BU Research Blog

November 10, 2022

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 – Medical monsters: reducing medical anxiety through play and gamification. Saturday 12 November

BU research, ESRC, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022

Using gamification and play to reduce anxiety related to patient medical appointments and hospital admissions

What’s on offer?

A playful workshop aimed at children aged 7-11 and their guardians, to explore strategies to reduce patient (children) anxiety around medical appointments and admissions. Featuring specially designed sessions of Jenga, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and virtual reality experiences to explore and address personal anxieties around medical appointments.

What is it about?

Anxiety around medical appointments and admissions can affect children in different ways, from preventing them from seeking the medical attention they need to causing distress and worry. It can be difficult to know how to help these anxieties.

Evidence shows that structured play can empower people to discuss and examine their feelings, to help understand and address them. Virtual reality can help ease anxiety through providing an immersive distraction, or by creating a virtual ‘practice run’ for appointments. In this session, you and your child/ren will try out these fun techniques, led by expert facilitators and hopefully leave with a few new tricks and strategies.

Participants will receive a bag of LEGO® to take away with them, along with a google cardboard headset.

Please note, this is an opportunity to explore new techniques for managing mild anxiety, this is not a medical or psychiatric intervention or treatment.

Who is leading the event?

Dr Holly Henderson, Lecturer and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator
Dr Heidi Singleton, Lecturer in Children and Young Peoples Nursing
Professor Debbie Holley, Professor of Learning Innovation

Who is this event open to?

Children aged 7-11 years to be accompanied by an adult (parent or carer) at all times.

Event details

Saturday 12 November, 10am

Bournemouth University Gateway Building

Book your free place here

For enquiries about the activities and ‘medical monsters’ project please contact: medicalmonsters@bournemouth.ac.uk

If you have any questions about the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 series, please contact the Public Engagement with Research Team: email the public engagement team.

November 3, 2022

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022: Demystifying NFTs: Understanding the law and technology

BU research, ESRC, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Public engagement ballen

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022

What is an NFT, what does it mean to ‘own’ one? Join this online talk as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 to learn about technology, law of ownership & how they’re being used

NFTs or non-fungible tokens have captured the public imagination over the past year. But what are they and what does it mean to ‘own’ one?

Join this online talk to learn more about this new frontier from experts on their underlying technology, the law of ownership and how they’re being used. We’ll also explain how a limited edition NFT collection was created, that you’ll have the chance to win and own.

Who is leading the event?

Professor Dinusha Mendis, Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation Law

Book your free place here

If you have any questions about this event, or any of the other events in the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 series, please contact the Public Engagement with Research Team: email the public engagement team.

October 20, 2022

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022: How to become a young entrepreneur 25-27 October

BU research, ESRC, Events, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Public engagement ballen

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022

Not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, but entrepreneurial skills can not only help young people to start their own businesses, they can also help boost their employability. This exhibition and set of activities look at how a new project can help young people to build an entrepreneurial mindset to open up diverse career opportunities.

This event is an audio-visual exhibition to showcase a project to develop entrepreneurial skills in young people. It will share the work and voices of young people who have taken part in the project in communities similar to Boscombe across 4 countries. It will also share the experiences of people in business or local organisations who set up the project.

The exhibition is on for 3 days, you can drop in to look around the exhibition at any time while it’s open or join activities such as talks, tours and workshops held each day. Please register even if you just want to pop in for 5 minutes, or you will be asked to do so on arrival.

Activities

Tuesday 25 October – young people can join us for a taster workshop session of the entrepreneurship skills project.

Wednesday 26 October – we’ll welcome local organisations and business to discover the potential of the scheme for their future.

Thursday 27 October – we will invite local policymakers and education representatives to learn how the project might be supported more widely.

Book your free place here

If you have any questions about this event, or any of the other events in the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 series, please contact the Public Engagement with Research Team: email the public engagement team.

October 14, 2022

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022: Which one of us is human? Saturday 22 October

BU research, ESRC, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Public engagement ballen

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022

Imagine a future where robots and humans looked identical: how would you know who is human? In this 30-minute interactive session, as a group you will enter a space that will act as a time tunnel into the future. There you will meet two actors and face the challenge of making this very decision (the ‘Turing test’), choosing from a set of questions to help you identify the ‘robot’.

You should be wary: not all responses are as they might seem, and there are many kinds of human minds.

What’s on offer? An interactive challenge in which, as a team, you will attempt to identify the ‘robot’ from live performers, using a few questions. This is followed by a ‘debrief’ with Bournemouth University researchers, where you’ll discuss your tactics and explore the mystery behind the experience and what it implies about different kinds of minds.

Who is leading the event? Dr Maxine Gee and Dr Rachel Moseley

Who is this event open to? Adults and children over 12. Particularly for those with an interest in psychology, how we communicate with each other, neurodiversity and autism, artificial intelligence and the future.

Where is this event? Bournemouth Library

Book your free place here

If you have any questions about this event, or any of the other events in the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022 series, please contact the Public Engagement with Research Team: email the public engagement team.

October 11, 2022

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022: Bookings now open

BU research, ESRC, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Public engagement, Research communication, UKRI ballen

We’re excited to launch our series of free events online and in-person, as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022.

What can research tell us about our society? We’ll be holding events for the public featuring discussions on how young people can build an entrepreneurial mindset and discover how play and gamification can reduce anxiety in children around medical appointments. Find out more about our fascinating programme of events.

The ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022

Which one of us is human?
Saturday 22 October
Bournemouth Library, Bournemouth

Imagine a future where robots and humans looked identical: how would you know who is human? Join this interactive event to identify the ‘robot’ from live performers. Discuss your tactics and explore the mystery behind the experience.

Find out more

How to become a young entrepreneur
Tuesday 25-Thursday 27 October
The Old School House, Boscombe

Not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, but entrepreneurial skills can not only help young people to start their own businesses, but they can also help boost their employability. Join this event to find out how young people can build an entrepreneurial mindset.

Find out more

Demystifying NFTs: Understanding the law and technology
Tuesday 8 November
Online

NFTs or non-fungible tokens have captured the public imagination over the past year. But what are they and what does it mean to ‘own’ one? Join this online talk to learn more about this new frontier from experts on their underlying technology, the law of ownership and how they’re being used. You’ll discover how a limited edition NFT collection was created and have the chance to win and own it.

Find out more

Medical monsters: reducing medical anxiety through play and gamification
Saturday 12 November
Bournemouth Gateway Building, Bournemouth

Anxiety around medical appointments and admissions can affect people in different ways, from causing distress and worry to preventing people seeking the medical help they need. Join this interactive session to explore how play and gamification strategies can reduce patient anxiety in children. Featuring specially designed sessions of Jenga, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and virtual reality experiences.

Find out more

Closed-group activities as part of the Festival of Social Science

Some activities are organised with partner organisations or particular groups and are not open for general registration.

Are drones the future of delivery?

If predictions about the future of deliveries are correct, we might start seeing a lot more drones in our skies. But how do you feel about this? How much do you actually know about drones and how they will be used?

Join us to learn more and play a custom-designed board game, to explore how we’ll make decisions about drones in our future.

Youth in nature: escaping to the outdoors

Social science evidence suggests nature exposure benefits mental and physical health, yet teenagers have low rates of access to nature and levels of nature connectedness. Research shows youth nature engagement requires a sense of purpose; therefore, this event invites young people to experience activities centred on ‘being’ or ‘doing’ in outdoor space.

Don’t get scammed online

Being scammed online is often seen as a problem for older people, but young people can fall victim to scams too. This workshop helps young people think about their online experience and learn how to avoid being scammed.

If you have any questions about these events, or if you would like to know how you can get involved in one of our Public Engagement with Research events, please email the public engagement team.

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