Written by Gemma Hunt, Subject Specialist & STEM Outreach Lead, Division of Natural Sciences.
Campus visits are an integral part of our outreach curriculum and enhance our engagement with students at our partner schools. There is a strong evidence base advocating their role in improving equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups to access and succeed in higher education.
We hope to build their confidence and creativity so that they can become the next generation of global problem solvers.
The first of our themed campus visit days reflects the University’s cutting-edge research and innovation in the field of ‘Future Human’. Students explore the research question ‘Can humans live forever?’ through different strands, including the use of science and technology to restore performance and the implications of this from a sociological perspective. By taking an active role in interdisciplinary projects, students learn about the nature of research and the way in which it informs the curriculum, whilst also developing their own self-efficacy and sense of belonging in a higher education institution.
Dr Alexandra Martin-Carey, Subject Specialist in the Outreach and Widening Participation team, said, “We are excited to pilot the first of these campus visits in the spring term. We know that the loss of learning during lockdown disproportionately affected disadvantaged students and we hope that our continued focus on working with these groups will have a positive impact on their progression and outcomes post-pandemic.”
Gemma Hunt, Subject Specialist in the Division of Natural Sciences and the Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, said: “Students have seen first-hand the pivotal role that research has played in the COVID pandemic and we want this engagement with research to continue. By helping students to acquire the skills needed to develop and investigate an interdisciplinary research question and to communicate their findings, we hope to build their confidence and creativity so that they can become the next generation of global problem solvers.”