Edinburgh students investigate "Our Changing World"

First year students at the University of Edinburgh can benefit from the ‘Our Changing World’ programme, launched in 2010 by Edinburgh Medical School, Biomedical Sciences, and delivered with the support of the Department of Sustainability and Social Responsibility.

Through a series of public lectures, researching topics in depth and participating in facilitated group discussions on each theme, 100 students come together to examine key global issues, such as climate change, food and energy shortages, and human wellbeing. The aim of the programme is to demonstrate the role that research plays in tackling these issues.

The students, who come from all subject areas offered at the university, such as biomedicine, business and chemistry, work in small groups to produce a collaborative project. They also produce a report of 1,000 words on a topic related to the issues discussed in the course and their work is peer-reviewed by other students of the course.

The programme, which takes place in the first semester, gives students credits towards their final grade as well as preparing them for study, teaching them skills such as research and critical analysis, working as part of a team and how to identify and organise data and draw conclusions.

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