Taking part benefits you and your students

Benefits for your class

STEM becomes more relatable

By taking part in I’m an Engineer students can:

  • Gain confidence through asking questions.
  • See real-life examples and applications of STEM.
  • Learn about the transferability of STEM and STEM qualifications.
  • See engineers as normal people, not ‘elite geniuses’, with hobbies, interests, pets, and families.
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Read case studies from teachers who have taken part

Supporting students’ science capital

Science capital is a measure of a person’s personal relationship with science; how much they see the subject as ‘for them’. More about science capital.

I’m an Engineer supports the science capital teaching approach:

  • Students become more aware of the diversity of, nature of, and routes into STEM jobs.
  • We challenge the misconceptions that a job in STEM is all-consuming and based in a lab.
  • More about how I’m an Engineer boosts students’ science capital

Students discover new careers

Every student is equal

  • Text-based live Chats mean that all students have an equal chance of being answered:
    • It helps [to see] students in a different light. Some who are normally very quiet in school became very active in the chat.” – Teacher, May 2020
  • Students gain confidence through asking questions.
    More about the advantages of text-based interactions

Accessible to every school

Benefits for teachers

It’s backed by research:

  • I’m an Engineer supports the Science Capital Teaching Approach.
  • Taking part supports students’ Science Capital.
  • It’s secure, safe and you’re in control: Only students who’ve been given access by their teacher can login to the Zone.
  • No personal details are shared on the site, and student content is moderated. Read our safeguarding statement ❯
  • You get to see which students have logged in and what questions they’ve asked.
  • You can download transcripts of live chat sessions.

Everything’s designed for easy, online access:

  • Signing up is quick and easy
  • Students can log in at any time to read engineers’ profiles and send questions in ASK.
  • Students create their own username using a link you create. This will take them around 10 minutes; send it to them the day before your chat, or earlier.
  • You book chats for times that suit you and your students.

It’s free for state maintained schools:

  • Thanks to our funders, most schools don’t have to pay.
  • Non-state-maintained schools may be asked to pay a fee to take part.
    Find out more ❯

Teachers: Register to take part ❯

Find out more:

Teachers homepage ❯
Student safeguarding and privacy ❯
Questions? Contact support@imascientist.ie