Neuroscience 101 for School Pupils: ‘The Brain Apprentice’ Project

Community engagement efforts in brains and neurosciences projects involving higher education institutions are currently sporadic in Malaysia and likely to contribute the apparent lack of neuroscience awareness in the society. In this paper, we highlight ‘The Brain Apprentice’ project as a knowledge transfer effort to raise neuroscience awareness using school-centred neuroscience clubs.
These groups promote the appreciation of neuroscience beyond conventional classroom approaches and the training of neuroscience graduate interns as student facilitators in the teaching and learning of neuroscience.
The Brain Apprentice was delivered through the establishment of two school-based neuroscience clubs, Sekolah Kebangsaan Kubang Kerian 3 (primary level) and Sekolah Menengah Sains Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra (secondary level). The teaching and learning of neuroscience was delivered through practical sessions and competitions.
Questionnaires were collected from the students based on the following four domains: general satisfaction, impact of knowledge transfer, satisfaction with graduate interns, and knowledge and practical relevance of neuroscience.
The National Brain Bee championship has resulted in the first Malaysia representative competing at the International Brain Bee 2012. Students, who had participated as neuroscience club members were exposed to the basic principles of neuroscience, which boosted their interest in science and neuroscience. The graduate interns had also been provided with opportunities to hone in their soft skills and be involved in community-engagement efforts.
This project offered a suitable model of community-engagement in raising awareness about and the profile of neuroscience both in terms of knowledge exposure and from the perspective of career options in the field.

Keywords
neuroscience; clubs; primary schools; secondary schools education; psychology