Laughlab 2001 Expand An online experiment on the psychology of humour with Richard Wiseman and the University of Hertfordshire. Participants submitted over 40,000 jokes and the site generated over 1.5 million joke ratings. We were given a book deal to publish the findings.
Ready to Learn? The experiment 2008 Expand We collaborated with Teachers TV to explore how diet and exercise affect a child’s ability to learn via an online survey which attracted over 600 schools and 78,000 pupils.
Calls of the Wild 2013 Expand Calls of the Wild was a project run in British Science Week (formerly National Science & Engineering Week) in partnership with the University of Salford and the University of Surrey giving people the opportunity to express their opinions on bird calls. The natural world is rich not just in things to see but also things to hear. Surprisingly, there's very little scientific evidence about how these sounds can affect people psychologically. Press release: Calls of the wild preliminary results
What on Earth? 2010 Expand Citizen scientists were encouraged to upload their photos of the natural world for identification by other citizen scientists. A total of 1,379 photos were uploaded, with 1,067 identifications from 124 individuals who classed themselves as either ‘experts’ or ‘enthusiasts’.
Prove It 2012 Expand An online science communication video competition for all ages. 125 people made their own 30-second videos explaining aspects of ‘our world in motion’. An expert judging panel headed by Robert Winston scored the finalists for their communication skills. The user-generated content on the ProveItin30 YouTube channel received over 25,000 views and around 80 schools submitted video entries.
Walking with Woodlice 2000 Expand In collaboration with the Natural History Museum this was the first web-based activity of its type aimed at schools. Posters were sent to schools directing teachers to a website where they could find information on woodlouse taxonomy to identify woodlice species in their area and upload their findings. 5,000 teachers visited the website and there were 1,500 useable datasets. Findings were launched at the ASE AGM the following year.
Spring into Science 2004 Expand In collaboration with the UK Phenology Network and the Woodland Trust this allowed people to record online the arrival of spring by logging the first tadpole/ladybird etc. they see. There are no stats in the evaluation on how many took part but 5,00 schools were sent a wallchart and sticker sets. Focus magazine published the wallchart as a pull out and BBC local radio stations distributed copies. The results of which were released to launch British Science Week (formerly National Science Week) with a human map of Great Britain showing the spread of spring
Click for the Climate 2006 Expand An online pledging system in which people could pledge a small or alter a small aspect of their behaviour in order to save energy during British Science Week (formerly National Science & Engineering Week) allowing people to see by how much they will reduce their CO2 emissions and how much has been pledged across the country. 25,000 pledges were made (including from Tony Blair and David Cameron) saving 1,845 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions
Personality survey 2007 Expand An online survey in collaboration with psychologist Daniel Nettle to map five dimensions of personality. 7,551 people participated (4,017 female, 3,534 male), 6,062 of these were from the UK, with the bulk of the remainder being from the USA.
Magical Memory Tour 2008 Expand A collaboration with the University of Leeds Memory Group which encouraged people to upload their memories of how the Beatles shaped people’s lives to understand what kind of role do the Beatles and their music play in our personal histories and how this helps increase our understanding of human memory. There were nearly 3,000 responses from people ranging from 17 to 87, though most people fell within the 55 to 65 age range, having been teenagers in the 1960s when the Beatles were together. Results were published in Observer, the journal of the Association for Psychological Science.