In practice: Researchers in front of a class full of families

Slowly, curious families trickle into the room, it is another last Sunday of the month and thus time for a family lecture at UMU (University Museum Utrecht). José de Wit organises the family lectures and tells how she approaches this.

een familie kijkt naar de balein van een bruinvis
Real objects, like this baleen, are enthusiastically viewed by families | Photo: Emma Pot

How do you investigate animal smuggling, the inside of the earth or stranded whales? These questions were the focus of the family lectures in autumn 2023. It was my job to work with the researchers to design the lectures, so that afterwards families would have an idea of how research is done. What is involved? How do you approach it? And what are researchers themselves most curious about?

We find it important that the lectures are interactive. So instead of listening for an hour to what is being said, visitors think about research themselves. For example, by talking to other visitors, or by doing part of the research themselves to experience what is involved. This makes information stick better and ensures fun and interesting follow-up questions from families. And we noticed this during the lectures!

Onderzoeker Eva Schotanus laat een bot zien aan bezoekers van de familielezing
Researcher Manon Lock shows bones of a porpoise | Photo: Emma Pot

In December 2023, we organised a lecture on stranded porpoises. A topic that raised many questions among the audience; what exactly is a porpoise? What happens when this animal washes ashore? And how do you investigate the cause of death? By having the families discuss these questions, they created their own understanding of what porpoises are, how these animals live and what dangers they face in the North Sea. Researchers Manon Lock and Eva Schotanus from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine then took the audience through their research. During the lecture, they looked at stranded porpoises together with the audience and the families exchanged ideas about what had happened to these animals.

All this resulted in lively conversations among families during and after the event. They discovered more about each other’s ideas, worked together to come up with solutions and asked new questions. Just like researchers themselves do. And that is exactly what we want to encourage and achieve with our lectures.

José de Wit is programme maker family activities at UMU

Text: José de Wit

They discovered more about each other’s ideas, worked together to come up with solutions and asked new questions. Just like researchers themselves do.

Close-up

This article is also published in the fourth edition of the magazine Close-up, full of inspiring columns, background stories and experiences of researchers and support staff.

Go to Close-up #4