Team:NU Kazakhstan/Communication
Background
“Not only is it important to ask questions and find the answers, as a scientist I felt obligated to communicate with the world what we were learning.”Stephen Hawking
1. Summer Camp
It is essential to build a strong foundation and lift children’s eyes into the world of opportunities where they can devote themselves to a specific field. However, the lack of scientific communication and proper knowledge deprived them of scientific changes introduced too fast nowadays. To engage students and children in scientific spheres, we conducted the Summer Camp, an online nationwide science summer camp aimed at increasing science literacy among high school students of Kazakhstan. Forty-five school children participated in the Summer Camp on a complimentary basis and were provided with high-quality lectures, virtual lab experiments, and were engaged in various games. According to the children’s feedback on Summer Camp, the camp was the most rewarding, unforgettable experience in their academic journey. It was a perfect solution to find out why there is a need to embrace science. Furthermore, participants expressed their gratitude that Summer Camp was an excellent chance to receive personalized advice and meet like-minded people in the scientific field.
Summer Camp enabled children to perceive the public understanding of science and the importance of scientific literacy. From the golden lectures of invited speakers, scholars, and doctors of science, they acquired valuable knowledge of science popularization methods and provided a basic understanding of science communication. Moreover, they learned how to promote the public understanding of science and communicate effectively during the debate conducted in camp.
Our Science Communication was exemplified in 5 specific programs of the Camp:
The first day of our scientific world camp was an introductory session. The team members explained the importance of science and how the world is driven by scientific advancement and technological and societal progress changes.
Moreover, during the first day, we explained the field of Synthetic Biology, techniques utilized in Synthetic Biology, the main difference between Synthetic Biology and Genetic Engineering application fields to broaden students' horizons on iGEM completion. In addition, we have invited the President of Nazarbayev University American Chemical Society club, where he elaborated on the club's mission and vision and highlighted the importance of raising awareness among young chemists regarding opportunities in the Chemistry discipline. Participants were provided with the opportunity to find their field of passion during the beginning of the Summer Camp.
During the "Thinking Like a Scientist" day, children and iGEM team members determined the main features of scientific thinking. They introduced the distinct elements of this kind of thinking and the requirements. Then to boost their capacity to think like a future scientist, our team conducted a small competition between participants challenging their scientific thinking by critical thinking questions related to science.
On day 3, team members conducted the lecture about the scientific method and all the required steps (observation, hypothesis, predictions from the hypothesis, experiments, evaluation and improvements). The experiments of the past scientific world were showcased with an understanding of their experimental design (Darwin's experiments with auxin, Hershey–Chase experiments with DNA, Griffith's experiment, Pavlov's experiments). Then we have provided clear information about the experimental design in modern science (control group, experimental group) to prepare participants for the practical part of our Summer Camp. Then participants were involved in Kahoot and "A Lab: become Scientist" games. After the game, they were provided with all manuals and instructions on DNA extraction. Participants performed a safe DNA extraction experiment in their home and sent all videos of their experiment where they shared their feeling after the running experiment on their own.
Invited scholars, authors of research papers, and other speakers explained the importance of effective science communication in conducting your research, introducing your product to the public. Participants figured out how to better communicate science and why scientists are ultimately responsible for promoting and explaining science to the public and media. During the second part of Science Communication day, children worked on creating popular science content. They were informed about popular science writing requirements, how to write good popular science content for people who are not experts in your field, and obtained five tips for writing good popular science writing. At the end of Summer Camp's 3rd day, participants engaged in a vigorous debate where the topic was "to be a successful scientist, you must be an effective communicator".
During the last day of the Summer Camp, we put a principal focus on different areas related to science and its application, such as Academia, Industry, Entrepreneurship, Education, Management, and invited specialists in these fields that can be speakers in the camp. They have shared their valuable experiences and assist participants in finding their passion and the right path in the nearest future.
Poster-Workshop
We have created engaging posters in all three languages to contribute to materials development in the Kazakh language. (More information can be found on the "Education" page). After gaining experience designing educational materials, we also wanted to encourage children to acquire those skills. Therefore, during the Summer Camp, our team members have conducted a workshop for participants to foster their creativity and critical thinking skills. We developed a 10-minute video tutorial and instruction about effective visual communication in the scientific field. Throughout the Summer camp, children designed their posters working in a group. At the end of the Summer camp, they presented their posters to other teams and exchanged valuable feedback. Participants also visualized their career map, exploring the vast range of job and career opportunities available in science-based fields.
Outcome of Summer Camp
2. International Student Biohackathon "Code-On"
To respond to the post-pandemic challenges and revive students' team spirit in a complex learning environment, we wanted to conduct a special competition designed for students of the Undergraduate program. We have organized the first International Student Biohackathon "Code-On" in Central Asia.
Our BioHackathon succeeded at bringing together people with an interdisciplinary set of expertise to "hack" solutions for natural science-related issues. We brought together more than 200 participants, 55 teams from 15 countries took part in the competition by this event. Besides Kazakhstan, most participants were from various and diverse countries such as India, Russia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Iran, and many more. During the competition, 48 hours were given to tackle one of the four categories, so students could gain essential skills in solving existing operational problems and biological studies.
Our BioHackathon statistics and activity from social media and website:
3. iGEM collaborations on Scientific Goal
Our team also collaborated with around 20 iGEM teams in order to promote the concept of Science Communication by sharing science-related knowledge, raising awareness about iGEM, and inspiring the public about scientific advancements. Detailed information on these collaborations can be found on our collaborations page.
4. Science Communication Overview
CONTACT
igem@nu.edu.kz
Kabanbay batyr av., 53, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
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