Training Day- the Project’s kicking off.

On Wednesday 4th October four staff members from the Science Department left school as soon as the lunch bell rang and made for the car pool, heading for Glasgow’s New Lister Building housing the Medical Research Council. We ate the dinner in the car, and Dr Lidwell was given a peanut butter sandwich to nibble as she negotiated the terrible weather. I’m glad I hadn’t got around to doing my homework until I’d got in the car; the booklet dealt with collapsed ear canals, ear wax and its removal!

You can read the whole booklet here: Protocols

We were greeted by Patrick Howell, the Chief Audiologist and he had the whole team ready for our visit. What an amazing group of Research Scientists. Each of us were taken to a booth and given a set of earplugs to muffle our hearing. We were then put through our paces with a full hearing check. Clasping our bits of paper, we were quite interested in how we’d performed against the others. It took a lot longer than anticipated and there was quite a lot of pressure to perform. You could hear your heart beating and it was difficult to distinguish between the sounds and the heart.

Then Patrick took Ms McGillivray and Mrs Physics for more training on the audiometers, whilst Dr Lidwell and Mr Physics were taken off by Owen, to meet Rosie, the pink head, then it was time to swap over.

We were carefully taken through the process for completing an audiology test. Mrs Physics was able to test Ms McGillivray and then vice versa. It was fine, but odd. The long pauses suggested you’d missed some sounds! Once you’ve been told about how the test will be conducted it is easier to tune into the sound that you’re listening for. It’s odd, but by the end you think you’re hearing sounds all over the place.

Rosie, is fantastic, although, we’re going to have to keep track of her ears, they were so expensive. The screen shots on the tablet is fantastic and really clear for the students, although we’ve been advised to complete each test 12 times as each song will have highs and lows, and the headphones might trap more or less air each time, which could affect the results. I hope we can find some good statisticians to do this project.

The background noise for Rosie was about 60 dB so several people are likely to listen to music quieter than this, but that would never be damaging to hearing. We will also get some students working on exposure times for each sound level for each student. This project is growing legs, I can see us taking up the whole year with data and research.

Rosie was packed in a box, and covered in green packing foam and it was time for a group photo before presenting Owen with a Quaich as he leaves for pastures new. He has driven the project from the Research Scientists end, but he’s leaving us in great hands as Patrick, his team and Bill are just as enthusiastic.

We cannot thank this team enough for taking time out of their busy schedule to train us and they’ve promised to be available should we need them during the testing phase.

Well folks! Start a queue- we’re ready for you, oh no, we need the wipes first to clean the equipment between each test!

 

I touch the future- I teach

As usual it is raining in my home town, so, as I wandered off home I got out the umbrella I was given at the Science on Stage Conference 2017 in Debrecan, Hungary. It was left over from the Science on Stage London 2015 event, where the weather was typically wonderful.

I can’t say that I was concentrating on where I was going as one of the quotes around the edge of the brolly was “I touch the future- I teach,” by Christa McCulliffe. For those that don’t know, she was the school teacher selected to be the first teacher in space and chosen for flight STS-51-L. This was the flight that never made it into space as it was the Challenger, that blew apart on January 28 1986, starting 73 seconds after lift-off. It was the 25th flight of the American Space Shuttle program, and disastrous final mission of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which lifted-off from Launch Complex 39-B, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission ended in catastrophic failure with the destruction of Challenger, and the death of all seven crew members.

I can’t begin to imagine the effect on this event on her family, friends and students she taught, and yet, in her short life she really had grasped something about the privilege of teaching. As teachers we really do have the chance to see students who will go on to have their own amazing lives, whether seemingly dull or interesting. Each student chooses their own future and makes their own life. Even getting through life for some is an achievement in itself.

Thanks Christa, that after all these years, you can still influence people and give renewed enthusiasm for the special job we do.

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