M.E.T.S

Jul 21

Cardiff University were interested in how they could make their engagement with schools more imaginative. In response we created the world of M.E.T.S (Ministry of Enlightened Theory and Skills), a secret agency that are planning a mission to Mars.

Working with project partners UCAN Productions, M.E.T.S Recruitment was produced for Cardiff University’s S.T.E.M Live event as a new way to engage pupils aged 12 -13 with the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

The event was a pilot to approach engagement with the S.T.E.M subjects through immersive narrative with the intention of inspiring the young people who attended to choose to study these subjects at GCSE level before going on to A level and Higher Education qualifications. The team created the world of M.E.T.S (Ministry of Enlightened Theory and Skills) as a vehicle to take the pupils into another world that drew inspiration from popular culture and encouraged them to interact with the various science exhibitions.

Upon arriving at the STEM Live 180 participants were told they had been recruited as M.E.T.S secret agents, little did they know their teachers were all secret sleeper agents working for M.E.T.S in schools across the world. For the rest of the day the new recruits completed a series of tasks set by the professors from each department at Cardiff University, culminating in their graduation from the Rookie stage of their M.E.T.S training.

This approach was designed in this way so that the young people were given a new context through which they could engage with these core subjects and build new and positive experiences around them.