University helps inspire Lancaster students studying biology

The Year 12 students visited the Health Innovation Campus (HIC) to attend a mini-conference style event with the help of university students.

One student said: "The experience was amazing and inspiring. In spite of the large amount of information given, the talks delivered were all intriguing and have sparked my interest in biology.”

The undergraduates gained experience in scientific communication and presentation, event planning and collected data for their final year dissertation. They presented on a range of topics covered in the AQA A-level biology curriculum.

Robert Bradley, a third year biology undergraduate, said: “I thought the day ran really smoothly and had a nice variety of topics. I think it really helped with improving on my public speaking, something I've historically struggled with but found a lot more approachable this time around with the right planning and environment!”

Michael Voong, also a third year biology student, said: “It was a pleasure engaging with students, teachers and other project students’ sessions - I found them all interesting! It definitely helped me put into practise the teaching skills I had gained from online tutoring into a classroom setting, along with the planning and preparation of resources for both sessions.”

One of the LRGS teachers said: “It was a great experience to see inside the HIC and your students were both knowledgeable and approachable. It was clear that your students had thoughtfully linked their projects to the AQA syllabus, each presentation relevant with the correct amount of challenge. Perfect for our students who are looking to achieve the highest grades at A-level. One component of our A2 essay is to write a paragraph beyond the A-level specification and your students' presentation provided lots of material for this.

“The session led by Dr Benedicta Quaye from Lancaster Medical School on anatomy was inspiring, it was great to see the outstanding facilities at the medical school. We have many students considering a medical degree, thank you for organising this.”

The event was organised by Dr Andrew Lewis and Dr Emma Shawcross from Biomedical and Life Sciences at the Faculty of Health and Medicine.

Dr Shawcross said: “This was the first time we have run these undergraduate engagement-style projects within Biomedical and Life Sciences so it was very much a pilot event. The school have requested to be involved again next year and we are hoping to expand it to other local schools now that we know the format works. Students were clearly engaged with the topics presented and asked our undergraduate students lots of questions.”