UCLA

On March 12-16, 2018, over 300 students from underserved primary and secondary schools across the Los Angeles area visited the Brain Research Institute (BRI) at UCLA. They participated in full-day events that were aimed at increasing public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research and inspiring interest in higher education and STEM careers. In the morning, students were introduced to the nervous system aided by hands-on demonstrations including the use of human and animal brains. Then, students participated in interactive presentations on topics relevant to the students’ own lives. After lunch, students toured UCLA research laboratories as well as the BRI Microscopic Techniques and Electron Microscopy Cores. Mid-afternoon, students met with a panel of faculty members and graduate students from STEM fields to share personal narratives, discuss college applications, and learn about different career opportunities available within the sciences. We collected pre- and post-evaluations to assess the effectiveness of our program at communicating neuroscience to primary and secondary school-aged audiences. Primary school students showed statistically significant increases in their understanding of fundamental neuroscience (including knowledge of the neuron, frontal, partial, occipital and temporal cortical lobes, and cerebellum) while secondary school students showed positive attitudinal shifts with increased enjoyment in learning about science and the brain following their visit to the BRI. Overall, our UCLA BAW 2018 program was successful in promoting interest in neuroscientific research and aims to continue to encourage the next-generation of curious thinkers and future scientists.