shortage reported over many decades (Smith and White, 2019). The Cardiff University School of Medicine Science in Health (SiH; https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/scienceinhealth) programme was developed to engage young people in the health sciences, and to present the breadth of career opportunities that science in health can offer. The programme in its entirety aims to complement and expand on the school science curriculum by challenging students to research beyond the curriculum boundaries, offering hands-on practical activities, informing university and career choices, and demonstrating the applicability, transferability and impact that science has on everyday life.
The Life Sciences Challenge/Her Gwyddorau Bywyd (LSC/HGB) initiative was conceived in 2013. Early career researchers (ECRs), alongside non-clinical staff and PhD students in the School of Medicine, observed that following engagement activities with school students, there was a strong sense of career aspiration bias towards clinical training, as opposed to academic and research-based science career paths (Figure 1).
Delivery of the first LSC/HGB
The LSC/HGB took shape as a head-to-head knockout-style format, like the BBC television quiz University Challenge. A flyer advertising the initiative was sent to known local teacher contacts, and disseminated utilising the teacher networks of STEM Learning (https://www.stem.org.uk/) and See Science (https://www.see-science.co.uk/). In total, 12 schools (8 English and 4 Welsh), involving Year 10 pupils from the Cardiff area took part.
Volunteers made up of PhD students, early career researchers and members of academic staff from across the university designed the quiz and set the questions for each round. The diverse training of volunteers meant that the range of questions was wide, and thus truly reflective of the life sciences.
Initial rounds of the quiz were hosted in schools in early May and at the end of July to avoid examination periods. Each school was attended by a minimum of two scientists who would undertake the roles of quizmaster and scoremaster. Attending facilitators would introduce themselves, briefly describing their schooling choices, career path, their research and its importance in the field of science in health.
Bilingual quiz finals were held on the same day in September, providing the now Year 11 pupils with often a first opportunity to experience university facilities. Pupils’ families and peers were invited to support the finalists, and an exhibition of science posters and a tour of research facilities provided visitors with the opportunity to find out about current research.
Overwhelming positive feedback received resulted in the LSC/HGB becoming a component of the SiH programme. This not only avoided the quiz becoming an ‘one-off’ engagement event (Archer et al., 2021); it also ensured its continued delivery and development by the School of Medicine’s Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) team.
Evolution of the LSC/HGB
The quiz has evolved extensively over the period, as highlighted in Figure 2. Since 2015, a new cohort of PhD students has been recruited during each October induction week to compile new and fresh questions, and to deliver the quiz rounds with the support of the core team.
The LSC/HGB now engages with schools from across the whole of Wales, following the introduction of an online preliminary round utilising a specialised quiz platform, Flexiquiz (https://www.flexiquiz.com/). All communications with schoolteachers are managed utilising an established database of science teacher contacts developed to promote all SiH initiatives.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 meant that the ‘live’ rounds could no longer take place in host schools or on campus. The team quickly adapted to the online running of these rounds, using either Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Key elements of the in-person events were transferred to the virtual delivery, including the introduction and career backgrounds of students and members of staff facilitating the LSC/HGB. The use of physical buzzers was replaced by a free online buzzer system called BuzzIn Live (https://buzzin.live/). Despite the challenges of school closures during the pandemic, schools and their pupils continued to engage with the LSC/HGB. In 2022, a hybrid model of the quiz was delivered, with the quarter- and semi-final rounds held online, and the finals held in person, on campus. This model continues to be in operation today.
The content of the LSC/HGB
The quiz aims to stimulate interest and inquisitiveness about all areas of life science for Year 10 pupils. Quiz questions are based on the taught sciences (biology, chemistry and physics) and mathematics curricula, but they aim to challenge and stretch pupils’ knowledge and imagination further, and therefore to reward those who conduct research outside the classroom. Importantly, the quiz is also designed not only to test knowledge recall, but also to probe the ability of pupils to analyse data, interpret a range of graphical formats and to think laterally, essentially, recognising teamwork and rewarding pupils with the skills that scientists require in their daily work.
Quiz questions are largely created in English and, since conception, an expert translator of scientific terms has been employed to translate each of the quiz rounds. Translations are further checked by first-language Welsh speakers working in the sciences to ensure authenticity.
Evaluation strategy of the LSC/HGB
From conception, the LSC/HGB has adopted a common standard for the evaluation of its design, delivery and impact (Reed et al., 2018), utilising several different feedback methods (paper forms; Mentimeter, Google Forms). However, it is widely acknowledged that evidencing the impact of public engagement initiatives in general is challenging (Hopkins et al., 2021, Ravenscroft et al., 2017). Here, tracking student A-level and degree choices would potentially provide some indication of the impact of the LSC/HGB. Nevertheless, quantifying the level of influence of a public engagement activity over a year before A-level choices is difficult, as is tracking student choices and post-16 destinations.
Quantitative impact of the LSC/HGB
Table 1 summarises the number of schools, pupils, and university staff and students involved in the LSC/HGB over the course of the 10-year period. In total, 106 schools have participated in the quiz, representing 58 per cent of secondary schools in Wales. In addition, 4,200 pupils have engaged with the quiz, and a total of 85 personnel have been involved in its design and delivery since conception.
Year | Number of participating schools | Number of participating teams | Number of students | Number of staff involved in delivery | Winning teams | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
English | Welsh | English | Welsh | English | Welsh | PhD | ECR | Academic staff | Medical student | Admin | English | Welsh | |
2013 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 32 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 6 | - | - | Whitchurch High School | Ysgol Gyfun Bryntawe |
2014 | 19 | 7 | 19 | 7 | 76 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | Whitchurch High School | Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw |
2015 | 17 | 9 | 32 | 10 | 128 | 40 | 8 | 3 | 2 | - | 1 | Dyffryn Taf School | Ysgol Plasmawr |
2016 | 17 | 12 | 37 | 21 | 148 | 84 | 8 | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | Whitchurch High School | Ysgol Y Preseli |
2017 | 27 | 16 | 69 | 37 | 276 | 148 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Bishop Vaughan Catholic School | Ysgol Tryfan |
2018 | 30 | 14 | 72 | 27 | 288 | 108 | 6 | - | 2 | 1 | 3 | St Cyres Comprehensive School | Ysgol Gyfun Glantaf |
2019 | 33 | 17 | 98 | 32 | 392 | 128 | 4 | - | 2 | 1 | 3 | Brynteg School | Ysgol Tryfan |
2020 | 46 | 21 | 172 | 46 | 688 | 184 | 5 | - | 1 | - | 3 | The Cathedral School, Llandaff | Ysgol Tryfan |
2021 | 25 | 16 | 143 | 55 | 572 | 220 | 2 | - | 1 | - | 3 | The Cathedral School, Llandaff | Ysgol Tryfan |
2022 | 25 | 14 | 111 | 50 | 444 | 200 | 3 | - | 2 | 1 | 3 | St Martin’s School | Ysgol Gyfun Glantaf |
TOTAL | 247 | 130 | 761 | 289 | 3044 | 1156 | 16 | 4 |
Over the 10-year period:
Total number of individual schools involved = 106.
Total number of school students involved = 4,200.
Total number of individual PhD students involved = 48.
Total number of individual early career researchers (ECR) involved = 16.
Total number of individual academic staff involved = 14.
Total number of individual administrative staff involved = 3.
The number of schools participating in the LSC/HGB was growing year on year, reaching 67 schools when the pandemic hit in 2020. Since 2021, the number of participating schools has dropped to between 40 and 50; however, the number of pupils and teams participating from each school is higher than in all years prior to 2020.
Geographic reach of the LSC/HGB 2013–22
Figure 5 illustrates the geographic reach of the quiz from 2013 to 2022, evidencing engagement from 106 secondary schools from 21 out of 22 local authority areas in Wales.
Collection of additional impact feedback
In April 2023, additional impact feedback was sought via email and a Google Forms link (aimed at previously participating pupils, teachers and university students). The pupil online form was sent via teacher contacts to pupils who had participated in the quiz since 2019. The student form was sent to all currently known email contacts of students who had supported the quiz. Each group’s responses are analysed in the relevant subsections below.
Pupils
Pupil feedback is sought from the quiz quarter-finals onwards. Table 2 summarises pupil responses to selected questions collated via completion of paper forms and Mentimeter (from 2020).
Question | Yes (%) | No (%) | Unsure (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Have you enjoyed taking part in the Life Sciences Challenge? (n = 330) |
97 | 3 | |
Has participating in the Life Sciences Challenge altered your approach/enthusiasm for studying sciences and maths? (Asked from 2018 onwards, n = 296) |
69 | 31 | |
Has taking part enhanced your learning of science? (Asked from 2020 onwards, n = 122) |
70 | 16 | 14 |
Of the 31 per cent of pupils to say that the LSC/HGB had not increased their enthusiasm, the majority indicated that they were already interested and still enthusiastic following participation. When asked whether the questions were too easy, too challenging or appropriate, 75 per cent of total responses (n = 325) stated that the questions were appropriate, 22 per cent indicated ‘too challenging’, and 3 per cent indicated ‘too easy’. The top three favourite rounds voted by student (n = 329) are the General Science, Elementary, and Who Am I? rounds; 30 per cent of student responses (n = 318) voted Data Analysis their least favourite round. However, the team continues to include this round, given the important insight into key required scientist skills which it provides.
Since 2020, pupils have been asked to sum up the quiz using just three words, and of the responses (n = 121), the most popular words are ‘fun’, ‘challenging’ and ‘interesting’, followed by ‘exciting’, ‘educational’ and ‘competitive’, reflecting a positive experience. A limited number of individuals used single occurring words such as ‘tense’, ‘scary’ and ‘tough’, evidencing the more demanding aspects of the quiz.
When describing the benefits/impact of taking part in the quiz, pupils particularly liked the scope of the quiz to develop generic skills such as teamwork and discussions, as well as motivating them to prepare for formal examinations and the opportunity to represent their school in a team format. Of the total responding pupils (n = 13), 46 per cent (n = 6) said that taking part in the quiz influenced their A-level choices, and 23 per cent (n = 3) said that participating influenced their degree choice. (A summary of pupil impact statements can be accessed here: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/2773821/Quiz-Pupil-Impact-Evidence.pdf).
Teachers
Over the 10-year period, 120 teachers have engaged in the quiz. Teacher feedback was obtained between 2013 and 2019, prior to the online delivery of the quiz. Table 3 evidences teacher responses to selected questions collated between 2014 and 2019 via completion of a paper form.
Question | Yes (%) | No (%) |
---|---|---|
Has your school enjoyed participating in the Life Sciences Challenge? | 97 | 3 |
Has the Life Sciences Challenge been a useful curriculum support? | 81 | 19 |
Were the questions in the Life Sciences Challenge set appropriately for Year 10–11 students? | 83 | 17 |
In 2022, teachers (n = 9) commenting on the main reasons for taking part highlighted that the quiz inspired and extended their students, and often provided a first insight into university life. When describing the impact of the quiz, teachers stated that it is an excellent vehicle to recognise the mathematic and scientific abilities of students, giving them the opportunity to represent their school. Several teachers have adapted quiz materials into their regular science teaching. (A summary of teacher impact statements can be accessed here: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/2773823/Quiz-Teacher-Impact-Evidence.pdf).
University students
Between 2013 and 2022, 52 students have been involved in the design and delivery of the quiz. Reasons that students (n = 15) provided for getting involved included aspiring to inspire the next generation of scientists, fulfilling a desire for public engagement involvement, and conveying the sense of the reward to be had from participating in scientific research. Students also commented positively about the development of their collaborative and communication skills, and about the satisfaction of being part of a unified team effort. The majority of students indicated no challenges experienced in supporting the quiz, describing their involvement as being manageable alongside their PhD. Several students highlighted the appropriate pitching of quiz questions, and also that encouraging participants to learn beyond the taught syllabus was challenging.
(A summary of student impact statements can be accessed here: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/2773822/Quiz-Student-Impact-Evidence.pdf).
Lessons learnt
Over the first 10 years of running the quiz, we have learnt important lessons that help us to sustain the LSC/HGB in an ever-changing and challenging environment for all stakeholders involved. These are summarised below.
Running an annual engagement activity such as this requires input from a multidisciplinary team of researchers, PhD students and engagement professionals, as well as sustained funding. In Cardiff University School of Medicine, a small core-funded PPIE team coordinates public engagement activity across the institution, supported by a core-engagement budget. When author AW moved on, the organisation of the LSC/HGB was subsumed by the PPIE team, ensuring its future development and sustainability. Often initiatives such as these have a short lifespan purely because their creators are on short-term contracts linked to specific research grants (Langenberg, 2001; Woolston, 2021).
The presence of an SiH academic lead with protected time for public engagement, has proved invaluable to ensure:
that the LSC/HGB complements and aligns with the ‘science and technology’ area of learning in the Curriculum for Wales (Hwb, 2020), and challenges students to broaden their science learning and undertake tasks that will prepare them for a career in science
the annual recruitment of PhD students to support the design and delivery of the LSC/HGB
that appropriate direction and support is provided to the PhD students.
At the outset of an individual’s potential research career, it is important to offer opportunities to engage audiences in the research being undertaken (Jensen et al., 2008; Pham, 2016; The Vitae Researcher Development Framework, 2024). The quiz has evolved to act as a public engagement activity driven by PhD students, providing a mutually beneficial platform to develop key engagement and communication skills in a supportive environment, and to ensure the continued freshness and innovative delivery of the quiz. Some members of academic staff involved in the delivery of the LSC/HGB reported that this needed to be done in their own time. Often, time given to public engagement of this nature (acting as a bridge between the university and schools, aiming to inspire the next generation of science talent) is seen to be voluntary and not part of the academic role, which is a recognised problem of the culture within the higher education sector (Eberl et al., 2023; Meredith, 2021; Weingart et al., 2021).
From the outset, this initiative was offered bilingually in English and in Welsh. Welsh-medium/bilingual secondary schools have valued this opportunity, evidenced via the successful engagement of over 70 per cent of these schools. Several participating Welsh-language teachers have confirmed that they ‘highly valued the competition in school’, and have been grateful that pupils have had the opportunity ‘to compete through the language in which they are taught’. They confirmed that: ‘There are very few opportunities like this, run in an efficient way (and for free) that make it easier for teachers to organise to take part.’ Bilingual offerings are ‘very uncommon’, and ‘the HGB has been one of the only bilingual opportunities presented to us over the last decade’:
The quiz rounds are very well translated … which makes the quiz much more accessible to pupils. Sometimes translated resources can be clunky or machine translated which make their use difficult, but this is not the case for the HGB. The fact that pupils can have a fun quiz round like Scientific Answer Smash in ‘proper’ Welsh is a big thing they do not get in some walks of life. It is bilingualism at its best, where both languages have the same provision.
The following have proved instrumental in maintaining the bilingual intention of the LSC/HGB to the required excellent standard:
the constant presence of bilingual resource within the core PPIE team
attracting involvement from Welsh-speaking PhDs (one PhD student even learnt Welsh, and went on to deliver the HGB!)
having a budget to outsource Welsh translation to a trusted expert scientific translator.
Teacher buy-in is key to the growth of the LSC/HGB, as engagement in the LSC/HGB requires a time commitment on behalf of teachers, including identifying teams of school students and appropriate times within the timetable to engage in the quiz, supporting invigilation during the quiz rounds, and acting as the point of contact between Cardiff University and participating teams. Time commitment and working within the school timetable have been highlighted as a challenge for some teachers. However, adopting a hybrid model since 2022 has provided additional flexibility, reduced time pressures for all involved, and avoided the need for staff, university students, school students and teachers to travel long distances (particularly for the more isolated schools) to take part in the quarter- and semi-finals.
Maintenance of the science teacher contact database supports the year-on-year participation of several schools. Database maintenance, however, is a constant challenge, and is time-consuming. Linking with teacher networks such as the Welsh Education Consortia (n.d.), the Royal Society of Biology (2024) Scottish Teacher Network, and organisations such as SSERC (2024) can help facilitate contact with teachers.
Mechanisms to capture lasting stakeholder impact data need to be thought through at the outset. A recognised limitation of this stakeholder impact data section of this article is that the sample sizes are small. Many of the pupil impact questions posed require at least a 12-month gap from the end of the engagement, and rely on teacher support to forward the link on to pupils.
The LSC/HGB is a team event that motivates and challenges science pupils to learn beyond the parameters of the curriculum. It provides young people with a passion for STEM with a level of recognition comparable to competitions available in the humanities and sports. This is best exemplified by the fact that one secondary school that won the quiz displays their trophy alongside its sporting accolades, highlighting the value it has (Figure 6).
The future of the LSC/HGB and concluding remarks
The team vision is to engage all secondary schools in the online preliminary round of the quiz. This will be encouraged by accommodating audiences for the final in person and via live streaming, to include Year 10 pupils from non-participating schools to watch the quiz in action, and to be inspired. Taster workshops are also planned to be delivered by our PhD students in the autumn term to Year 10 pupils attending schools in deprived areas of Cardiff to encourage sign up to the quiz preliminary round in the following February.
The LSC/HGB model can be adopted in other areas/countries. Potentially, there is the opportunity to run quiz finals across regions of the UK. The team would be happy to work with other universities interested in delivering an LSC to provide further detail and access to a bank of questions to get teams started.
The LSC/HGB will continue to evolve to ensure its aims, novelty and distinctiveness are maintained for future Year 10 pupils across Wales.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all past and present PhD students and members of staff for contributing to the delivery of this initiative since its conception, to all participating school students and teacher facilitators, and to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry for their continued support of the quiz prizes since 2014. Thanks to Mike Roberts for supporting the online delivery of the quiz, and for researching and discovering Flexiquiz, and to Christie Conlon (Cardiff University Graphic Designer at the time) for design of branding for all components of the SiH programme. Thanks to Professor Matthias Eberl for his advice and continued support and encouragement.
Declarations and conflicts of interest
Research ethics statement
Not applicable to this article.
Consent for publication statement
Not applicable to this article.
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