|
|
|
|
The Japan 2001 Science, Creativity
& the Young Mind Workshop
was devised and organised by Dr Eric Albone, Clifton Scientific Trust
and hosted at the University of Bristol, July 22-30, 2001, with
Public Presentations by UK-Japan Student Teams, Friday 27 July 2001.
The Japan 2001 Science, Creativity
and the Young Mind Workshop was funded in the
UK by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese
Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa
Foundation and Japan 2001, and in Japan
by the Chemical Society of Japan
Clifton
Scientific Trust, 49 Northumberland Road, Bristol BS6 7BA
Company No: 4167862 Registered Charity No: 1086933
What the students said...
For more information see Appendix 10
1.1 Message of Welcome from the Rt Hon the Lord Jenkin of Roding, Workshop Patron
As Patron of the Japan 2001 Science, Creativity and the Young Mind Workshop, I am delighted to add my welcome to those of other people.
I have followed the preparations for this event by Dr Albone with admiration and I am in no doubt that all the participants are in for a very interesting and worthwhile experience. The more we can build international links among young people, particularly in the field of science which is entirely international in its impact, the better it will be for the future of the human race and of the world we inhabit.
This Workshop provides a notable milestone on this path and I wish you and it every possible success.
Patrick Jenkin
The Rt Hon the Lord Jenkin of Roding
House of Lords
Westminster, London, SW1A 0PW
1.2 Message of Welcome from the Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science and Innovation
The Japan 2001 Science, Creativity and the Young Mind Workshop constitutes an important first in bringing together post-16 students from schools across Britain and Japan to work in small teams with top scientists, engineers and social scientists on a wide range of open-ended science-related explorations which challenge their ingenuity and creativity. In the process the students will not only put their school knowledge to genuine use and discover something of the "scientist in themselves", but also by living and working together come to understand each other's ways of thinking and working.
That science in a practical real-life context resonates with young people is demonstrated by the fact that the Workshop was rapidly oversubscribed in both countries and, significantly, that the majority of takers are young women.
The outcomes of the Workshop will not only be in widening the vision of the students taking part, but also in providing a very important marker for future collaboration between our two countries. In this context, I welcome the vision of the Clifton Scientific Trust in setting up this Workshop, of the Japan 2001 Festival in endorsing it as a Festival event, and of the many partners in both countries who have contributed to its realisation. Not least, I number among these the University of Bristol Widening Participation Office, Airbus UK, the Environment Agency, and other Bristol institutions and, in Japan, the Chemical Society of Japan who have worked with the other Japanese scientific societies in recruiting students. Also, the principal sponsors, the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, and the Japan 2001 Secretariat itself.
Most of all, I welcome the young people from our two countries whose energy and enthusiasm will pioneer such an exciting and important new venture.
Lord Sainsbury of Turville
Minister for Science and Innovation
July 2001
(LS 062-07)
The Japan 2001 Science Creativity and the Young Mind Workshop was an important "First" which opens up new opportunities for the future. Nothing quite like it had been attempted before.
As part
of the Japan 2001 Festival, sixty post-16 school students from schools across
Britain and Japan came together to live and work in small teams with expert
guidance on a wide range of cutting-edge, science-related explorations which
put school knowledge to real life use and challenged the students ingenuity
and creativity. The Workshop was free of charge to students on arrival in Bristol.
The speed with which places were taken up, and the fact that two thirds of the applicants in both countries were women, is real evidence that in such contexts science is very attractive to young people.
The students achievements in so short a time, taking into account the triple challenge of language, of culture, and of science... itself coupled with the imperative of a public presentation at the end of it... perhaps because these challenges were so formidable... were outstanding. Their enthusiasm is evidenced in the first two pages of this Report. Everyone learnt and grew... the Students, the Facilitators, the Scientists/Specialists, and the Organisers.
This Report outlines some of the Workshop's Achievements.
3.1
Science as Cultural Bridge. A major Workshop objective was to demonstrate
the potential of science, presented as real-life challenge, to provide as an
important context for Japanese and UK school students to work together and to
experience, share and learn about each other's cultures and life styles, ways
of thinking and ways of doing things.
3.2 Science as Real-Life Challenge. The Workshop sought to enable students to develop a broader "real life" vision of science and its applications, and to develop more fully the "scientist within themselves", whether or not they intended a career in science. The Workshop sought to enable students to put the skills and understandings they had gained in school to real life use, and to experience science as more than a compendium of "right answers", but rather as a creative, cooperative (sometimes competitive) human endeavour.
3.3 Science as Relevant. By providing school students with opportunities to work with professionals in a wide range of science-related fields, the Workshop sought to address serious concerns in Britain and in Japan that science in schools is too often perceived by young people as difficult, dull and irrelevant. Such grass roots partnerships which transcend the world of school science are currently not common in the UK and are rare in Japan.
3.4 Clifton Scientific Trust. The Workshop took forward the Objectives of Clifton Scientific Trust promoting excellence and relevance in science education for students of all ages and abilities and built on the Trust's earlier work in the UK and in Japan.
4.1 UK students
were selected in consultation with the University of Bristol Widening Participation
Office, using criteria which gave strong preference to students from homes having
little previous contact with higher education. With minimal advertising and
working within tight time constraints, 94 applications were received from 48
schools nationwide for the 30 UK student places available. This does not include
additional applications which were received late. All UK Applicants completed
an Application Form administered through their schools, which included a request
the school's endorsement of their application.
4.2 Japanese students were selected by a team led by Professor
Mamoru Shimoi (University of Tokyo/ Chemical Society of Japan) with Japanese
colleagues representing other scientific disciplines, a number of whom attended
the Workshop as joint role of observers and also of guardians of the Japanese
students during their journey to the UK. The organization of the Japanese team
followed a meeting at the Chemical Society of Japan on 20 December with Dr Albone
and Dr Okano (Rikkyo School in England) as part of their planning visit to Tokyo,
16-22 December 2000, supported by a British Council Travel Grant.
4.3 Both in Japan and in Britain, the majority of the applications came from young women, who as a result comprised two thirds of the students selected. There was no gender bias in the selection criteria used. In addition, the UK student team contained within itself considerable ethic diversity.
5.1 Students were assigned to one of ten project teams. For the UK students, this was based on preferences indicated on their application forms, and it proved possible to allocate all students to their first or second (in a few cases, third) preferences.
5.2 Each Project Team consisted of
5.3 Each team was supported by
5.4 Each Project Team focussed on one of the following science-related fields
6.1 The Week Participants arrived at Churchill Hall, a Hall of Residence of the University of Bristol, on the afternoon of Sunday 22 July, and departed on the morning of Monday 30 July, 2001. Living together was an important part of the Workshop experience.
6.2 Project Time Students worked in their Teams in various laboratories and other locations in Bristol (principally in the University of Bristol) for five full half days from Monday afternoon through to Thursday. Friday was devoted to concise Public Presentations of Achievements by the Student Teams, the morning for preparation, the afternoon for the presentations themselves.
6.3 Presentations The Programme of the Presentations
attached contains a full listing of the names of the Students in each team and
their Specialist Leaders and Facilitators. Many of the teams chose to give their
own Powerpoint presentations, copies of some of which are available. Special
Guests at this event were Professor Colin Blakemore, FRS, (Professor of Physiology,
University of Oxford, and Chairman of Council Designate, British Association
for the Advancement of Science, Professor Marie Conte-Helm, Director General,
and Ms Junko Kono, Deputy Director General, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation.
All Students received a Certificate commending their contribution.
6.4 Before the Workshop Students were sent two Workshop Newsletters
and also some selected background material provided by individual Scientist/Specialist
Team Leaders in consultation with Dr Albone. In some cases this was not available
until very late. In retrospect, there was a danger that such material could
cause more anxiety than illumination, and prior preparation, helpful as it might
be, should not be requirement. Of real value would have been a compilation of
a English-Japanese vocabulary of basic technical terms in the various project
areas.
6.5
The Beginning On arrival at the Hall of Residence, after an informal
welcome, outdoor activities were organised to help "break the ice".
The Programme Proper began on the Monday morning with a formal welcome to the
university and an introduction of the students to their Project Teams. Short
presentations were made by Dr Eric Albone, by Professor Mamoru Shimoi (University
of Tokyo), by Professor Steve Sparks FRS (Earth Sciences, University of Bristol)
on behalf of the Royal Society, by Professor Gordon Stirrat, on behalf of the
University of Bristol Institute of Advanced Studies, and by Mrs Valerie Davey,
MP for Bristol West (House of Commons Education Select Committee). Following
a Coffee Break, Professor Haruo Hosoya, Ochanomizu University and Chemical Society
of Japan addressed the students. His illustrated talk entitled "Excitement
of Science: Discovery of the Fullerenes" stressed that to be a good scientist,
qualities of curiosity, rigorous logical thinking, ambition and the ability
to communicate and exchange of ideas with colleagues and rivals were crucial.
The morning ended by the students making contact with their Science Team Leaders.
6.6 Visits and Social Events. The Tuesday and Thursday afternoons were devoted to specially organised science related visits in Bristol (At Bristol Science Centre and Bristol Zoo Gardens). All evenings were devoted to Social Events at the Hall of Residence. Participants were encouraged to devise their own events presenting aspects of their culture and way of life to each other. This included an evening of entertainment by the Japanese students, a Sushi evening organised by the Facilitator team, and some talks by the Japanese scientists. The Friday evening was devoted to an outstanding Workshop Dinner at Goldney Hall, University of Bristol. Saturday was an all day visit to the Edward Jenner Museum at Berkeley and nearby Berkeley Castle, although at that stage the students were very exhausted, and the final Sunday was free time, ending with an informal Farewell Party.
6.7 Special Guests The Workshop also welcomed as Special Guests Professor Haruo Hosoya, Ochanomizu University and Chemical Society of Japan for the Sunday/Monday, and Mr Tsuyoshi Enomoto, First Secretary (Education), the Embassy of Japan, for the Wednesday of the Workshop.
7.1
In spite of, or because of, the major challenges the students faced and overcame,
the dominant reaction of both UK and Japanese students was one of great exhilaration
and pride in what they achieved both scientifically and personally. The Students
responded incredibly well to the Workshop challenge and worked very hard indeed.
This was evident from the quality of their Public Presentations (see #6.3
and Appendices) .
7.2 Students completed Evaluation Forms at the end of the Workshop, and a selection their comments are quoted above (see earlier in this Report). The results of the Student Questionnaire may be found in Appendix 10.
7.3 A number of the Student Project Teams also produced written
Reports. In addition, Facilitators were also asked for feedback and a number
of reports were received, and as also either in writing or in interview, comments
from Scientist/Specialist Leaders. A selection of these is appended to this
Report. Special prominence is given here to materials relating to the work of
the Space Science Team which incorporated the innovative dimension of international
videoconference links with specialists at NASA in the USA (see also #7.4).
Major contributors to this success were the Facilitators, Japanese undergraduates
and graduate students from Bristol University Japanese Society (mostly not scientists),
one of whom worked with each Team. Their role developed as the Workshop progressed
and proved essential in enabling the Teams to bond and overcome inevitable initial
difficulties.
7.4 The Space Science Team investigated the origin of the volcanoes on Mars and was advised by vulcanologists in the University of Bristol Earth Sciences Department, and scientists at NASA Glenn Research Centre, Cleveland, Ohio by daily videoconference link. The success of the Space Science Team can be judged from comments made by NASA staff.
During four videoconferencing connections between Joe Kolecki and the Space Science team, we witnessed real world science education at its finest... studying images and maps of Mars with their Bristol University team leaders, the six young scientists developed a final presentation to Joe on what they learned, their still unanswered questions, and suggestions for further investigations. Special guests from NASA and the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Toledo, Ohio, all felt the excitement of the real life scientific investigation and were amazed at the students' initiative and hard work. The model demonstrates effective collaboration among diverse cultures, as well as the effective use of technology (ISDN videoconferencing, e-mail, data sharing, and the Internet) in the educational setting. More importantly, it demonstrates that, given an exciting challenge and necessary resources, young people will far exceed everyone's expectations!
Ruth Petersen, Educational Coordinator, Learning
Technologies Project,
NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, Cleveland, Ohio
As a
result of this, in consultation with us, NASA have produced their own Report
of the event (see #7.5.6) and have also produced their
own website detailing their experience of the workshop, which they felt
was quite extraordinary. The Workshop ICT link with NASA was the inspiration
of Mr Lawrence Williams of Holy Cross School, New Malden, who supported the
team throughout. ICT properly used has great potential for facilitating such
collaboration in the future, and for this reason it has been used as a prime
example in a number of our reports/publications following the Workshop.
7.5 Outcomes from the Workshop included the following publications. There was also some coverage on local radio and local press.
7.5.1 Eric Albone and Lawrence Williams, UK-Japan Young Scientists Working Together- Japan 2001 Science, Creativity and the Young Mind Workshop; Science Education Newsletter (British Council) 155, 3-4, December 2001
7.5.2 Eric Albone, Lawrence Williams and Toru Okano, UK-Japan Young Scientists Working Together; Achievement and the Potential of ICT, Association for Science Education Annual Meeting 2002, Liverpool, January 2002
7.5.3 Japan 2001 Workshop Website
7.5.4 Eric Albone and Toru Okano, Inspiring Science, School Science Review (Association for Science Education), (letter) 83, 18-19, March 2002
7.5.5 Eric Albone, Submission, House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee, Science Education 14-19 Inquiry, April 2002
7.5.6 Joseph Kolecki and Ruth Petersen, Real World Connections through Video-conferences, NASA Report NASA/TM-2001-211300, November 2001. Also NASA's web page on the workshop.
7.5.7 News items
8.1
The messages which emerge from both UK and Japanese students include the following:
8.2 These conclusions have relevance not only in a UK-Japan context, but also within the UK itself and have been set out briefly in Dr Albone's recent written evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee Inquiry into Science Education 14-19.
8.3 There now exists an opportunity to build on the success of the Japan 2001 Workshop, which addresses important science education issues in both the UK and in Britain, as well as providing a further potentially very important context by which young people in both countries can learn about each other's cultures and ways of life.
8.4 The Students who have taken part in the Workshop should be invited to act as Ambassadors in taking forward this vision. Clifton Scientific Trust would be very interested in working with Japanese colleagues in developing this thinking within Japan through presentations, seminars and the development of materials for use with schools, as well as, as at present, in the UK. A Focus for this work would be a further Workshop at a future date, building on the lessons learnt in Japan 2001. Dr Albone is continuing to be in contact with a number of the students in both countries, and has received very heartening reports. The UK students are seeking to organise their own reunion in the summer of 2002.
The Japan 2001 Science, Creativity and the Young Mind Workshop was a Japan 2001 Festival Event, devised and organised by Clifton Scientific Trust and supported by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Japan 2001, and the Chemical Society of Japan.
Recruitment of British Students was undertaken with assistance and advice from the University of Bristol Widening Participation Office, and recruitment of Japanese students was undertaken and funded by the Chemical Society of Japan; Council of Chemistry Education in association with the Society of Biological Sciences Education of Japan, the Physics Education Society of Japan, and the Japan Society of Earth Sciences Education. Workshop partners included Airbus UK, Bristol Zoo Gardens, Bristol City Museum, Connexions West of England, The Environment Agency, The Y Touring Theatre Company, The University of the West of England and colleagues from Holy Cross School, New Malden & Rikkyo School, Horsham.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |