The Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme (UAS) is a program in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

devised to encourage students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs to enter teaching by awarding them with degree course credits.

History

Noting the declining enrollment in STEM subjects at UK universities, a team including author

Simon Singh Simon Lehna Singh, (born 19 September 1964) is a British popular science author and theoretical and particle physicist. His written works include ''Fermat's Last Theorem'' (in the United States titled ''Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve ...

devised the idea with three aims: * to encourage undergraduates in those fields to go into teaching, * to support teachers and * to provide role models for school students who might otherwise never meet a young person who had chosen to study a STEM subject. UAS was set up to provide a structure to get undergraduates into the classroom, based on a model pioneered at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, but adding the incentive of academic credit for program participants. After receiving approval to pilot UAS from the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

, Singh backed a launch of the program with his own money, with the assistance of Ravi Kapur and others. Student interest in the program was high. Singh indicated that in the pilot year of the program 10 of 13 math undergraduates who participate at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

subsequently entered teacher training. By the midpoint of its second year, in February 2004, the program was being described by the ''

Times Educational Supplement ''TES'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity th ...

'' (TES) as a success, with nine universities onboard and an additional 30 expressing interest. In October 2005, Singh wrote in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that UAS was established in "over 50 university departments, mainly mathematics, science and engineering, with more coming on board each year." In the 2007–2008 academic year, involvement had risen to 107 university departments, with 750 undergraduate participants.

Function

According to ''TES'', undergraduates involved first participate in a one-day program to give them basic information on instructing students in math and science. After this training, they observe a local classroom and then put together a project for the students in a class. The UAS website indicates that the program, available in the last two years of a student's undergraduate career, carries ten to 30 credits for ten weeks of work in the classroom alongside the classroom's regular teacher, who helps evaluate the undergraduate's performance.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site
Education enrollment Engineering education in the United Kingdom Higher education organisations based in the United Kingdom Mathematics education in the United Kingdom Science education in the United Kingdom Teacher training programs Teaching in the United Kingdom University of Surrey