P14 - Public Engagement: Going out to the street

Dr Helal Ahmed, Teaching Fellow, Imperial College London

Public engagement is becoming more popular and embedded into university teaching, learning and research frameworks. Steered by the research councils, there is a drive to get more students involved in engaging the public with their research as the benefits are now being valued throughout academia and society. Thus, here at the Graduate School, we are empowering PhD students with the appropriate skills in a three-hour workshop that allows them to practise engaging with the public on the streets of South Kensington. 

The students initially spend two hours indoors, learning about public engagement (what, why and how?) before designing a short interactive activity which they use to engage with the public in the remaining hour. 

Based on the student's feedback after attending the workshops; 71% found it challenging but a very enjoyable learning experience highlighting "The practical at the end was fun". Students reported that the workshop developed confidence (45%), a new strand of thinking (47%) and/ or interest (45%) in designing activities and engaging with the public.