Presentation given at Biennial Conference on Chemical Education in August 2018 on development of a junior scientist badge as part of a community based learning activity at Dublin Institute of Technology

1. Developing a Junior Scientist
Badge with a local youth service –
community based learning with
chemistry undergraduates
*Dr Claire McDonnell & Dr Vanessa Murphy,
School of Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland.
BCCE, 1st August 2018
@clairemcdonndit, claire.mcdonnell@dit.ie

2. Our Context - Chemistry at
Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)
• One of Ireland’s largest Higher Education Colleges (~ 20,000
students)
• Vocational, industrially relevant courses, relatively low student
/ staff ratios after 1st year (20-60)
– Forensic & Environmental Chemistry
(Analytical Chemistry)
– Medicinal Chemistry &
Pharmaceutical Sciences
– Chemical Sciences with Medicinal
Chemistry
– Science with Nanotechnology
Taught MSc courses, MSc & PhD by research also
2

3. What did we do?
3
▪We developed a pilot syllabus for a Junior Scientist badge
for 8 to 12 year olds.
▪Involved interaction between 16 of our students & 9 young people
from local youth service, St Michael’s Youth Project (now the
Core Youth Service) in Inchicore, Dublin, over 5 weeks.
▪Inspiration came from work in the USA to promote science to girls
by supporting scouts towards obtaining a chemistry badge.1
▪ One of a series of community based
learning (CBL) projects implemented at
DIT as the ‘lab’ component of a 2nd year
Professional Skills module for chemistry.2
1. Outreach activities at Kalamazoo College, Regina Stevens-Truss;
https://reason.kzoo.edu/chem/faculty/regina/op/ (see final entry).
2. ‘Chemical Sciences in the Community’ poster, Students Learning with Communities, DIT;
https://www.dit.ie/media/ace/slwc/Claire%20McDonnell%20&%20V%20Murphy%20chemistry%20C
BL%202015.pdf

4. Community Based Learning in DIT
▪ Since 2007, 226 students have
participated in these Year 2 CBL
projects
▪ 604 students in chemistry in DIT in
total

5. Community Based Learning (CBL)
– A Definition
▪Also called Community Engaged Learning or Service Learning
▪A genuine community need should be addressed
▪Equal weighting to student & community needs.
▪Somewhere between volunteering & a placement (see next slide)
▪Requirement that there is academic credit and that the student
reflects on their experience.
▪DIT : Students learning With Communities office
▪For further information, see
Bringle and Hatcher, J. Higher Ed., 67 (2),1996 or
www.compact.org/ or www.servicelearning.org
Or Introductory guide to community based learning, McDonnell &
McIlrath, 2013, Campus Engage;
www.campusengage.ie/userfiles/files/Community-
Based%20Learning%20WEB.pdf
(image source:
http://www.dit.ie/ace/student
slearningwithcommunities/)

6. Lot of terms applied ….
6
Easier to focus on
characteristics

7. WORK
PLACEMENT
Student is main
beneficiary
Goal is student
learning
Reflection is
sometimes a
component
COMMUNITY-
BASED LEARNING
Community and
student are mutual
beneficiaries
Goal is an authentic
partnership
Reflection is always
a component
VOLUNTEERING
ACTIVITIES
Community is main
beneficiary
Goal is involvement
with community
Reflection is rarely a
component
Experiential Learning Continuum
Graphic is from McDonnell & McIlrath, 2013, Campus Engage;
www.campusengage.ie/userfiles/files/Community-Based%20Learning%20WEB.pdf
(Adapted from Furco, 1996; Kenworthy-U’Ren et al., 2006 and O’Connor et al., 2011)

8. Benefits of Community Based
Learning for DIT Students
Participation in CBL has been previously shown to assist
development of our students’ transferable skills;
problem-solving, teamwork, organisation, digital literacy and
scientific communication skills.
It also develops their sense of identity and confidence as a
professional scientist / chemist and their awareness of civic
engagement.
Our article is available to download at http://arrow.dit.ie/scschcpsart/28/
C. McDonnell, P. Ennis, L. Shoemaker (2011) "Now for the science bit:
implementing community-based learning in chemistry", Education + Training,
53(2/3), 218-36.
See also Thompson, M., Oakes, W., & Bodner, G. (2005). “A qualitative
investigation of a first-year engineering service-learning program”. In Conference
Proceedings of the 2005 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition (11915-11930).

9. Implementing the Junior Scientist Badge
Aim for our DIT chemistry students
▪To prepare for and implement hands-on science activities with
young people from under-represented socioeconomic groups
who have an interest in science.
Anticipated aims for the young people participating
▪To have an opportunity to learn more about science & build on
an initial curiosity.
▪To begin to see higher education as
an achievable goal through their
interaction with DIT chemistry
undergraduates (some of whom have
similar backgrounds) and by becoming
familiar with a college campus.
9

10. How was the Junior Scientist Badge
implemented into our curriculum?
10
Three hour lab session each week (max 16 students)
Week 1 & Week 2* Week 3
Planning First session in youth project
DIT students assigned to
groups of 4.
They trialled activities and
prepared lesson plans & risk
assessments.
* To comply with Child
Protection legislation, all DIT
students and staff had
obtained Garda clearance to
work with young people in
advance.
Part 1 of Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Global Experiment on Vitamin C; calibration
& initial testing of cooked & uncooked fruit.
RSC Global Experiment 2013; http://www.rsc.org/learn-
chemistry/collections/experimentation/collaborative-chemistry/chemistry-week-2013
(image source:
http://www.rsc.org/ )

11. How was the Junior Scientist Badge
implemented into our curriculum?
11
Three hour lab session each week (max 16 students)
Week 4 Week 5
2nd session in youth project “Science circuit” hosted in DIT
Part 2 of RSC Global
Experiment on Vitamin C;
comparison of different fruits &
vegetables, effect of aging &
country of origin.
Results added to RSC website.
7 stations (10 minutes each) on key
aspects of primary science curriculum
with worksheet to be completed.
Then, junior scientist certificates, mugs
and badges presented.

12. How did we assess our chemistry students?
12
Assessment component Weighting
Participation in preparatory sessions and use of
discussion board (weekly group reports posted)
25%
Lesson plans and handouts prepared,
interactive sessions and feedback from staff in
St Michael’s Youth Project
30%
Individual reflective piece -describing the team
effort, each individual’s contribution & reflecting
on project & skills developed (prompts
provided)
20%
Individual blog -recording work during &
outside lab sessions. Practice runs of hands-on
activities written up in lab report format.
25%

13. 1. Students
We reviewed the reflective pieces submitted. To promote honest
feedback, guidelines stated there was no one correct opinion & asked
for suggestions on improving the project.
- Our students found the activity challenging
initially, particularly organisational issues for
group work.
- On completion, they reported that they found
the real-world context interesting & enjoyable
& the project contributed to their personal &
professional development.13
How was the Junior Scientist Badge
Evaluated?

14. 2. The youth project co-ordinator completed an evaluation form on
which the students received an ‘excellent’ rating in all 7 categories;
14
How was the Junior Scientist Badge
Evaluated?
‘Our group really enjoyed it.
Thanks to all involved!’

15. What’s next?
▪The project was implemented again in 2017 with the
same community partner
▪To ensure this is more than a once-off interaction,
participants will be encouraged to mentor others in
following years and to exhibit a project in the annual
DIT Scifest science fair for 12-17 year olds.
▪ There is potential for application with guide / scout
units as well as other community youth groups /
schools.
15

16. Spreading the good news
16
-My colleague, Dr Vanessa Murphy, is in Ho Chi Minh City
in Vietnam for 2 weeks as part of the "Embedding
Community Based Learning in STEM Education" project. --
-Vanessa and her fellow presenters are providing training
on integration of Community Engagement and Community
Based Learning into teaching and learning of STEM
subjects.

17. Further Information
- C. McDonnell (2015) Innovative Community-Engaged Learning Projects:
From Chemical Reactions to Community Interactions, chapter in
Chemistry Education : Best Practices, Opportunities and Trends,
J. García-Martínez & E. Serrano-Torregrosa (Eds), Wiley-VCH.
-Poster on Chemical Sciences in the Community, Students
Learning with Communities DIT, V. Murphy & C.McDonnell;
https://www.dit.ie/media/ace/slwc/Claire%20McDonnell%20&%20V%20Murph
y%20chemistry%20CBL%202015.pdf
-C. McDonnell, P. Ennis, L. Shoemaker, (2011) "Now for the science bit:
implementing community-based learning in chemistry", Education + Training,
53 (2/3), 218 – 236.
http://arrow.dit.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=scschcpsart
- Introductory guide to community based learning, Campus Engage;
http://www.campusengage.ie/userfiles/files/Community-
Based%20Learning%20WEB.pdf

18. Acknowledgments
▪ Students of BSc in Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmaceutical
Sciences (DT261/2)
▪Breda Murphy and the staff and young people at St
Michael’s Youth Project (now the Core Youth Service) in
Inchicore, Dublin
▪ Seed funding for this project was gratefully received from
the DIT Widening participation fund
Image source:
dit.ie/ace/studentslearningwithcommunities/
Image source: planwallpaper.com