PedaLEGOgy – Using LEGO® crime scenes as an inclusive way to ‘build’ student learning, engagement and educational experience in forensic science

Since Francis Glessner Lee created the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death in the 1940 s, the use of miniature crime scene representations has become an accepted and reliable method of allowing students and practitioners to explore, interact, and learn from representations of crime scenes without risk of contamination. Although Lee's dioramas are still utilised in teaching and training within the forensic sciences these realistic models are expensive and time consuming to create. This research explores an alternative approach to creating miniature crime scenes through the use of Lego® in a workshop developed primarily for undergraduate students. The workshop was developed to align with the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences CSI Component Standard Matrix and can be easily altered, augmented and re-set to generate new crime scenes to explore different case contexts. The workshop compared two activities: 1) a 30-minute Lego® model activity, and 2) a 30-minute paper-based (non-Lego®) descriptive activity. Questionnaire data collected from 76 students explored demographics, prior experience of Lego® and their engagement in each of the two activities (Lego® verses descriptive). Both activities included the same prompts to discuss CSI team roles, methods for recovery and documentation of different evidence types, and to highlight which evidence items should be prioritised. Questionnaire responses were captured following each activity for a series of seven-point Likert scale questions. While student responses to both activities were generally positive, significantly higher engagement was demonstrated for all measurements when an explorable Lego® model was used compared with descriptive methods. Students commented that the Lego® model activity was fun, interesting and engaging, and made them feel more prepared for their physical crime scene examination assessment work. It was also noted that the Lego® crime scene was inclusive across cohort, sex and disability.