Use of the Café Forum concept for embracing diversity and broadening scholarship
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Transcript of Use of the Café Forum concept for embracing diversity and broadening scholarship
Use of the Café Forum concept for embracing diversity and broadening
scholarship
Ian DouglasPGR Lead for Medicine, Dentistry &
Health
What is the PG Café Forum?• Origins - collaborative project between the
Postgraduate Society and Science Brainwaves• The Café Forum concept offers the opportunity for
students to gain experience presenting their work. – Good communication is essential in all areas of life and work– Effective communication about research to the general
public is of increasing importance. • For postgraduate students, (both research and taught)
– run by students– to share and discuss their research in an informal,
supportive environment – to a cross-disciplinary and non-specialist audience
Aims
• Aims– to develop the communication skills of
postgraduate research students – to encourage students to identify the broad
benefits of their research– to gain an appreciation of the public
understanding of science and other disciplines– to increase awareness of other postgraduate
research undertaken in the university
https://sites.google.com/a/sheffield.ac.uk/progress/postgrad-cafe-forum
http://www.pebblepad.co.uk/sheffield/viewasset.aspx?oid=1108&type=webfolio&pageoid=2811
Web site information
Presentation and evaluation
• Presenters are expected to communicate the big-picture context of their research to an audience from beyond their own subject areas.
• Presenters should use visual representations of research to convey their ideas but with minimal text
• Each session – 2 or 3 presentations ~ 15 minutes– Followed by audience questions and lively debate
• Presenters receive confidential feedback via audience participation devices
Example presentation topics• Consciousness and point of view in Jane Austen’s fiction• Spatial coincidence between protected areas and mining
activities• Do voices and previous experiences mediate infant
attention to faces?• Nature-inspired robotics and artificial intelligence• Improving the performance of medical gloves• Lost urban rivers beneath our feet, and what to do with
them• Using fluorescent fruit flies to investigate planar cell polarity• Investigating the mechanisms of oral cancer cell binding
during metastasis• eGovernment: what is that all about?
Peer EvaluationAudience evaluation using key pads for presentation quality, content of presentation and whether the presentation was pitched at the right level.
Recording presentations
• GEO– Forum presenters are strongly encouraged to
take advantage of the University's Global Educational Outreach facilities. [The student has all rights over the recording.]
– The GEO provides free teaching resources to schools and colleges to help inspire young learners.
Is the audience diverse?
• 2011-12• 38 registered (26 as DDP module)
• 2012-13• 45 students registered (31 as DDP module)
2011 - 2012
Faculty No.
Med, Dent & Health 12
Social Science 3
Arts & Humanities 3
Engineering 9
Science 8
2012 - 2013
Faculty No.
Med, Dent & Health 2
Social Science 5
Arts & Humanities 5
Science & Engineering 7
NB 3 registered but did not attendNumbers are presenters
Number of participants per department 2011-
2012
Department No. Attendees
DEN 6*
MED 6
APS 1
BMS 3
MBB 1
PHY 2
PSY 1
AAP 1ELL 1
HST 1
CIV 4
MEC 2
CPE 2*
COM 1
ARC 1*
INF 2In 2012-13 session - 4 PGT students from Engineering attending
Attendance :- Staying power and commitment
Feedback from participants on PG Café Forum
• An online survey sent out to all attendees •Opportunity to feedback/ comment on each session via
a comment box
Feedback from participants on PG Café Forum
Feedback from participants on PG Café Forum
Future goals• Expand awareness throughout the University• Improve venue and AV technology
– Investigate video recording for podcasts• Improve adherence of presenters to guidelines for
delivery to a general audience• Invite guest speakers
– e.g. PG Alumni - to address the employability agenda• Dr Andrew Madden: Did a PhD help prepare me for setting up a
business? • Dr Gavin Boyce: Applying research skills to business
• Encourage more PGT students to attend
Discussion• Would such a forum concept add value to the PGT
experience?– If so, how would it work best/be rolled out?
• Faculty level?• Groups of cognate departments?
– Would it encourage PGT to PGR transition?• As well as broadening scholarship, should aspects
relevant to employability be included?– "Experience in a specific research field must be
complemented by effective communication skills …” (Andersen Consulting)
– "Postgraduate students tend to become focused on their subject area and don't emphasise their transferable skills which actually make them more employable." (Esso-Exxon)