A message from the Engineering Expo organizers
Thank you very much for volunteering your time for this event.
- Please come to the main atrium of Engineering Centers Building to check in with one of the MRSEC Education Group Staff and to receive your name tag. From there, one of the Education Group Staff will take you to your assigned station. Please wear your MRSEC t-shirt if you have one.
- There are training videos on YouTube for *almost* every activity the MRSEC will be presenting at the Engineering Expo. These are excellent guides for interacting with the public, and a good overview of the materials you will be using. Please take five minutes, watch the video for your activity, and ask if you have any questions.
- The MRSEC will be at the event on Friday and Saturday, with Friday primarily geared toward 5th-9th graders and Saturday toward the general public. There will be a steady stream of people coming to your station throughout the day.
- There is a 15 minute overlap between time slots so that volunteers can learn from one another before they present.
Here are some important things to keep in mind when interacting the public:
- Ask questions. Get a sense for what your audience knows and what else they might have learned that day.
- Talk slowly.
- Talk about yourself. What do you like about the activity you're presenting?
- Sometimes it helps to just stop talking and let the audience interact with the material. Sometimes the material just speaks for itself.
- Always ask them if they have any questions.
- Have fun. And make sure the audience is having fun. This is your opportunity to help a person create a positive emotional connection with science. If someone walks away from your activity with only one fact in their head and a smile on their face, you have succeeded in outreach.
Matthew D. Stilwell, Ph.D.
Assistant Director
Interdisciplinary Education Group (IEG)
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)
University of Wisconsin-Madison