Inspiring minds: Widening participation opportunities with big questions on identity and STEM

The current study designed and evaluated stimulus questions and workshops about AI and human personhood designed for students aged 14-16. This paper examines the impact of an NCOP (National Collaborative Outreach Programme) sustained engagement collaboration between LASAR (Learning about Science and Religion) and Outreach at Canterbury Christ Church University. Our aims were to discover the workshops’ efficacy in developing students’ expressed curiosity about Big Questions and their epistemic insight into the nature of science and other ways of knowing.

The pilot project engaged over 60 students from NCOP target wards with STEM through philosophical big questions about the nature of personhood and reality. The project was underpinned by an epistemic insight pedagogy designed to build students’ awareness of, and engagement with, STEM through links with other subjects. At the heart of this project was the exploration of personhood and identity through technology and AI.

This work is exploratory but evaluation questionnaires and interviews with participating students showed a positive impact on their informal engagement with STEM and speaks to the value of Big Questions in the curriculum and of workshops designed to deepen students’ understanding of the nature of science in real world and multidisciplinary arenas.