Discover the Cosmos Athens meeting April th 2012 Activities in Birmingham UK & summary feedback September – March 2012 Lynne Long, University of Birmingham, UK

Activities: Oct – Dec 2011 Event Date (Project Month) LocationPurposeParticipants Mensa Science day8/10/2011 (M2)BirminghamPublic Talk on LHC 150 Mensa members (mainly adults) IPPOG meeting3-5/11/2011 (M3)CERN, Switzerland International meeting of Particle Physics outreach – national reps ~ 30 international members Darwin Science Society 11/11/2011 (M3)Shrewsbury Public talk & discussion session on LHC ~ 90 students aged Mini Particle Physics Masterclass 7/12/2011 (M3)UB Talks & workshops incl use of Minerva software tool ~ 30 students aged Meeting of UB/Midlands Physics Teachers Advisory Board Dec 2011 (M3)UB Project dissemination – discussion of ideas ~ 10 experienced High School Teachers or educational/outreach practitioners

Activities: Jan – Feb 2012 Event Date (Project Month) LocationPurposeParticipants Astronomy Ireland9/1/2012 (M5)Dublin Public Lecture on LHC General public ATLAS outreach31/1/2012 (M5)CERN, Switzerland Outreach meeting talk ~ 40 ATLAS researchers Café Scientifique20/2/2012 (M6)Nottingham Public discussion on LHC General public Teacher Visionary Workshop 29/2/2012 (M6)U B with input from LJM and U of G Project Dissemination & hands on resource workshops 24 teachers fro 23 different schools in 14 different LEAs across the UK + IOP Teacher network coordinator & IOP Teaching & Learning coach

Activities: March 2012 Event Date (Project Month) LocationPurposeParticipants Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET) 6/3/2012 (M7)Cardiff Public lecture on LHC General Public BIG BANG FAIR15-17/3/2012 (M7)NEC, Birmingham Stall of interactive activities with researchers & PG students Teachers/students aged 5-18, general public. ~ 20,000 visitors School visit and workshop organised by Y3 UG student on placement 22/3/2012 (M7)UB Workshop using Minerva Software Tool 15 Y12 students from local school Particle Physics Masterclass 28/3/2012 (M7)UB Talks & workshops incl use of Minerva software tool ~ 100 students aged teachers IET/I Mech E29/3/2012 (M7)DunchurchPublic Talk on LHCMembers of IET or I Mech Eng

Feedback from Visionary workshop All teachers present were generally very positive about the Discover the Cosmos project and e-learning portals Sparking interest and excitement,and using hands-on, interactive activities in the classroom to enhance curriculum and encourage learning, were the most important factors for teachers A minimum of 10/26 delegates attending were interested in running their own teaching training events with the e- learning resources – with our support The majority of delegates left contact details and were keen to remain involved with the Discover the Cosmos project.

Teacher opinions re main roles of e- Learning activities in the classroom Allows more interactive rather than passive learning Emphasises scientific methods Encourages out of school learning/independent learning Allows possible interaction with real scientific research – real data, real researchers etc. Illustrates cutting edge experimentation/technology in action Promotes skills development

Teacher opinions re added value of e- Learning activities in the classroom Provides excellent resources in one place Good exposure for careers in science Provides relevance to curriculum topics studied Enhances teachers repertoire for classroom activities/updates teacher knowledge

Necessary steps to integrate e-learning activities into school curriculum KEY requirement cited – activities must be relevant to school curriculum as well as Easy to pick up and use/don’t take too much time in the classroom Helpful if use of such resources Cited in syllabi as important Supported by senior management in schools Are championed by enthusiastic staff willing and able to support and train colleagues

Possible student engagement now?..in the near future? Most teachers very positive about this but need support, time and easy non problematical access Not many of the attending teachers were using e-resources regularly at the moment…and these were keen enthusiastic teacher leaders in their institutions!

Next Steps To maintain contact with teacher delegates and outreach organisers, and to set up workshops to train more teacher groups in using the resources across various UK locations in the next 12 months. To investigate developments of resources that may span the HEP / Astronomy areas – eg software resources and activities based around the ALICE experiment at CERN. To maintain the momentum of outreach talks/activities to disseminate ideas to schools and general public and keep the interest generated so far in cutting edge science.