A Bright Way to Enlighten the Masses; Experiment to Take Science to the Public is Bang On
THE popularity of television drama series such as CSI, where teams solve grisly whodunnits using a range of techniques and skills, has put forensic scientists under the spotlight.
The scientific tricks of their trade mean the baddies always get caught. It is pure entertainment and an effective way of showing how science works.
Dundee College is also shedding light on the fascinating subject of science with a series of exciting public lectures at its Kingsway campus. A recent Science Magic lecture and demonstration had spectacular results, holding the attention of the audiencethrough exciting, visual – and noisy – experiments.
Clear liquids quickly became coloured, flames changed colours and sonic booms were created to wild applause.
Among those carrying out the controlled safe explosions and providing an enlightening look at chemical reactions using luminescent materials was Ian Martin, who is a science lecturer at the college.
Ian, pictured above, said: ‘We were aiming for an exciting evening for all the family. We wanted to explain and entertain and it was a lot of fun.’
The lectures are part of a European Social Fund supported initiative entitled Forward into Science and Engineering, encouraging folk who have not previously taken part in any science or engineering activity to find out more about the subjects and theirrelevance to the way we live.
Dundee is the City of Discovery and home to a growing bioscience industry and Dundee College is playing a key role. It is currently running two taster courses – Access to Science and Access to Forensic Science – to increase awareness.
Access to Science is a one-year course and no formal qualifications are required, although applicants must be older than 21.
The programme includes chemistry, physics, biology, maths, computing, communication and learning skills and it’s designed to prepare students for a wide range of science and technology courses and aims to provide a broad-based science education.
The course starts by concentrating on the core subjects of chemistry, physics, biology and mathematics at an introductory level. Computing, communication and learning skills are also an integral part of the programme and time is allocated for guidanceand tutor support.
Opportunities are available for students to explore their options in higher education through a programme of visits to universities.
Ian added: ‘The TV programmes, like CSI, definitely spark off an interest in science courses. The programmes can get over just how fascinating science can be and our lectures are delivered in a way that excites the audience and makes them think about thesubject, possibly for the first time.’
The taster courses on forensic science were held in community centres throughout the city in a bid to ensure that as many people as possible could take part.