Review of Technicians, an exhibition at the Science Museum in London
Two for the price of one
Here are two reviews of an exhibition. One is the version I submitted to the magazine, Schools Week, the other is the edited version actually published. I was quite pleased because the editor retained my attempts at humour. I don’t think there’s much to choose between the two versions, but what do you think?
My original version
Review of Technicians exhibition
Review by Terry Freedman
Freelance edtech writer and publisher
The Review: Technicians at the Science Museum
Star rating: 4
Publisher: The Science Museum
Published: (indefinitely)
Should you ever find yourself in the unlikely circumstance of having to choose between me administering medication or waiting for a paramedic, my advice would be to wait. One of the things I discovered about myself is that my fine motor skills leave much to be desired. Trying out the role of lab technician for size, I either over-filled the solution or under-filled it. As Dirty Harry was wont to say, a man’s got to know his limitations.
The other thing I discovered is that there are many more types of technician than had ever occurred to me. And that is one of the benefits of attending this exhibition or, better still, arranging a school visit – more of which in a moment. It’s a real eye-opener, and many pupils will, I’m certain, find the range of technician roles fascinating.
The exhibition is aimed at secondary school pupils for obvious reasons. By Year 9 they will be weighing up their GCSE options. By Year 11 they will be thinking about work or higher education. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised to bump into a group of primary school children there. I asked their teacher why they had come, and she told me it was to fire up the kids’ curiosity and widen their interests. They were definitely very engaged from what I could see.
Perhaps I’ve led a sheltered life, but when someone mentions the word “technician” I immediately think of a science lab technician or IT technician. But of course, the term can describe any job in which particular technical skills are required.
For example, in the field of health there are pharmacy technicians, clinical coders, healthcare lab technicians and simulation technicians. If you’re not sure what all of these are, fret not. There are large-screen videos of people in these (and other) technical fields explaining what they do.
Moreover, these workers will often be the ones running pupil workshops. These take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30, 12:00 and 13:30. They can accommodate 60 pupils at a time, and obviously have to be booked in advance. The only two disadvantages of the workshops is that you have to take pot luck as to what kind of technician will be running the workshop, because everything depends on who is available on that day and at that time. Also, your workshop may not be hosted by one of the technicians featured in the videos, but
one of the Science Museum’s volunteer technicians instead.
A variety of free workshops are offered. For instance, there is one run by a structural technician in which the pupils have to build a tower in such a way that it collapses, and then discuss why it was unable to remain standing. The sessions include providing the pupils with headphones (which will have been sterilised) and a Q & A session at the end.
For people like me who don’t want to risk killing anybody, there are other roles too, such as matching the sound and visual effects on a film. Alternatively, perhaps welding parts of a roller coaster might appeal. I tried that as well, and was very impressed because although the act of welding is simulated, you receive feedback through touch. In other words, some of the displays include haptic as well as audio and visual feedback. Such attention to detail is hardly surprising given that the Science Museum collaborated with Marvel Studios, the NHS, National Grid and the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in devising the exhibits.
It would be very easy to build in a visit to the exhibition, and a workshop session, into your curriculum. Indeed, the Science Museum has already done some of the work for you: see https://bit.ly/tfsftech2.
The first thing you are presented with when you enter the exhibition is an opportunity to reflect on what kind of areas you are interested in. Once you’ve made a few choices, you’re given a list of options to explore.
The simulations are almost excellent. Each one guides you through a series of steps. If, like me, you’d be likely to kill someone in real life, you’re invited to try again. The only reason I used the word “almost” a moment ago is that in the pharmacy technician simulation, reference is made to a worksheet before the worksheet – on screen—actually appears.
On the whole, though, the exhibition is fun, informative and – very important in my case –safe.
Useful links:
Background information: https://bit.ly/tfsftech1
School visits: https://bit.ly/tfsftech2
Information about the exhibits: https://bit.ly/tfsftech3
The published version
Should you ever find yourself in the unlikely circumstance of having to choose between me administering medication or waiting for a paramedic, my advice would be to wait. One of the things I discovered about myself on my recent visit to the Science Museum is that my fine motor skills leave much to be desired. Trying out the role of lab technician for size, I either over-filled the solution or under-filled it. As Dirty Harry was wont to say, a man’s got to know his limitations.
The other thing I discovered is that there are many more types of technician than had ever occurred to me. Indeed, one of the key benefits teachers and pupils are likely to draw from this exhibition is a better grasp of the breath-taking array of ‘invisible careers’ that are out there.
I was pleasantly surprised to bump into a group of primary school children on my visit. Their teacher told me she’d brought them to fire up their curiosity and widen their interests, and from what I saw they were definitely very engaged.
However, the exhibition is clearly aimed at secondary school pupils, and for obvious reasons. By year 9, they will be weighing up their GCSE options. By year 11, they will be thinking about work or higher education.
Building on this time of important choices, the first thing you are presented with when you enter the exhibition is an opportunity to reflect on the areas that interest you. Your answers lead to a list of options to explore.
And there are many. Perhaps I’ve led a sheltered life, but the word ‘technician’ basically conjures up images of a science lab or a roomful of servers. It is, of course, much wider than that, describing any job for which particular technical skills are required.
The field of health alone encompasses pharmacy technicians, clinical coders, healthcare lab technicians and simulation technicians among many others. If you’re not sure what all of these are, fret not. Large-screen videos throughout the exhibition feature people in these (and other) technical fields explaining what they do.
Moreover, these very technicians will often be the ones running the ‘Meet an employee’ workshops available to school groups. These take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30, 12:00 and 13:30, can accommodate 60 pupils at a time and must be booked in advance. Be warned, though: what kind of technician will run your workshop is pot luck, depending on availability. Your workshop may even be hosted by one of the Science Museum’s volunteer technicians instead of the professionals in the videos.
A variety of free workshops is also on offer. One is run by a structural technician and asks pupils to build a tower in such a way that it collapses, and then discuss why it was unable to remain standing. The sessions include providing the pupils with (sterilised) headphones and a Q & A session at the end.
For people like me who don’t want to risk killing anyone, there are other roles too, such as matching the sound and visual effects on a film and welding parts of a roller coaster. I tried the latter, and was very impressed with the high-tech, haptic feedback of the simulation.
Such attention to detail is hardly surprising given that the Science Museum collaborated with Marvel Studios, the NHS, National Grid and the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to devise the exhibits.
The simulations are almost uniformly excellent. Each guides you through a series of steps and invites you to try again if, like me, you’re likely to be a hazard in real life. I experienced a glitch in the pharmacy technician simulation, which referred to a worksheet before it actually appeared, but perhaps this kind of nit-picking should be left to a veterinary technician.
A timely contribution at a time of renewed focus on careers education, the Science Museum have even done some of the work of mapping the exhibition to the national curriculum on their website. Fun, informative and (very important in my case) safe too. I highly recommend the trip.
This was originally published on the Schools Week website.
Well, what do you think? Which version is better in your opinion, and why?
They did an excellent job editing your review and as you say, managed to very much retain the feel of You within it. Good job. It all sounds very exciting. Thanks so much for sharing.
No chance encounters with that roller coaster. I steer clear of them.
The exhibits sound very informative. If we would have had something like that back in my day, a lot of those jobs would have been filled instead of staying vacant. Even now, with so many positions open, this would help people out to see what exactly these people do on a daily basis. I remember in Junior High we had individuals come in and talk to us about their careers.