The Association for Science Education (ASE) of Southern Medical University (SMU), the first college students’ organization in Guangdong Province for social practice, is attached to the Student League and Union, supervised by the Youth League Committee of SMU. It has received several school-level awards for theBest Public Welfare Organizations.
Based on the Human Science Museum of SMU, theASE adoptsResponsibility in Mind, Science Education in Practiceas its beliefs. Led by OU Yangjun, Director of Department of Anatomy, and BI Zhenyu, a professional staff, the ASE assists Bureau of Science and Technology of Guangzhou, Guangzhou Association for Science and Technology and Guangzhou Science Education Center in organizing all kinds of science educational activities in the society, to expand and enlighten the human being’s knowledge of their existence and to develop college students’ personal and social responsibility in the social practice.
Since its establishment, the ASE has actively answered the call of Guangzhou Science Education Alliance and undertaken a series of science educational activities for the public: volunteer to increase people’s awareness and knowledge of health issues in life, and conduct the age-appropriate sexuality education for children and adolescents to prevent child sexual abuses. The ASE arranges docents in the Human Science Museum to give a detailed explanation on the specimens, which increases people’s understanding of science, fosters children’s scientific curiosity and overcomes people’s fear from the human body specimens. In addition, the ASE has sponsored a series of competitions for the science popularization on the campus, such asPopular Science Docent Contest,Anatomical Drawing Competition. The ASE also strives to form a team of 21 docents which includes oneExcellent League Members of Guangdong Province, five ofGuangzhou’s Top Ten Popular Science Docentsand severalGuangzhou Excellent Popular Science Docents. These activities of scientific popularization, oriented towards the general public, are different from the traditional mode of science popularization which was only confined to the campus. Stepping out of the campus, the ASE successfully incorporates academic knowledge learned in class into the social practice, breaking new ground in the development of social consciousness and social responsibility in young people.
