Giving young people experiences of the curiosity, creativity and wonder of thinking like a physicist

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MotivationSchool students generally enjoy practical work in physics but dislike the rigidity of so-called recipe investigations - which are investigations that follow a set method, designed to guide them to an expected answer. Further, over the long term, an overuse of recipe investigations fosters a disinterest in science, misperceptions about how science is done and confusion about what physics tells us about the nature of universe.In addition, the entrenched subject compartmentalisation of secondary school science and exam pressure means that physics becomes disconnected from real-world contexts and the multidisciplinary topics discussed in other subjects. Students miss out on opportunities to explore the relationships between physics and Big Questions as part of their formal learning.Students in areas of deprivation frequently struggle to access employer-based and science enrichment activities and have low science capital - and are hardest hit by these negative aspects of school science. Our project is designed to address this gap.Aims, outcomes, outputs, impactThe project will transform how 600 participating students (age 8-12) in six schools in areas of deprivation and will enrich their understanding of physics by providing them with workshop activities linked to real world contexts and Big Questions in which to see the value, relevance and power and limitations of physics. As a result, students develop a deeper appreciation of the curiosity, creativity and wonder that is involved in real-world science exploration.Each school will have three in-school workshops for up to 100 students. Students are in groups of about 30 and the workshops run concurrently three times. 180 students (30 per school) also attend a showcase event on campus. Six workshops will be designed - three for primary students aged 8-10 and three for secondary students aged 11-13. The workshops brief is to help students to experience the curiosity, creativity and wonder of thinking like a physicist while tackling misperceptions and negative attitudes towards physics associated with compartmentalisation, exam pressure and recipe investigations. Expert physicist Prof John Wood (honorary scientist at RAL) will provide scenarios that inspire students' imaginations about how physics works drawn from solar and particle physics, cosmology and accelerator science. These workshops will supplement two existing physics workshops from a previous project.Professional Development in participating schools will build 24 teachers' understanding of how to create activities that link classroom physics with big questions about the nature of reality.Five University Outreach Ambassadors will gain expertise in science communication and ways to teach physics to students. Our aim is that our Ambassadors who are mostly Education Studies undergraduates will become experienced and passionate STEM influencers in future;During the workshops the students will create a project for a showcase event on campus. The challenge and excitement of the showcase will create a focus while giving students the freedom to research and devise their own responses. 180 students will come on campus for a day of sharing questions, ideas and demonstrations. The showcase will be promoted to university teacher trainees, university staff and the media. Project dissemination will provide a case study of how researchers, experienced scientists and university outreach ambassadors can work with students to enhance their understanding of the nature of physics. The case study together with resources for successful activities will be published and promoted to STEM professionals and teachers via organisations such as the ASE. Research findings will be disseminated to academics, teachers and policy makers via National Curriculum Policy groups via conference presentations, policy reports, journal articles and a special edition of School Science Review.