STEM – Insight. Tuesday – Statistics Lecture.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to use “Moodle” – today I saw the huge benefit to students.  I don’t want to make myself seem too old, BUT when I was at lectures I spent the entire time scribbling down what the lecturer said.  There was no interaction between the lecturer and the students.  I left lectures with a sore hand and had to spend a couple of hours rewriting my notes.

What a difference today!!!  The lecturer asked the students questions to make sure they understood.  The students concentrated on the lecture taking only a few notes.  Many even asked questions during the lecture.  This must be because the lecture notes are available online through Moodle – time is spent listening and learning rather than note taking.  What a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

 

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STEM – Insight. Tuesday – Careers Information.

Glasgow University has 8 careers managers.  Students can go to the careers managers for careers advice, for help to produce CV’s and guidance to help filling in application forms.

I found it interesting to learn that the careers service offers events called “First Tuesday Club.”  This is an event where students can have a question and answer session with famous people with an association with Glasgow.

Judy Murray (Andrews mum) has taken part- here is the link advertising her session

http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/careers/events/headline_423498_en.html

This link will let you see who is lined up for 2017.

http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/careers/employers/fair/firsttuesdayclub/

This link will show you some of the forthcoming events

http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/careers/events/

 

STEM – Insight. Tuesday – Biology Stem Cell Poster Presentations.

Today I attended my first lab in a long while.  The students were being formally assessed and the posters they had produced as part of a group accounted for 15% of their overall mark.  Each group was asked to prepare a seven minute presentation.  There was then a three minute question and answer section by the “expert panel” made up of other first year students who had read the background information and then devised expert questions.  Everyone one in the presenting group shared the responsibility to answer the experts questions.

I saw six groups give presentations and they were all super.  It made me wonder if I could have an “expert panel” in class when we do poster presentations – what do you think???

 

 

 

STEM – Insight. Monday – Hunterian Experience.

The Hunterian is a museum that houses a large collection of life science exhibits.

The curator of zoology at the Huntarian explained that there are jobs for STEM degree graduates in museums. In fact, one sixth of the people working at the Hunterian have STEM subject degrees. The national history museum in London employs 300 people with STEM subject degrees.

The “Bug Lady” then gave us a talk – she is an expert entomologist.

I didn’t know there were over 900,000 known species of insects. BUT she said that it is estimated that there are still 2-30 million species still to be described.  AND she told us that there are 200 or more insects for every person on the planet.

Insects cause 2.7 million people a year to die of malaria. BUT they are useful too. Insects pollinate flowers to produce food.

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These are some bees collected in the 18th century.  Bees are really important pollinators.

Ever wondered if a river has clean water? Well, if stoneflies like these are there it does contain clean water.

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These are bird wing butterflies  – I put my thumb on the case so you could get some idea of the size.

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But I don’t fancy finding any of these insects in my house!!!

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The Hunterian is free to enter and anyone can visit.

STEM Insight. Monday – Learning support for university students.

This could be very useful for people intending to study at Glasgow University.

This is a service that helps support students who may have issues that make learning harder

Anyone with a mental health condition, a chronic medical condition, a visual impairment, a hearing impairment, a physical disability, an autism spectrum condition or  a specific learning difficulty e.g. Dyslexia  , dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia or ADHD might want to  contact the DISABILITY SERVICE.

Jane spoke to us – she was lovely and helpful. The disability service is intended to help students who have arrangements in secondary school maintain this support in university – your support doesn’t automatically transfer to university.

You should book an appointment with a disability advisor as soon as possible. 0141 330 5497

STEM – Insight. Monday – Induction.

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A group of eight biology teachers all getting together to learn more about STEM Insight, Glasgow University and the Biochemical Society.

My time at Glasgow University is part funded by STEM Insight and the Biochemical Society.

I am one of the first group of teachers in Scotland to get this opportunity. Teachers have been selected from all over Scotland.  The aim of this placement is to help school teachers offer better careers  guidance to their students.

Glasgow has taken in over 600 first year students into the school of life sciences. 55% of these students come from Scotland.

There has recently been approved a ONE BILLION POUND improvement plan for the university- good news for future STEM university students.

STEM – Insight. Monday – Problem Based Learning with the medical students.

I had the opportunity to observe first year medical students taking part in problem based learning. A group of 8 students were given a problem and they worked together to work out the LI’s.

They will go away and process this information and come back on Thursday to deliver their solutions to the group. It was very interesting –  all about the heart and a potential problem with heart valves.

How much do you remember?

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STEM Experience

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I am looking forward to attending Glasgow University from 20th February to 24th February to gain insight into courses available to students.  I am hoping to update my knowledge and bring a lot of information home to KHS.

I have a packed schedule including a tour of the University campus, a visit to the Hunterian and a “Moodle Tour” to look forward to on Monday.

Have a look at the university prospectus by clicking the link below.

http://www.gla.ac.uk/