In this Case Study, Doran explains how he combined his interests in neuroscience, contemplative practices, and science communication to design and run a final-year outreach project for Life Science students, and what he learnt from the process. A fuller account of Doran’s pedagogic rationale and approach can be found in his June 2024 paper published in the JUICE (Journal of Useful Investigations in Creative Education) special issue on contemplative pedagogy.

Along with his students, Doran won a Learning Together Award for this project at the 2024 University of Sussex Education Awards. Doran also presented a workshop on ‘Bringing students’ lived experiences into their projects and assignments’ at the 2024 Sussex Education Festival.

What I did

For their final year projects, Life Science students can choose between an experimental, data analysis, literature, or outreach project. I designed and supervised a final-year outreach project during which I guided six students to plan and prepare for a two-day outreach event in collaboration with the University’s Wellbeing team. The event was themed around mental health — specifically, how breathwork techniques, such as resonance breathing (a type of slow, regular breathing), can affect heart rate variability (HRV) and reduce stress.

At the start of term, the project students were each given a wearable heart rate monitor and invited to try out a couple of breathwork techniques at home in the weeks before the event. They installed the free app EliteHRV, which guided them through the techniques and gave them live feedback on their HRV during the breathwork.

After much planning and poster printing, the event was held at the Student Centre on campus in Autumn term 2023 with the aims of:

• Educating participants about the science of stress, including the role of the autonomic nervous system in stress and HRV as a physiological correlate of stress;
• Engaging participants by inviting them to participate in a “citizen science” experiment to compare how two breathwork techniques affect HRV and stress levels;
• Introducing participants to practical tools to support their breathwork practice in the future, such as breathwork/HRV apps and a wearable heart rate monitoring device for HRV biofeedback.

During the event, the students were actively engaged in guiding participants through the breathwork techniques with the help of the app, building on their own first-hand experiences in the weeks before. The students collected both experimental “citizen science” data about the impact of breathwork, as well as questionnaire feedback from participants about their experiences of the event, which both contributed to their assessed project work. 

Why I did it

I designed this project to make good use of my expertise in neuroscience, contemplative practices, and science communication. I offered it as a way for students to learn not just about the theoretical science of stress, but to have the opportunity to explore the effects of the breathwork techniques experientially. I wanted to find out whether supporting students to make connections between their lived experience and theoretical learning could deepen their motivation and engagement, depth of understanding, and invite fresh thinking and new perspectives. I also hoped that it would help them to benefit the mental health of the wider student community and foster a space for compassionate discussion around these issues.

The project provided a creative container for exploring broader themes of interest to me, such as mind–body interactions and novel approaches to stress and mental health. It was a “light touch” first try at incorporating first-person, experiential modes of enquiry into my teaching, which are typically de-emphasised in university-level science education. In the future, I hope to develop on what I have learnt, perhaps by inviting students to write a reflective journal on their bodily sensations before and after the breathwork techniques and linking this to theoretical knowledge about the autonomic nervous system in group meetings.

Impact and student feedback

Following the project, I collected feedback from the project students, which demonstrated how the experiential learning opportunities of the project helped students to develop their confidence, communication skills, team-work and creativity, along with enabling them to experience directly how their personal and scientific understanding can benefit the wider community.

For example, a prominent theme discussed by students was confidence, as well as the perhaps related themes of communication and a compassionate motivation to help others:

“I am truly grateful for being given this opportunity to use my neuroscience background knowledge to help others to benefit their well-being. Not only has this event boosted my confidence in speaking to strangers, it has also taught me the importance in bringing awareness to topics such as mental health and overall well-being.”

Students also highlighted the theme of community or collaboration, recognising the value of learning both as a team of project students and also in relationship with the wider community of participants at the event:

“We conducted a research project focused on scientific outreach, hosting an event on campus to educate students about heart rate variability (HRV) and introduce scientifically proven breathing techniques for HRV improvement … This experience not only fostered collective learning within our team, but also enabled us to take the participating university students and staff on the journey of learning together with us.”

Top tips

• Start simple – doing the outreach activity on campus can make it a lot easier to arrange.
• Consider organising the project for a team of students if possible — this allows them to support and motivate each other, whilst providing opportunities for each to contribute their unique talents to the project.
• Give the students a week-by-week plan to follow — this is especially important if you need ethical approval, as this needs to be in place well before the event.
• Don’t shy away from a project design that needs ethical approval — the ethics application can be an effective focus early on in the project for the students to concretely plan what the event will be about and how and when it will run.
• Make sure you plan time for a pilot event — this will allow the students to practice their roles and get valuable feedback from the guinea pigs (normally their friends)!
• Think carefully about which kinds of lived experience you ask or encourage students to draw on (e.g. by keeping the focus on common, everyday experiences such as stress) — avoid topics that are likely to be overwhelming or triggering for some.

Doran Amos has been a Lecturer in Neuroscience (Education & Scholarship) at the University of Sussex since 2022. Prior to becoming a teaching-focussed lecturer, he pursued a career in academic research, beginning with a PhD, which he completed in 2011 at University College London under the supervision of Prof. John O’Keefe. His doctoral work focused on how spatial navigation and memory are supported by specialised “place cells” in the rodent brain. Following this, he continued with post-doctoral research on these topics in humans, before joining the University of Sussex in 2016 to investigate navigation in ants with Prof Paul Graham and Prof Andy Philippides.

In addition to his interests in neuroscience, Doran has a long-standing passion for contemplative practices such as mindfulness, which he has engaged with primarily through the Plum Village lineage of Zen Buddhism. He lived for 15 months in Plum Village monastery in France before moving to Brighton in 2016. He also loves writing and has worked freelance as a scientific writer since 2016, creating scientific blog articles and social media posts for a variety of audiences.