Impact case study database

Exploring Light and Dark

The collaboration between the University of Central Lancashire and the Beacon Museum, Whitehaven, Cumbria entitled Exploring Light and Dark, was the first science exhibition held at the museum and attracted over 2,500 visitors over four weeks. Arising from a GBP9,805 Science and Technology Facilities Council Spark Award, the collaboration piloted three artistic strands by;

• creating a new large-scale science/art installation work;

• exploring astronomical heritage by the way of local cultural storytelling and,

• advancing astronomy education through movement and dance.

This partnership held further significance in a region with observable inequalities; local science and technology industries introduce a transient population of highly skilled workers that results in these jobs not being seen as attainable for many young people in the area itself. At a time of increased funding pressures on cultural institutions such as the Beacon Museum, Alan Gillon, the Beacon’s Learning and Public Engagement Manager commented that Exploring Light and Dark was “…a unique exhibition and we are finding that audience engagement is proving to be very strong.” [A1]. The exhibition contributed to local cultural preservation and interpretation through attracting new audiences to the museum and enhancing the museum offer. One school pupil summed up the engagement: “No one told me before that science could be taught like this! Science is interesting… I didn’t know.” [A2]

From the Earth to the Sun This three-metre high astronomy/art installation piece consisted of a semi-circular rear projected installation of NASA Solar Dynamic Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO AIA) EUV movies of the Sun with an Inca-inspired soundtrack in a completely blacked-out environment. The piece generated a new way of thinking about our closest star and stimulated interest in solar research from both the general public and school groups. One teacher commented: “[The children] were absolutely fascinated by the Sun and the fact it was moving and almost seemed like a living thing. I think anything like that, that can inspire them, is worthwhile.” [A2] It should be noted that the installation was subsequently exhibited in Preston, as part of the Lancashire Encounter Festival in 2016, and then at the John Mackintosh Cultural Centre, Gibraltar in 2018, where it was also the focus of an episode of ‘Rock Explorers’, a popular natural science programme broadcast by the Gibraltar Broadcasting Company [B].

Astronomical heritage and story-telling: The use of a storyteller (Steve Warton) was also explored to link the local heritage of stone circles prevalent in Cumbria with astronomy. This approach enhanced not just the listener’s understanding of astronomical topics (e.g. the movement of the stars) but also of local myths and legends that were part of their own cultural tradition. Warton commented: “When you can hang concepts and ideas on a person's story, many people can engage. It also allowed the children to relax and have fun and made them more open… on the way out, they're asking different questions … particularly about the characters and why did they do things? So, they were starting to develop their own inquiries.”[A1]

Astronomy and Dance: Learning about science at school is often portrayed as a boring and stultifying encounter, passively listening to teachers explaining complex subjects. By introducing astronomy with dance, JHI researchers have transformed the approach into a vibrant, dynamic and interactive experience. Linking the behaviour of celestial objects to movement broke down gender barriers to both the understanding of the science as well as the arts. The dance workshops, attended by nearly 400 primary school students, showed a positive impact on perceptions of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) from female students. When asked about the impact of the workshops on the girls in their class, one teacher responded: “…the [dance] workshop was a very good way to encourage and promote an interest in STEM subjects.” [A2] Additionally, one teacher noted the positive impact that the workshops had had on boys in their class: “For the boys especially, the superb science content detracted from the ‘dance’ aspect which meant they were fully engaged in the sessions.” [A2] This also encouraged teachers to change their teaching methods in other subjects: “We could use dance to explore other areas of science for example solids, liquids and gases, the digestive system, evolution.” [A2]

Sun, Moon and Sky

The success of the exhibition outlined above led to further exploration of engaging astronomy and astrophysics through art. In 2019 Walsh collaborated with artist Alex Rinsler to create the touring art installation SUN. Also in 2019 Argo collaborated with storyteller Cassandra Wye to deliver the We share the same moon project as part of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) 100 Special Projects. In 2020 Pledger and dancer Lucy Starkey developed Into Our Skies, an online dance workshop targeted at primary school pupils. Outlined in the following, to date, these projects have successfully obtained competitive peer-reviewed funding of over GBP215,000 from STFC, Arts Council England, the Royal Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union.

SUN Walsh, Rinsler, and digital animators Pufferfish UK created SUN [D], a seven-metre diameter sphere suspended four metres above the ground into which is projected a digitally combined movie of the NASA’s SDO AIA EUV images, stitched together to form a full 360-degree presentation. Ten weeks in the life of the Sun over five different EUV wavelengths are presented in a twelve-minute spectacle with additional smoke special effects flowing over the sphere to represent the outer solar corona. SUN is experienced as a constantly changing, dynamic piece of art/science engagement that transforms the viewer’s perception of our closest star. As outlined by Rinsler [C2], this collaboration generated for him a new way of approaching his creative practice, retaining the integrity of the raw observational data but portraying the resulting imagery in a way to best recreate the size and scale of the Sun. Specifically, Rinsler states: “It is hard to understate the impact of Prof Walsh’s contribution to SUN: quantitatively in terms of the instances of engagement for festival audiences (predominantly local families) in high quality research, but qualitatively, insofar as SUN can be enjoyed as a festival attraction, critiqued as a contemporary artwork, and discussed as a tool for public engagement in science…Working with Prof Walsh has opened up new avenues for me as an artist. …The wonders of the sky and stars opens up an entirely new field of imagination.” [C2]

The SUN installation premiered in October 2019 at the Lightpool festival which runs in conjunction with the Blackpool Illuminations. These form key parts of the local tourism economy, attracting visitors from across the North West to the town after the traditional summer tourist season has ended. SUN at Lightpool was supported by (i) JHI astronomers on-site each evening to converse directly with SUN visitors; (ii) a focused primary school engagement programme in collaboration with another STFC project – the SunSpaceArt project with support from artist, Helen Schell; and (iii) a series of evening public lectures [C1]. SUN was the first educational and public engagement of this type in the 140 years history of the Illuminations and the most popular Lightpool installation, attracting over 8,500 visitors from across the North West. Coverage of the SUN and Lightpool festival on Granada Reports raised awareness locally of the festival with Creative Director, Phil Holmes noting that the reporting gave a “…huge promotion not only to the SUN, but the wider festival, something I am not sure we would have received had it not been for the ‘Wow factor of SUN.” [C1] SUN was then exhibited in November 2019 at the Light Up Lancaster Festival, attracting a further 2,000 attendees. The success of the SUN has also influenced festival organisers working practices going forward, seeking installations that can be developed to include additional engagement opportunities and enhance the visitor experience further [C1].

Festival attendees were also able to see the process behind the installation on a dedicated webpage. This provided insights into the science behind the images and the work involved in turning that complex information into an amazing art installation [G].

In December 2020, STFC formally acknowledged SUN as one of only two nationally strategic engagement projects for the research council, providing funding of GBP85,000 for a two-year programme. SUN will tour a number of sites and festivals during 2021-2022 [F, I].

We Share the Same Moon

This activity was one of just 22 worldwide International Astronomical Union (IAU) 100^th Anniversary Special Projects [E1]. We Share the Same Moon used storytelling narratives of folktales, myths and legends linked to the Sun, Moon and stars to introduce astrophysical concepts. Stories have an amazing power to captivate children and inspire them to be curious, wanting to learn more. By capturing their attention and interest with stories, the project then moved on to explore and explain the science behind them. The project developed, tested and evaluated twenty educational curriculum-linked resources linking stories and astronomy, delivered a series of pilot workshops in schools and informal settings around the UK, and produced a publicly available website of fully-accessible educational resources [E1]. The science activities covered aspects of the primary science curriculum such as Earth, Space and Forces, as well as linking with several other aspects across the wider curriculum base. Over 1,800 people attended events linked to the project and the project website received over 17,000 visitors with online resources being downloaded more than 2,000 times [E2].

Into the Skies

Following the success of the dance workshops held during the Exploring Light and Dark exhibition, Pledger and Starkey collaborated to create the Into Our Skies project. Although originally planned as a series of face-to-face dance workshops, due to the COVID-19 restrictions these activities were repurposed to be online interactive workshop videos. Each workshop begins with Pledger introducing the astronomy topic, an important link to connect with a real scientist. Against a starry backdrop and to a specially composed soundtrack, Starkey leads participants through movements and dance-related activities that delve into that particular astronomy theme.

The Into our Skies project produced three, high quality interactive workshop videos and several hands-on classroom investigations designed to allow pupils to explore space science in this unique and creative way. By moving and physicalising scientific concepts, participants use active learning to explore new astronomy ideas. Ruth Spencer, University of Central Lancashire course leader in dance and performance has also designed a set of teaching notes to help primary teachers facilitate the sessions as many may not have any dance experience. This creative learning environment allows teachers to play, pause and rewind the session, providing time for pupils’ own creativity and to work at their own pace. The resources have been downloaded more than 200 times by educators across the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands and 33 educators attended CPD training to aid delivery of the sessions. Teachers using the resources reported greater levels of participation and understanding of both science and dance, praising the cross disciplinary nature of the material: “…a great resource to bring science and dance together and to make science knowledge memorable and more real for the children.” [F]

Starkey commented that Into our Skies “…exceeded my expectations, we reached a larger audience than I anticipated.” The project also provided professional development for Starkey, being the first pre-recorded collaborative educational resource she had produced and “…a fantastic artistic challenge” [C3].

Astronomy research in the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI) forms the basis of extensive outreach and engagement programmes targeted across the North West of England. The programmes run by the JHI aim to engage directly with groups that have low science capital (the measure of an individual’s science-related knowledge, interests, and social contacts) and low socioeconomic status. According to the English Indices of Deprivation 2019 approximately 18% of the Preston’s population live in the most deprived 10% of English local authority areas. Neighbouring local authority areas such as Blackpool, are also amongst the ten most deprived local authorities in the country. Low socioeconomic status has an established link with poor educational attainment and there is a demonstratable need for consistent, high quality and impactful engagement in this geographical area.

Since August 2013 the JHI has engaged with hundreds of thousands of people through large scale set piece events, regional media coverage and national and international media appearances by JHI academics. Of this total, over 91,000 individuals were directly engaged with by the JHI through nearly 500 events. These events consisted of a series of complimentary engagement programmes in underserved communities that have stimulated interest in and awareness of astronomy research, including working directly with underserved young people in particular schools to increase their uptake of and success within science topics. Academics from the JHI also made numerous regional, national and international media appearances to talk about their research including the BBC World Service (97,000,000 English language listeners worldwide in 2020), Sky News (3,100,000 viewers in 2020) and BBC Radio Lancashire (148,000 listeners in 2020)[J]. Since 2013 University of Central Lancashire Astronomy and the Alston Observatory have received investments of over GBP530,000 from a number of trusts, societies and funding bodies, including STFC, The Ogden Trust, the Moses Holden family, the Institute of Physics, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the University itself.

STFC Blackpool PIER (Physics: Inspire, Engage and Research):

In 2017, Walsh successfully obtained a prestigious three-year STFC Leadership Fellowship in Public Engagement focusing on engaging low science capital audiences in Blackpool. The school outreach element, PIER (Physics: Inspire, Engage and Research), involves working intensively with a group of 90 school children for three years across three primary and two secondary schools. Pupils have been followed from Year 6, through the primary school transition and onto Year 8 in high school. Blackpool has some of the most challenging Office for Students participation of local area (POLAR) results in the country with less than 12% of young people entering higher education. The POLAR measure is an indicator of youth participation in HE. The fellowship objectives address directly the need to increase overall science capital in four separate themes; (i) What science (astronomy) they know; (ii) Who they know who is involved in science; (iii) How they think about science; and (iv) What they do that is science-related (out of school, with family etc).

Twenty STFC-funded interventions of face-to-face classroom activities with a range of astronomers, trips to Alston Observatory and the University of Central Lancashire-Royal Institution Young Scientist Centre (YSC) as well as a school-based family science festival have been carried out since 2017. The initial study to understand the Year 6 knowledge baseline of the PIER cohort resulted in a journal paper where it is clear that the group were just as interested in science study and science jobs as their peers nationally. Some of the PIER cohort, particularly boys, demonstrated a concealed “science identity”, perceiving themselves as a “science person” but thought others would not. It was clear that their interest in science was not being properly expressed and it was necessary to provide a clearer understanding of possible science career paths [F].

Lynn Bilton, Physics specialist teacher from Unity Academy, Blackpool stated: “ With the STFC PIER program we had the opportunity to work with a group of pupils over a longer period of time and from an earlier age, to encourage and support aspirations, to enthuse and improve engagement and ultimately raise achievement. … . The students have returned positive feedback on the program at each stage and as a consequence their feedback on science taught within school has also been more positive than other year groups.” Bilton goes on to say that “ Last year students were given options for a subject career day in sport or fashion /art or science / engineering. For the first time, the science option was oversubscribed and had twice the number of students opting for it as their first choice. The students will choose options this academic year and although science is a core subject, I expect many to prefer to complete triple science, which has not been the case historically at the academy.” [G]

The COVID-19 pandemic stopped all activity in the first half of 2020 and the PIER pupils from low socioeconomic backgrounds have been disproportionately affected. Walsh’s STFC fellowship was extended as a result of this disruption, now supporting all Year 9 pupils across PIER schools though a targeted number of online events (three repeated at least twice per secondary school). Walsh worked with teachers to discover which physics topics would best complement and enhance what is being taught. The interventions have consisted of: experiments filmed in the YSC; an experimental box with all necessary equipment and consumables provided to each school and an online live streaming event involving each school year group, with Walsh and a guest astronomer.

Lancashire Science Festival

Instigated by Walsh in June 2013, the annual Lancashire Science Festival (LSF) has attracted over 65,000 attendees during the REF period. The festival is a free event and aims to make STEM and HE more accessible to a variety of audiences. Attracting visitors from across the North West of England, the Festival is embedded in local communities with dedicated days set aside for school groups. The Festival helps to overcome misconceptions about and barriers to involvement in science. One attendee commented: “I never fully understood what science covers. This opened my eyes and made science fascinating to me where before I seen it as boring and geeky.” [C2]

The JHI are stalwarts of the event, presenting numerous public lectures each year as well as providing hands-on activities such as “GalaxyFlyer" – a VR fly-though of galaxy morphology. In 2017 and 2018, an audience analysis conducted by the UK Science Festival Network showed that attendees with limited budgets or living in rented accommodation were overrepresented compared to national averages [C1].

Peer-reviewed research on the LSF shows that it has a positive effect on parents’ and carers’ views of both STEM and HE, particularly parents from disadvantaged backgrounds. The research showed that 44% of families attending the LSF came from more deprived postcodes. Parental views on HE is one of the most significant influencers on young people’s expectations around HE progression. The research on the LSF found that 70% of parents attending the Festival reported a positive impact on their perception of science, with this proportion increasing among parents from more deprived areas [C2].

Public lectures, Alston Observatory and Partnering with Local Astronomy Societies

Since December 2013 the JHI has hosted up to four events annually with high profile speakers from all over the world as part of a targeted public lecture series. In 2018 an additional five talks over five days were delivered as part of the University's 190th anniversary celebrations. The lecture series has demonstrated consistent increases in attendance: doubling from approximately 100 in 2013 to more than 200 in 2019 [A, J]. The anniversary series attracted over 340 attendees. One attendee indicated: “I wanted to express my sincere gratitude for making this event accessible. I never studied science at school and this was my first encounter with anything astronomy related… At the age of 31 I have been given an opportunity to learn and understand a concept that has always been baffling to me.” [A] Half of the people who attended one of the Anniversary Lectures came to at least one other, suggesting sustained engagement and an observable heightened interest in learning more. 60% of attendees who answered regular post-lecture questionnaires indicated that they had plans to take their interest in astronomy further. To coincide with the 50^th Anniversary of the moon landings in 2019 a special lecture, ‘Rocket to the Moon’, was delivered to over 300 attendees at the University, the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, and the World Museum, Liverpool. As part of the anniversary commemoration JHI staff worked closely with the Harris Museum and Art Gallery to develop the Museum of the Moon exhibition. The University lent historical documents to create an associated exhibition and JHI staff gave over twenty public tours of the exhibit that were attended by more than 500 people. The exhibition brought a whole new audience to the museum and led to unprecedented interest, with over 47,000 visitors over the course of the month-long installation. [D, J]

JHI’s Alston Observatory is a purpose-built teaching and outreach facility comprising both modern and historical telescopes, a fixed planetarium and a Royal Astronomical Society funded exhibit on “Telescopes as Time Machines”. The centrepiece is the GBP250,000 Moses Holden Telescope (MHT), a 70 cm diameter state-of-the-art robotic telescope used for both undergraduate teaching and public engagement. As well as nearly daily visits by schools, youth and adult groups, as well as uniformed organisations, every month Alston Observatory is opened to members of the public who are given the opportunity to listen to talks and observe the night sky. In 2014, 507 people visited Alston; this increased year on year to 1,652 in 2019 and, despite COVID restrictions, more than 600 people visited the observatory in 2020 [J]. Public observing nights are always fully booked, and in 2018, 40% of attendees (up from 7% in 2017) were people who had attended before in earlier years. 44% of visitors have indicated that they have an active plan to take their interest further, suggesting an active change in participation in astronomy [B].

Since 2014 these outreach activities have also been supported by a long-term collaboration with the Preston and District Astronomy Society (PADAS). A strong partnership has now been formed with PADAS members attending public lectures, engaging with local schools and community groups through the University and assisting with public observing nights at Alston Observatory. In 2014 the University owned Moor Park Observatory, originally opened in 1927, was fully restored as part of a GBP2,350,000 park restoration programme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Preston City Council. Moor Park Observatory is now used as a regular venue by PADAS for monthly meetings and outreach events with experts from the JHI. In the last four years, PADAS membership numbers have tripled to 50 and they now meet year-round due to the level of interest in astronomy, a direct “result of a positive relationship between UCLan and PADAS” [E]. Since August 2013 the JHI have engaged with over 950 members of astronomical societies across the country through public talks.

Cardinal Newman College, Ogden Trust and Isaac Physics

Since 2013, the JHI has fostered close relations with Cardinal Newman College, Preston, which further developed under the College’s involvement in the Preston Ogden Partnership, funded by the Ogden Trust [I]. Initially the JHI delivered six talks over three sessions annually, since 2018 the engagements have diversified to include engineering plus three physics masterclasses per year. Cardinal Newman students have also become regular attendees of public lectures as a result. These interventions have provided the teachers there with “a great source of material to enhance the physics we teach in lessons.”[H1] 85% of the students attending indicated that their interest in pursuing physics and/or engineering at university had increased [H2]. Despite changes to the way students enrol in courses that reduced the number of pupils enrolling in physics in Year 12, the college has shown an overall increase in the cohort size continuing physics into Year 13. Students attending the talks and masterclasses have been inspired to proactively approach teachers to start extra-curricular activities, such as MatLab modelling classes, enhancing the depth of their knowledge about physics and its applications. Several students have credited the talks and masterclasses with changing the degree subjects they aim to take at university or helping to confirm these decisions. One student noted: “First [I] wanted to do engineering, now deciding whether to do engineering with physics/pure physics.” [H1]

Since 2016, Smyrli has run a dedicated Isaac Physics mentoring scheme with six schools and colleges from across Liverpool, Manchester and Lancashire, funded by the Ogden Trust. Isaac Physics is an Open Platform for Active Learning designed to offer support and activities in physics problem solving to teachers and to students transitioning from GCSE, through to Sixth Form, to university. Initially as a series of one-off workshops for approximately 200 students these developed into repeat interventions with a smaller cohort. Between 2017 and 2020 approximately 100 students have attended and benefitted from more than 60 weekly or fortnightly workshops where nearly 2,000 physics problems from the Isaac Physics website have been tackled [J].