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Impact on Continuing Professional Development for Science Educators

Summary of the impact

The need to produce more science graduates to meet the ambitions of a knowledge-based economy has been recognised in several UK Government initiatives, yet despite the growth in University admissions since 1986 the percentage of students studying science has fallen. Research led by Tina Jarvis has had significant impact on the development of effective science CPD, designed to address the problem that many primary school teachers lack competence and confidence in science teaching. This research has underpinned the establishment of two CPD Centres, which have provided CPD for over 7,300 teachers, technicians and teaching assistants in the UK during the assessment period and a range of projects which have achieved sustained impact on teachers' practice and pupils' learning and engagement, regionally, nationally and across Europe, involving over 30 partners across 23 countries.

Submitting Institution

University of Leicester

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

Developing teachers’ classroom practice to raise pupils’ attainment and engagement in primary school science

Summary of the impact

Research by Oxford Brookes University identified that teaching for inclusive challenge in primary science lessons, with an emphasis on classroom discussions, practical work and conceptual challenge, increased pupils' enthusiasm for science and also their attainment in the subject. Led by Helen Wilson, David Coates and Jenny Mant, research insights have been used to produce evidence-based professional development for primary school teachers. This has been delivered to thousands of teachers, through training events and programmes, through a dedicated website, and through training led by Local Authority advisors who have chosen to disseminate our materials. The impact on the teachers' practice has been to encourage pupils' higher order thinking in science lessons through an emphasis on questioning, discussion and practical scientific enquiry. The ultimate impact has therefore been on the learning experiences of school pupils.

Submitting Institution

Oxford Brookes University

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

Case Study 4: Contributing to evidence-informed curriculum policy in secondary school science

Summary of the impact

Over more than two decades research conducted at Leeds has had two interrelated impacts: i) supporting the decision-making process of those responsible for reforming the school science curriculum by providing timely and robust research evidence, for example within the recent DfE National Curriculum Review in England; ii) inspiring follow-on research and development activities funded by professional organisations, whose aim is to inform and influence science education policy and practice.

Submitting Institution

University of Leeds

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

Improving Science Together

Summary of the impact

The Improving Science Together (IST) project developed pupils' enquiry skills, teachers' assessment and curriculum continuity across the primary-secondary transfer in 24 schools. This research had an impact upon public policy through its inclusion on the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) website as a case study supporting government guidance on primary-secondary transfer. Its impact upon practitioners in the project schools and authorities has been to change their practice in science enquiry assessment and primary-secondary transfer; it has a continuing wider impact on the work of teachers and trainees across the UK and internationally through web-based materials and training.

Submitting Institution

Bath Spa University

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

Enabling publics to participate in science learning through technology

Summary of the impact

Our research on technologies in science learning has led to increased participation by young people and adults in science, shifting their understanding of the scientific process. Impacts include:

  • 24,000 active participants have used the prize-winning iSpot website and app to develop their understanding of species identification, making 250,000 nature observations and identifying new species
  • support for distributed teams of science learners using new configurations of laboratory-based and mobile technologies which have been adopted by Microsoft to support their community engagement projects
  • over 300 children using the open source nQuire software to undertake personal inquiries in community settings; nQuire underpins the new UK Girl Guides' Association `Neighbourhood Researcher' badge.

Submitting Institution

Open University

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

Transforming computing science education to confront global industry skills gap

Summary of the impact

With computing science in schools and universities suffering from an international education crisis, University of Glasgow research has driven the development of new school curriculum across the UK. The learning and teaching materials developed at Glasgow rethink the way computing science is taught, with over 10,000 pupils taking part in workshops in Scotland and 1,600 teachers in 20 countries using the materials. In the US, this research has attracted 20 high schools and 2,000 university students into programmes demonstrating new methods in teaching computational thinking. Dr Quintin Cutts has also contributed to the Scottish Qualifications Authority's assessments for the new Scottish curriculum, consulting on assessment techniques and nationwide Computing Science exam papers.

Submitting Institution

University of Glasgow

Unit of Assessment

Computer Science and Informatics

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

Curriculum and Assessment in Science Education

Summary of the impact

The research undertaken by Jonathan Osborne and colleagues in science education at King's has contributed substantially to contemporary curriculum and assessment policy and practice both in the UK and internationally. This programme of research has directly influenced: the Nuffield/OCR `Twenty First Century Science' curriculum, currently offered by around 1000 schools in England and Wales; the emphasis on `how science works' in the English and Welsh science curriculum; the US Framework for K-12 science education published in 2012 with its new emphasis on scientific practices; and the framework being used as a basis for the OECD Assessment of Science by the Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) which will be administered in 70 countries in 2015.

Submitting Institution

King's College London

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

EDU01 - Improving scientific literacy and engagement with science

Summary of the impact

Twenty First Century Science (OCR Science A) is a research evidence-informed suite of GCSE courses developed by the Science Education Group at York from 2001-6. Following pilot trials and evaluation in 2003-6, it was adopted and continues to be used by over 1200 centres (schools and colleges) in England, thus having significant impact on the day-to-day practice of several thousand teachers and on over 120,000 students annually from 2006 to date. A survey of centres in 2008 (Millar, 2010), after the first post-pilot cohort completed their GCSE courses, indicated increases of between 25 and 38 percent in uptake of the three main sciences at AS-level, over three times the national increase observed that year. The core GCSE Science course is unique internationally in addressing explicitly the widely accepted policy objective of improving `scientific literacy'. As a result, Twenty First Century Science has influenced science curriculum policy discussions and debates in the UK and internationally.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

Case Study 2: Improving the teaching and learning of conceptual scientific content in schools.

Summary of the impact

This longstanding research and development programme on teaching and learning conceptual scientific content has resulted in beneficial impacts on the day-to-day teaching practices of secondary school science teachers within and beyond the UK. The programme has resulted in three broad areas of impact:

  1. the content of curriculum materials used by teachers of physics, chemistry and biology in their practice;
  2. the initial training of science teachers;
  3. professional development programmes for science teachers.

Submitting Institution

University of Leeds

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

The ART of A.R.T

Summary of the impact

Professor Anna Furse's Practice-as-Research on Assisted Reproduction Technologies [A.R.T.s] incorporates artistic design and educational materials to raise awareness of medical, ethical and emotional issues surrounding subfertility, addressing public ignorance, prejudice and taboo. When she published her bestseller Your Essential Infertility Companion, A.R.T.s were rarely discussed from the patient perspective, debate being dominated by media sensationalism and misinformation. Her subsequent critically acclaimed production projects, articulating subfertiles' plights and rights, contributed culturally to shifting public understanding. The Peach Child became an internationally popular children's play, while My Glass Body (a commissioned drama for BBC Radio) was broadcast twice — additional outputs extending the reach of the project to multigenerational lay as well as academic publics.

Submitting Institution

Goldsmiths' College

Unit of Assessment

Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Specialist Studies In Education
Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media, Performing Arts and Creative Writing

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