Get started planning your practical activity

The purpose of this course is to help you match your volunteering activities to the educational needs of the young people you work with. Central to this is being able to communicate with educators or group leaders in the schools or community groups you volunteer. We focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects in this course, and practical activities such as experiments, demonstrations and hands-on tasks.

On this course

In Week 1 you will look at different modes and delivery for engaging with young people, and how to use curricula to inform your discussions with teachers. In Week 2 you’ll create your activity plan with a risk assessment and practise your activity.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Develop an engaging and inspiring STEM-related activity for young people
• Communicate, negotiate and agree with educators and group leaders about activities and demonstrate an appreciation of the STEM curriculum
• Design a practical activity to be delivered within a school or non-school organisation, with an awareness of the audience, ability and age group
• Create an activity plan to use when delivering a practical activity in a school or non-school organisation

Dr Deborah McNeill, from the Glasgow Science Festival, University of Glasgow and Science Connects, the West of Scotland STEM Ambassador Co-ordinator, will guide you through the course. Deborah is supported by Dr Zara Gladman, Glasgow Science Festival, University of Glasgow with advice from Aileen Hamilton, Science Connects.

Introduce yourself

For the benefit of all learners on this course, we invite you to again say hello, who you are, and what volunteering role you have in the comments below.

To start this course, we’d like to know what you’ve experienced as volunteer or participant that has really made an impact on you personally.