MicroscopyEducation
Outreach to Students at the 19th International Microscopy Congress
Benjamin Pace Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, Room 268, Madsen Building F09, Te University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
benjamin.pace@
sydney.edu.au Abstract: In September 2018, Australia hosted the 19th
International
Microscopy Congress in Sydney. As part of this conference, more than 600 teachers and students from 19 classes across the state of NSW were hosted on-site at the IMC19 Outreach Learning Space. The pro- gram resulted from a year-long collaborative effort between Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis and Microscopy Australia volunteers, academics, microscopy industry vendors, conference coordinators, STEM secondary school teachers, and local attractions. A unique fea- ture of the program was the incorporation of the Australian national curriculum into the program via teacher-designed prework and post- work, helping to contribute to an award-winning conference.
Keywords: Student outreach, light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, virtual reality, Australian-themed specimens,
Introduction Te first time Australia hosted the Inter-
national Microscopy Congress was in 1974 in Canberra, the capital of Australia. In 2018, Australia again had the opportunity to host the global microscopy community, this time in Sydney. Te congress attracted over 2,500 del- egates to the Sydney International Convention Centre (ICC), centrally located in the Darling Harbour precinct adjacent the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. As part of this event, Te Australian
Microscopy and Microanalysis Society (AMMS) and the conference organizers were pleased to welcome 570 students (aged between 12–18 years) and accompanying staff to a dedicated Outreach Learning Space. Over four days of the conference, classes from sec- ondary schools across the state of New South Wales were invited to experience the latest in microscopy technology from light micros- copy to virtual reality and 3D printing of micrographs. Tis program presented a rare opportunity to promote STEM education and vocations in Australia. Te primary goals of the outreach space were to energize inquisi- tive minds and to show students that a career in STEM is something that they could aspire to (Figure 1). Committee organizers focused heavily on promoting the event
to schools
populated by students from low socio-eco- nomic backgrounds, who ultimately made up
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more than half the program attendees. Classes were generally made up of science students from a single-year group or giſted and talented students across multiple years. A common challenge facing outreach programs concerns
the ongoing engagement of students and teachers through the existing education system, once a program has been completed. A crucial outcome for the AMMS was to ensure that the final outreach program would have a legacy as an ongoing resource and form an integral part of the Australian national curric- ulum in future years. To do this, we first sought to develop strong themes for the Outreach Learning Space that reflect our context and the future direction of microscopy research. Tese themes included: (a) uniquely Australian materials and
Figure 1: IMC19 Outreach Learning Space welcome banner (left) greeting classes on arrival, and booklet provided to each class summarizing the industrial applications of a range of microscopy techniques (right). Note: Grayscale 3D model is a 3D VR-ready digital model of a scanned cancer cell highlighting the key internal structures. Credit: A/Prof. John McGhee (UNSW), Prof. Rob Parton UQ - (CBNS Research) [1].
doi:10.1017/S1551929519000038
www.microscopy-today.com • 2019 March
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