Teaching neuroscience

09:00-10:20 BST | Thursday 15th April 2021

Faculty

• Volko Straub (co-chair), University of Leicester, UK - Practical classes without a manual​
• Rosamund Langston, University of Dundee, UK - How to train your neuroscientist for a life less ordinary​​
• David Martin, University of Dundee, UK - Swimming lessons for the neuroscience data lakes​

Description

Teaching neuroscience topics to undergraduate students can be highly rewarding, but also quite daunting as it frequently involves highly complex concepts that students find challenging.

In this workshop we will share some of the ideas, techniques and tools that we have developed and used over the last few years. These will include our experience with designing and using data handling exercises and problem based questions to teach not just neuroscience, but also transferable skills, which is important to prepare students for a broad range of ‘real life’ experiences, especially as not all our students will become practicing neuroscientists (Langston: ‘How to train your neuroscientist for a life less ordinary’).

We will also share our experiences of using neuronal network simulations in practical classes to help students to develop their experimental design skills (Straub: ‘Practical classes without a manual’).

Finally, we will provide some guidelines on how to empower students to swim rather than drawn in the vast data lake created by modern neuroscience using cutting edge deep learning tools for behavioural analysis (Martin: ‘Swimming lessons for the neuroscience data lakes’).

These short presentations will be followed by an extended open discussion to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and practices.

Aims of the workshop

The majority of neuroscientists from postgraduate students to professors are involved in some form of teaching undergraduate students - either by giving lectures and tutorials, designing, leading and demonstrating in practical classes, tutorials and seminars, or by supervising laboratory projects.

When starting out in teaching or trying to develop our teaching, we look for inspiration and ideas. This session provides an opportunity for the discussion and exchange of teaching practices to all at BNA2021.

All the proposed contributors to the workshop have extensive experience in designing, developing and delivering teaching activities.

As teaching is an important aspect of many neuroscientists' career path, this workshop will be valuable for most if not all attendees, ranging from early career researchers to established lecturers.