Gillian Hill reports on preparations to help celebrate the 50th birthday of Milton Keynes at a festival to celebrate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in Middleton Hall, Milton Keynes Shopping Centre (7th/8th July)
Final preparations are underway for our Pop-up Lab. showcasing the University of Buckingham’s Psychology Research Hubs which – of course – includes CREATE.
The challenge was set by MK Innovates to provide exciting and interactive activities that engage young people – and especially girls – from Milton Keynes and the surrounding area with science. As always, the CREATE team were keen to get in on the act and we’ve identified some core aspects of our research to showcase at the event.
Getting creative with puzzles
One of the key angles we research here at CREATE is creative problem solving. We try to find out what happens when we suddenly get that wonderful “Aha!” moment (or that sickening “Uh-Oh!” moment) after struggling for so long with a puzzle.
Quite a number of other research studies use a standard list of very similar puzzles to trigger “Aha!” moments in the lab – challenges like the 9-Dot Puzzle or Remote Association puzzles.
- The CREATE TEAM tests out the equipment
But here in CREATE we like to do things a little differently!
That’s why – on our stand – we’ll be featuring a giant Connect 4 game to help our visitors trigger Aha! and Uh-oh! insight moments through play.
We’re also producing a children’s quick-start guide to Cryptic Crosswords, again something that our research shows leads to ‘Penny Drop’ moments.
Grievous Bodily Harm?!
- Ready for a shocking time?
Not to be outdone, our sister hub – the Centre for Health and Relationships will be running a Pain Lab: electric shocks will be at the ready for demonstrations on how pain can be safely and ethically researched.
Alongside this, we will be taking a look at positive psychology as part of our Emotion and Life-span Relationships research group.
Lots more to engage the brain!
Getting creative!
A psychology focus would not be complete without brain stuff! So roll out the Brain Map Mat and wire-up our fantastic Brain Box to explore the structure and functions of the brain.
Our visitors will then be able to get a little creative themselves and craft fantastic brain hats to literally take their new-found knowledge home with them.
If you’re in the area, we’d love to see you at our stand! Come and talk to the CREATE team and our sister hubs of researchers and students in Middleton Hall, Milton Keynes Shopping Centre on Friday and Saturday, 7th & 8th July.
It’s free, it’s fun and it could inspire a whole new generation of scientists!
For Milton Keynes 50th birthday, a festival to celebrate and inspire careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is being held in Central Milton Keynes this summer. Local technology, manufacturing companies and educational establishments will be offering opportunities to interact with robots and augmented reality with competitions, prizes and much more, and it’s free to attend.
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