OVERVIEW

The BDI’s comprehensive and innovative biomedical education programme has been in development since early 2007. The programme is far reaching and enables BDI educators and scientists to interact with students of all ages.  To date, 18,500 students have participated across the various initiatives of the BDI’s E & O programme, exposing them to the excitement and wonder of biomedical research.

Programme activities take on a multitude of formats and cover a variety of aims and objectives. Due to their innovative format, standard assessments are not available. The solution is programme evaluation that is tailored to the activity and provides meaningful insight. Programme evaluation, enables the E & O team to monitor and amend ongoing programmes and to gauge impacts. New programmes are set up with the insight gained from ongoing evaluation of prior initiatives. 

The emphasis in data collection lies on age appropriate methodologies. For example with younger audiences, data gathering is carried out in an entertaining way that contributes to the enjoyment of the activities.  

A mixed-methods approach is applied to all programme evaluation. Evaluation data is collected in focus groups, one-to-one interviews, pre and post intervention questionnaires, open-ended questionnaires, observational methods and digital long term follow up.

Ethical guidelines are strictly adhered to and programme evaluation complies with the DCU standards of research with human subjects and child protection policies.

For evaluation purposes we have divided our activities into three distinctive thematic areas:
Science and Me – BDI programmes and workshops for younger audiences which place an emphasis on personalising the relevance of science and highlight the applications of science in everyday life.

Experiencing Science – BDI programmes for 12-17 year old students including science clubs, investigative workshops and internships. These activities expose participants to the real-world application of scientific research and provide the opportunity to explore and investigate in a laboratory setting. 

Living Science – BDI programmes for undergraduate and masters level students.  Culminating in an independent but guided research project this provides an authentic research experiences for participants with exposure to the challenges and enjoyment of scientific research.  Participants become actively engaged in the scientific process. 

For further information on programme evaluation contact:
Diana Smith / E: diana.smith25@mail.dcu.ie / P: 01 700 6438

 

 

 

SCIENCE & ME

The BDI programme for younger audiences place an emphasis on personalising the relevance of science and demonstrating that science is all around us.  Two selected evaluation highlights from this thematic area include the MAMBO programme and one of our discovery workshops, Bright Sparks.

ME & MY BODY - MAMBO

MAMBO (Me and My Body) is a classroom based, strongly curriculum linked programme that consists of several active science sessions. There are five different modules, which explore the blood, the digestive system, the immune system, healthy living, and the heart. These lessons are targeted at an age group from 8 to 12 years old. The sessions entail a mixture of presentation, demonstration, and hand-on activities, in the form of experiments, drama play, construction of models etc. The nature of the workshop is to use hands-on activities for illustration and exploration (for details see http://www.bdi.ie/education/primary.html).

Formative and summative evaluation has been carried out at a variety of stages during the MAMBO programme.  This involves focus groups and feedback sessions with students, teachers and education researchers. 

Quote

“We learned that blood is pumped around the body by the heart and is made up of four different parts. . . . We need blood clotting so we don't bleed too much from the simplest of cuts. . . . We made a model of our blood out of play-dough. It was a lot of fun learning about blood and I can't wait until the next session.” (Maria, aged 8)

Further MAMBO Evaluation data is available here.

 

DISCOVERY WORKSHOPS - BRIGHT SPARKS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This interactive workshop familiarizes primary school children with the physics and application of light in a mixture of presentation, demonstration and experimentation. Guided hands-on investigations are conducted by the children in pairs.  A detailed evaluation of the workshop was carried out with 80 primary school children to understand knowledge learned and enjoyment of the workshop. 

Quotes:

“ I liked the bright sparks stuff that we did today because we mixed colours we made a rainbow with a prism we learned who invented the lights , telescope, and microscope” (John, aged 9)

“The workshop was brilliant, I really enjoyed it. My favourite things were when we put the green red and blue lights though our hand” (Eleanor, aged 10)

“We had lots of fun at DCU. We learned things about light and how it can be bent, broken up, shone though and loads more… It was great fun.” (Conor, aged 10)

“Today I learned that light travels in straight lines. I also learned some other things about light. I really enjoyed the bright sparks workshop” (Martin, aged 7)

Further Bright Sparks Evaluation data is available here.

 

 

 

EXPERIENCING SCIENCE

BDI programmes for 12-17 year old students include science clubs, investigative workshops and internships. These activities enable participants to experience and practise science in a ‘real-life’ setting and observe real-world applications of scientific research. 

Research suggests that children often loose interest in science in their transfer from primary to secondary school, often citing reasons such as a lack of hands-on activities and a seeming irrelevance of the curriculum to ‘real life’. During this age science becomes more synonymous with the school subject science, and attitude towards one reflect on the other.

The BDI initiatives for this age group provide participants with ‘hands-on’ scientific experience in a ‘real science’ environment. The emphasis is on the relevance of science to people’s life and the application of the science in the real world, in a way that the children can enjoy.

Evaluation methods for this age-group include focus groups, one-2-one interviews, questionnaires and digital long term tracking.  Video and audio recording is also used to provide observational data. 

YOUNG SCIENTIST EXPERIENCE

Craig O'Hare and his team from St. Aidan's CBS worked with BDI researchers on a Young Scientist project in 2007. The team was awarded second place in the Technology category.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craig on left with fellow team mates during Young Scientist Exhibition in Jan 2007 & Craig in March 2010

Quote

“As long as I could remember I had always been interested in science.  However, I was unsure as to whether I wanted to pursue it as a career option.  With the help of the BDI I managed to receive an excellent impression of a career in science. 
Over the space of 3 months I worked extensively in a research lab in DCU where I learned fundamental lab skills and techniques such as how to compile findings and present lab reports, while reading scientific journals to broaden my understanding of the scientific world. 

My experience with BDI proved to be a formative one as it heavily influenced my decision to pursue a science degree.  I would wholeheartedly recommend any student to participate in any programme run by the BDI.  The staff has been continually helpful and have always offered me additional support and advice despite the fact I carried out the project 3 and a half years ago.  Also my experience continues to provide me with an advantage over my peers when applying for various scholarships or internships”

Detailed Experiencing Science Evaluation data (Science Clubs) is available here.

 

 

 

LIVING SCIENCE

The BDI has developed a number of research internship opportunities for undergraduate and masters students. These independent, but guided research projects provide an authentic research experience for students.  Participants become actively engaged in the scientific process and are fully embedded into the BDI research community.  They experience fully what it is to be a research scientist!

DiaMonD UREKA

The DiaMonD (Diagnostics for Monitoring Disease) UREKA programme is a summer undergraduate training site hosted by the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute. The main aim of the DiaMonD programme is to provide undergraduate students from Ireland and abroad with the opportunity to conduct challenging and meaningful research projects in a state-of-the art, collaborative research environment.  The programme began in summer 2006 and the evaluation strategy has evolved and developed over the preceding years.  A multi-methods approach to data collection and analysis has been chosen, to provide the benefit of the depth of qualitative data as well as the breadth and comparability of quantitative data.

 

Quote

Thomas Cummins, DiaMonD UREKA Graduate, Aug 2007

“In terms of (the programme's) impact on my career ; I am now seriously considering the possibility of doing a PhD when I complete my degree, where previously I had always assumed I would work in industry."

And in 2009 - "I'm really looking forward to beginning my (Ph.D.)  research and I definitely feel my time in the BDI on the UREKA scholarship has prepared me well for what lies ahead of me! I'll be advising the students I'm demonstrating to in the labs to apply!”

 

Further DiaMonD UREKA Evaluation data is available here.

 

MSc in BIOMEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS

The M.Sc. in Biomedical Diagnostics is a full-time, taught programme hosted by the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute. The programme began in Oct 2006.  There are currently 23 full-time students participating on the programme and 17 graduates.  Contact is kept with all programme graduates to monitor future career progression.  We regularly invite M.Sc graduates to return to their alma mater and provide guidance and support for current students. 

During the academic year, regular student feedback sessions are held to monitor student’s progress, give constructive feedback on assignments and hear student’s suggestions on how the programme could be improved. Course assessment methodologies test key aspects of the students learning in line with the aims of the course.  The programme is assessed on a yearly basis by an external examiner to ensure high standards are maintained. 

 

Quote

“No other Master’s course in Ireland offers such a diverse range of subjects, including diagnostics technology, nanobiotechnology and bioethics. The course helped me realise that I wanted to be involved in cutting-edge Irish research…I am now pursuing a 4 year PhD in Biosensor Technology”

Edwina Stack,
M.Sc. Biomedical Diagnostics Graduate 2007.

“The academic standing of this course is extremely high and ranks with similar courses in premier universities world-wide”

Professor Seamus Higson,
Professor of Bio- and Electroanalysis, Cranfield University.
M.Sc Biomedical Diagnostics, External Examiner 2009

 

Further M.Sc. Biomedical Diagnostics Evaluation data is available here.

 

 

 

PUBLIC OUTREACH:

OUTREACH OVERVIEW

RESEARCH TEAM:
Prof Richard O'Kennedy
Principal Investigator / P: 01 700 7810 / E: richard.okennedy@dcu.ie
Ms Diana Kaiser
Post-Graduate Student / P: 01 700 6438 / E: diana.kaiser2@mail.dcu.ie
Dr Aoife MacCormac
Post-Doctoral Researcher / P: 01 700 6439 / E: aoife.maccormac@dcu.ie
Ms Emma O'Brien
Education, Outreach & Entrepreneurship Manager / P: 01 700 5349 / E: emma.obrien@dcu.ie
Ms Clare Scalzo
Research Officer / P: 01 700 6444 / E: clare.scalzo@dcu.ie