Grassroots Neuroscience – The Grenada Brain Bee initiative celebrates a decade of increasing neuroscience awareness in high school students in a developing country

Walcott-Bedeau, Gabrielle; Blackette, Gail

doi:10.1016/j.ibror.2019.07.531

Cited by 1 publication

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“…The Brain Bee program, established by Dr. Norbert Myslinski of the University of Maryland in 1998, has grown from a local high school neuroscience competition to an international program encouraging students' curiosity in neuroscience. The Brain Bee Challenge was introduced in Grenada in 2009 as the first grassroots neuroscience program in the Caribbean [10]. The aim of the program was to increase interest in neuroscience among high school students despite challenges that include a lack of neuroscience-trained teachers, a shortage of neuroscience-specific texts in school libraries, limited access to internet and computer facilities, and transportation-related issues, particularly in rural areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Value of Hosting a Grassroots Neuroscience Workshop That Facilitates Near-Peer Engagement Between Medical Students and High School Students (Local Brain Bee Participants) in a Developing Country in the Caribbean

Walcott-Bedeau¹,

Garcia²,

Al-Rubaye³

et al. 2023

Cureus

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This article explores the value of hosting a grassroots neuroscience workshop that facilitates near-peer engagement between year-one medical students and local Brain Bee finalists (high school students). Nearpeer mentoring is a formal relationship in which more academically advanced students guide immediate junior students. We hypothesized that similar activities have teaching, learning, and psychosocial benefits for all and can be easily replicated. ActivityThe Grenada National Brain Bee Challenge was launched in 2009 as a competition for high school students. Annually, there are at least 100 high school students registering to participate in the national challenge. In 2018, a grassroots neuroscience symposium, a local initiative, was created to prepare high school students who participated in the preliminary rounds for the final local and International Brain Bee competition. Traditionally, it is hosted annually by faculty at St. George's University School of Medicine (SOM). However, in 2022, the symposium was hosted by medical students. The symposium is designed as an eight-hour tutorial one-day session. The students rotate between facilitators as small group teams during each teaching hour. There are icebreakers, content presentations, and neuroanatomy skills stations. The medical students demonstrate expertise in neuroscience content and other aspects of professional competence. The activity was also designed to offer students of diversified backgrounds the opportunity to affect their educational pathways through role modeling, mirroring, and mentorship. Was this change beneficial to both sets of students (medical and high school)? Results and discussionWe aim to determine the value of the near-peer relationship between the local 2022 Brain Bee finalists (high school students) (n=28) and university (medical) students (n=11). Participants were surveyed about their experience. Data were de-identified and grouped according to common themes. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data retrieved from the literature review. Data suggest that both high school and university (medical) students report benefits after participating in near-peer engagement at a grassroots neuroscience symposium. In this teaching model, the medical students are the more experienced instructors and transfer their knowledge and skills about the field to the high school students. The medical students have an opportunity to consolidate their personal learning and give back to the Grenadian community. While informal teaching occurs often, this type of near-peer engagement with students from the community helps medical students develop both personal and professional skills such as confidence, knowledge, and respect. This grassroots initiative is easily replicated in a medical curriculum. The major benefits experienced by the high school student participants (of various socioeconomic backgrounds) were access to educational resources. The symposium requires active engagement, fosters a sense of belonging, and promotes interest in pursuing caree...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%