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In this article we offer a conceptual and practical contribution to the field of STEM education by investigating the concepts educators may include in Quantum Technologies (QT) outreach activities. We embed our approach in the discipline-culture (DC) framework, in which we consider the cultural nuances of QT as an important factor which must not be ignored in education efforts. To this end, a survey study by the pilot project Quantum Technologies Education For Everyone (QuTE4E), investigating key concepts for QT outreach, was conducted between December 2021 and June 2022. Here we present the results of the study, analysed through the DC framework, and consider the implications for designing QT outreach activities. The data hints at the perceived value of highlighting core concepts of Quantum Mechanics (QM), while also raising the question of whether QT sits as a discipline of Physics, Computer Science, or elsewhere. This calls for a reordering of the primacy of certain concepts (such as qubit and spin) for outreach purposes, where core concepts in QM might not be core concepts in QT, and vice versa. The results of this study provide valuable insights for those interested in learning more about this rapidly-evolving field.

Climate change is of great concern to all age groups but in particular to children. "Simple" climate models have been in place for a long time and can be used effectively with post-16 students. For younger children, modifications are required, and we describe in this paper the development and use of two such models. The first (the Granny Model) is a pictorial version of the model that has been used extensively with primary and early secondary school aged children (14 and younger). The second is an online version of the simple climate model that can be used without recourse to the underpinning mathematics and science but allows children to experiment with changing variables and how these changes affect the average surface temperature of the Earth.

Society and education are inherently ableist. Disabled people are routinely excluded from education, or have poorer outcomes within educational systems. Improving educational experiences and outcomes for people of color has required educators to design antiracist curricula that explicitly address racial inequality. Here, we explore parallel antiableist approaches to bioscience education in an essay coauthored by a disabled bioscience student and able-bodied faculty member in bioscience. Our work is underpinned by Critical Disability Theory and draws on disability and pedagogical scholarship as well as our own experiences. The biosciences has a unique need to confront its history in the discredited pseudoscience of eugenics, which has led to discrimination and human rights abuses against disabled people. We provide a brief history of the relationship between biological sciences research and eugenics and explore how this legacy impacts bioscience education today. We then present a recommended structure for antiableist biology education. Our approach goes beyond providing disability access, to a model that educates all students about disability issues and empowers them to challenge ableist narratives and practices.

Migrant students tend to underperform in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and are less likely to pursue higher education in STEM when compared with their nonmigrant peers. Given the substantial increase in migration, this disparity has been a central concern in science education in many European countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative science outreach program that brings together migrant students and STEM professionals with the same linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The program consists of one-off workshops that follow an inquiry-based approach and include hands-on activities and science communication in the students' heritage language. Using surveys with adapted scales and open-ended questions, we applied a randomized block design with waitlist control groups and repeated measures. Eighty-three Portuguese-speaking migrant students aged 6-17 years participated in the workshops in Germany and the United Kingdom. Results indicate that both the students and STEM professionals evaluated the program positively and that students who participated in the workshops tended to demonstrate an increase in their attainment value for science and an increase in their self-concept of ability for the heritage language 4 weeks after the intervention when compared with students in the control condition. These effects were particularly pronounced for students with low prior motivation to study science or speak the heritage language. Our results thus show that it is possible to foster migrant students' attainment value for science and increase their self-concept of ability regarding the heritage language through a brief science outreach intervention.

This project report describes using MasteryPaths in the Canvas Virtual Learning Environment as a method of helping improve the information literacy (IL) competence for undergraduate science students studying in their first year at university. The MasteryPaths incorporated a series of formative quiz assessments on referencing and finding and evaluating information, which depending on the students' initial score directed them to further enrichment or support materials. Four degree courses (Biology, Forensics, Biomedicine and Sport) each included the MasteryPaths in a first-year module in 2020/21, which were available in Canvas following face-to-face IL sessions. Focus groups were conducted with students, and interviews were carried out with two module leaders to explore perceptions of the MasteryPaths design and effectiveness for IL skills. The article provides insight into how online, self-paced, IL formative quiz assessments can be developed in a way to motivate and engage students in their learning.

Social and economic barriers that students face during their studies can impact severely on their attainment and can be due to many factors. This study investigated how different socio-economic factors, with a focus on digital poverty and workspace availability may have affected students' attainment (during October 2021-March 2022) at university post-COVID-19. Quantitative data collected during the first teaching block of the 2021-2022 academic year using specific questions in a paper-based questionnaire indicated that a good proportion of life science students did not have access to a home internet source (35%) or proper workspace facilities (34%) and had the requirement to work alongside their degree in order to fund their studies. In contrast to the lack of internet students experienced, many of the surveyed students did have access to a personal computer within their household. Possible reasons for some of the findings, and the implications of the findings, are discussed here.

An investigation was conducted into the common misconceptions in chemical equilibria, adopted by a sample of UK secondary school students. These included the characteristics of a dynamic equilibrium, the nature of the reactants and products at equilibrium, as well as the effect of conditions and catalyst on equilibrium. Suggestions for improved teaching were obtained from the students. These included ensuring a clear and comprehensive delivery of basic principles, more or better use of practical demonstrations where appropriate, and use of practice questions. Further research around these suggestions could investigate the value of consulting students' views and ideas in addressing their misconceptions, to ultimately improve overall conceptual understanding in instruction.

Although the number of publications on formative assessment in science education has long been high, there is no bibliometric analysis or scientific mapping in the literature to understand research trends in formative assessment research. This research aimed to examine the bibliometric results of articles on formative assessment in science education. Based on the criteria for inclusion and exclusion, 94 articles were selected for analysis. The results show that between 2015-2016 and 2020-2022, the number of publications on formative assessment increased substantially. Among the top ten institutions that contributed to the research are three institutions from the United States. The results also show that the United States had the most publications. Analysis of the co-citations showed that the "Journal of Research in Science Teaching," "Science Education," and the "International Journal of Science Education" were cited more than 100 times. The three most cited studies were published in "Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy, and Practice." The results show that the researcher used formative assessment, students, science education, teaching, education, engineering education, curricula, STEM, and e-learning in research on formative assessment. In light of the obtained results, practical suggestions for further studies are made in the conclusion.

The purpose of this study was to explore the different sub-skills of students' written arguments (i.e., writing an argument, choosing a convincing argument) that might exist, and the content dependency of arguments. This paper presents two written argumentation tools that were designed for 11-14 year-old students, and the main outcomes from applying the tools to evaluate the written arguments of 246 students. The analysis of the data implies that choosing a convincing argument is a different kind of skill than any of the other three aspects of argumentation that were evaluated in these tests; that argumentation is content specific, and that argument construction is easier when the students' have knowledge of the topic, regardless of whether this is a scientific or an everyday life topic. A main contribution in this study is that we have identified the degree of complexity for all four sub-skills that were included in the test. By identifying that writing an argument is a more difficult skill to acquire, or that students are not acquainted with it, it can help educators to design better scaffolding structures to support students when writing counterarguments. Research implications arising from the findings include exploring in detail how students choose to agree or disagree with given claims in different situations -- for example exploring the difference in agreeing with media claims on socioscientific issues as opposed to scientific claims in the science classroom. Implications for teaching include using different teaching approaches for scientific and everyday argumentation.

A descriptive bibliometric analysis of works on artificial intelligence (AI) in science education is provided in this article to help readers understand the state of the field's research at the time. This study's main objective is to give bibliometric data on publications regarding AI in science education printed in periodicals listed in the Scopus database between 2002 and 2023 end of May. The data gathered from publications scanned and published within the study's parameters was subjected to descriptive bibliometric analysis based on seven categories: number of articles and citations per year, countries with the most publications, most productive author, most significant affiliation, funding institutions, publication source and subject areas. Most of the papers were published between 2016 and 2022. The United States of America, United Kingdom, and China were the top-3 most productive nations, with the United States of America producing the most publications. The number of citations to the publications indexed in Scopus database increased in a progressive way and reached to maximum number in 2022 with 178 citations. Most productive author on this topic was Salles, P. with four publications. Moreover, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Memphis, and University of Southern California have the maximum number of publications as affiliations. The National Science Foundation was the leader funding institution in terms of number of publications produced. In addition, "Proceedings Frontiers in Education Conference Fie" have the highest number of publications by year as a publication source. Distribution of the publications by subject area was analyzed. The subject areas of the publications were computer sciences, social sciences, science education, technology and engineering education respectively. This study presents a vision for future research and provides a global perspective on AI in science education.

Natural History has been part of our curriculum since 1858. Not as a single, continuous subject but embedded in many different subjects and qualifications. As OCR prepares to launch a GCSE in Natural History, this article draws on the historical resources of OCR and its predecessor the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate to show the range of natural history type subjects available to students, focusing on those for 16-yearolds. Referencing primary sources available from the Assessment Archives spanning the period from 1858 to 2000, this study reveals some of the qualifications available, as well as the scope and popularity of these subjects and the challenges faced by all those involved.

Preparing a scientific poster and presenting it at a conference supports the development of a range of skills in undergraduates that are relevant to further study and the workplace. This investigation focused on an asynchronous online poster session in a final year undergraduate science module at a UK university to assess evidence of higher-order skills development and determine student perceptions of the benefits and challenges of participating in the session. The study analysed 100 randomly selected posters from the 2020 session for evidence of scientific understanding, application, and critical evaluation, together with the feedback received on them. While 73% of the posters demonstrated understanding and 70% application, a lower proportion (42%) demonstrated critical evaluation skills. Seventy-eight percent of posters were considered to have received feedback from peers that gave an effective or partially effective evaluation of scientific content. Focus group discussions involving nine students led to the identification of themes relating to constraints, academic challenges, skills and experience, and personal development. Students recognized the value of the conference for skills development and the experience it gave of "real" science, while acknowledging the challenges involved in producing posters, giving feedback to peers, and managing their time. The asynchronous online poster session enabled students to develop higher-order cognitive and communication skills that are valued by employers. This format provides a pragmatic and easy to implement alternative to synchronous online conferences, which is relevant to the shift toward online learning in higher education, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increase in distance learning and international students.

This paper explores how storying can be used to uncover experiences of student belonging throughout their time in Higher Education. It adopts a framing of belonging that is fluid and which recognises shifting notions of belonging over time. A focus on storying is particularly useful for understanding belonging as it enables university staff to listen carefully and with empathy to what matters to students, what shapes their experiences, and how to communicate these in a way which invites positive action. Through storying with undergraduate student articulations gathered through a survey, interviews and focus groups at a university in the UK, the paper identifies the multifaceted and connected spaces of belonging, temporalities and relationships that come to affect student belonging. Ultimately the paper argues for the collective responsibility of staff and students to create a space of belonging for all, rather than the prevalent discourse which often puts the onus on an individual to "fit in".

This study provides a "narrative synthesis" of the findings published in journal articles from a broad range of scientific fields about the impact of extracurricular activities (ECAs) on the academic success and employability of university students. The analysis included 39 articles from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, published over the period 2010-2021. Results show that the vast majority of ECAs have a positive impact on the academic success and employability of university students. ECAs showing a negative impact are residual. In light of these results, higher education institutions should promote activities with an educational purpose outside the strictly curricular objectives and beyond the classroom, fostering a more holistic development of students that combines academic success with a better capacity/preparation to enter the labour market.

For over two decades now, the application of Citizen Science to Education has been evolving, and fundamental topics, such as the drivers of motivation to participate in Citizen Science projects, are still under discussion. Some recent developments, though, like the use of Artificial Intelligence to support data collection and validation, seem to point to a clear-cut divergence from the mainstream research path. The objective of this paper is to summarise the development trajectory of research on Citizen Science in Education so far, and then shed light on its future development, to help researchers direct their efforts towards the most promising open questions in this field. We achieved these objectives by using the lens of the Affordance-Actualisation theory and the Main Path Analysis method.

This paper draws on a multi-phase project that sought to understand and increase young children's engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) objects. The paper presents findings from one aspect of this project that involved using storytelling to support young children's agency with STEM objects in a UK science museum. The qualitative research involved observing and interviewing 25 children aged 4-7 years in family and school groups. The findings demonstrate the importance of acknowledging and promoting young children's agency in museum settings. They suggest that providing children with opportunities to exercise agency by them taking control and activating their prior knowledge and interests during museum visits increases their engagement, enjoyment, and confidence. The study also highlights the important role that adults, including parents, teachers, and museum staff, play in facilitating children's agency and increasing their engagement with museum objects and spaces.

Disagreement exists about how to best spark young children's motivation to learn natural science. Both curiosity and wonder are considered important motivational factors for learning during early childhood (0-8 years). This systematic literature review explores research about scientific curiosity and wonder in early childhood education and care published from 2010-2020. The review outlines the population of interest (participants in the study, age of children, study location), methodological trends, and how curiosity and/or wonder are included in the research. The search yielded 300 peer-reviewed articles, of which 33 were included for analysis based on eligibility criteria. The main results showed that: (a) the term "curiosity" was more commonly used than the term "wonder," (b) few studies elaborated on their understanding of the two terms beyond them being naturally present in children, and (c) curiosity and/or wonder were emphasized as means to learn natural science or considered as stimulated by it, although few studies discussed how children's curiosity and wonder can be observed and nurtured. With a better understanding of what defines the terms curiosity and wonder and how to foster these qualities in early childhood education and care, we can learn to better support children's intrinsic motivation for science learning.

Collaborative learning offers benefits but there is insufficient information on how students perceive specific digital tools supporting collaborative learning and whether there are content-related differences in students' perceptions. Here, we utilised Padlet to mediate collaborative learning amongst undergraduate students from two distinct disciplines, Dentistry and Bioscience to examine students' perceptions of Padlet-mediated learning and identify any content-specific differences. Data distribution was assessed via Shapiro-Wilk test, Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess distribution of responses and correlations were studied via Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (?). Data revealed that majority of students across both cohorts perceived Padlet as easy to use and beneficial to learning. Dentistry students perceived Padlet to be more beneficial to learning and easier to use than Bioscience students (p < 0.01). Most Bioscience students liked to undertake collaborative learning via Padlet, whereas most Dentistry students felt more confident to ask questions and better understood content via Padlet. In the Bioscience cohort, perceived benefit-to-learning strongly correlated (? = 0.75; p < 0.01) with fondness to use Padlet, whereas in the Dentistry cohort, it moderately correlated (? = 0.5; p < 0.01) with better understanding of subject content. Thematic analysis of students' textual responses revealed anonymity, peer-learning and engagement as key benefits. Thus, this study strengthened the evidence for using Padlet for collaborative learning in a wider context. Moreover, it uncovered significant disparities in students' perceptions of the tool, when used to foster learning of different subject contents.

As part of the current UK GCSE science curriculum, pupils need to use their understanding of science to answer questions about a series of core experiments. Problem-solving and applying knowledge to new situations is fundamental in enabling students to progress in science; however, many learners struggle to develop these skills. This can lead to inhibited student progress and decreased engagement in science. In response to this, the effect of guided inquiry on student progress and engagement was investigated. Two mixed gender classes of UK high school science students were asked to design and perform an experiment based on one of the core GCSE chemistry experiments--determining the concentration of an acid. By using guided inquiry, all learners showed good progress and a high degree of engagement when researching and designing their method. When using their approach to perform their experiment and process their results, all pupils were able to perform the method they proposed accurately and precisely. Students used their processes of analyzing their results to determine the correct concentration of the acid to two decimal places. This guided inquiry titration lab showed evidence of supporting student learning and provided an opportunity for pupils to use their ideas to solve problems. Student feedback showed that most pupils taking part in this activity (87%) felt this helped their engagement in the course. This activity describes the implementation of guided inquiry to enable students with minimal background knowledge on a topic to take control of their learning, design and execute an experiment and use their results to determine the concentration of an acid, teaching themselves along the way in an effective, engaging manner. This shows that guided inquiry can be used as an effective tool to support progress in a GCSE core practical, and aid engagement in science.

The development of English as Medium of Instruction (EMI) at the tertiary level has been accelerated by the ever-increasing degree of higher education internationalisation. The study, based on a survey with 112 students and semi-structured interviews with 16 instructors collected at a Sino-foreign cooperative education institution in China, explores students' perceptions of and adaptation to EMI teaching and learning. The findings indicate that students show a positive attitude towards EMI teaching and learning. Students' motivation and prior English proficiency are important factors that influence their learning experience through EMI. Tailored pedagogical strategies to facilitate students' learning, an enhanced level of collaboration between EMI teachers and language teachers, and the provision of an immersive sociolinguistic environment conducive to EMI are also instrumental. The study suggests a range of strategies and policy implications that might benefit EMI teaching and learning in non-Anglophone countries that are keen on higher education internationalisation.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused severe disruption to education in the UK in 2020, with most of the school teaching moving online and national school examinations being cancelled. This was particularly disruptive for those taking end of school examinations in preparation for higher education. Biological science courses require students to absorb a lot of new vocabulary and concepts, with examinations traditionally focusing on content recall rather than reasoning. Students who had entered university in September 2019 were compared with those arriving in September 2020 with respect to their knowledge of bioscience vocabulary and understanding of key concepts. Results showed no significant difference between those who had gone through the examination process in 2019 relative to those who had not, in 2020. This suggests the cramming of information for examinations has no detectable effect on the knowledge and understanding of biology that students take with them to university.

As the ecosystem of actors communicating science has become more complex, there is a need to understand the motivations and deterrents of those involved in the communication of science, technology and health topics. This article reports on a survey of 465 communication actors based in seven European countries. The findings suggest strong commonalities between role and country, with personal enthusiasm a key motivator, and from a theoretical perspective, these motivations can be viewed as relatively pragmatic. More variation was found between countries and roles in barriers to communication, though these suggest a perception that institutions do not value this work.

Background: Photomicrographs are major biological representations which help students understand more about the structures of cells and tissues. Owing to their abstract nature, students often rely on representations in textbooks to develop their understanding of photomicrographs. Purpose: This study investigated how students with low, medium and high competence for visualizing photomicrographs integrated textbook representations into their understanding of visual aid. Sample: Twelve 14-15 year-old students who were studying biology in a UK secondary school participated in this study. Design and methods: We carried out semi-structured interviews with these students. A modified model of integration of text and picture was used to interpret students' verbal response and their drawing. An innovative discourse analysis approach, Epistemic Network Analysis, was used to analyse the connections between codes which were informed by the model. Results: Compared to students with high competence, students with low and medium levels of competence did not necessarily understand the structure-behaviour-function relationship of the textual representation, or notice the visual elements in the diagrams. Hence, they could not transfer their understanding of textbook representations into that of the photomicrograph. Conclusion: This study suggests that the modified model of integration of text and picture can potentially reveal how students with different levels of visualization competence access information from textual and pictorial information. Equally importantly, the study argues for using epistemic network analysis as a tool to examine how students integrate textbook representations.

In recent years significant emphasis has been placed on staff and students as partners in higher education in order to address issues of engagement and transferable skills. However, the concept covers a wide range of meanings. On the one hand it can refer to module feedback questionnaires. At the other extreme it can include student input in curricular design, particularly constructing course materials. These very different experiences require different levels of academic preparation and student engagement. For the purpose of clarity in discussion it would seem useful to have a framework for the different levels of student-instructor partnerships, which emphasizes this range of experience rather than the activity content. This paper presents a framework based on the levels of student initiation of the partnership and of student involvement in the outcomes (referred to as ownership and autonomy respectively). The scheme was arrived at following study of the collaborative activities in two cognate programmes, the Natural Sciences degree programme at the University of Leicester and the Honours Integrated Science program at McMaster University. These programmes adopt pedagogical models which encourage the formation of strong, cohesive learning communities, thereby providing a rich variety of examples and an international perspective.

As key elements in research and development systems, higher education institutions have been taking a leading role when it comes to communicating science and technology, but their performance has been inconsistent so far. In this critical and comparative study of the UK public engagement model and the Spanish scientific culture model, eighteen practitioners from higher education institutions across both regions were interviewed. A mixed qualitative data analysis has been performed identifying similarities and differences that unravelled the science communication management model in the two different higher education systems. This article provides evidence on how the institutionalisation of science communication is strongly influenced by key driving forces in the higher education context as well as the policies of administrations and other agents.

Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) was a well-known English educator whose work and legacy is certainly worthy of consideration today. One of the most interesting aspects of her philosophy of education is the fact that she adopts an anthropological approach: the consideration of the child as a person whose natural desire to know can only be satisfied with an education centered in the great books, the narrative method and the importance of relations. Her wide experience as a teacher, parental advisor, and teacher trainer, as well as the application of her method with surprisingly good results, constitute an endorsement of her proposal.

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly reduced students' capacities to engage in hands-on 'enquiry' science. But even before the pandemic, teachers and researchers were questioning the value and purpose of practical science. This article describes a project that imagined and then tested two answers. It imagined that the answer is to give every child their own unique experience of working scientifically. And it imagined that the answer is to help students to understand the role of science in helping humanity to ask and explore 'big questions' that bridge science, religion and the wider humanities -- and so stretch across more than one subject discipline in school. The data analysed focuses on teachers' accounts of their experiences co-creating and delivering the project.

Predictive Learning Analytics (PLA) aim to improve learning by identifying students at risk of failing their studies. Yet, little is known about how best to integrate and scaffold PLA initiatives into higher education institutions. Towards this end, it becomes essential to capture and analyze the perceptions of relevant educational stakeholders (i.e., managers, teachers, students) about PLA. This paper presents an "at scale" implementation of PLA at a distance learning higher education institution and details, in particular, the perspectives of 20 educational managers involved in the implementation. It concludes with a set of recommendations about how best to adopt and apply large-scale PLA initiatives in higher education.

Practical work may be assessed using many different forms of assessment, including coursework projects, practical exams and written questions in exams. In this article, the authors focus on the evaluation of one method for the assessment of practical science: written exam questions. Although individual syllabuses and curricula state the skills and knowledge which should be assessed in a specific qualification (e.g., the assessment of how observations are recorded, measured and estimated), currently there is no framework for categorising the skills and knowledge assessed using written questions about practical work which has been designed to be used to compare different qualifications, and used in different contexts. This article describes a study in which the development of a taxonomy is first described, then its application in evaluating current science qualifications explored. Overall feedback from stakeholders, as well as comments on the taxonomy collected during a "Science Forum" organised by a UK AO, contributed to the refinement of the statements and explanations to produce the final taxonomy. Assessment specialists/forum participant contributed to a number of adjustments to the taxonomy.

Despite the increasing demand for non-formal science learning activities, few studies report on practitioners' perspectives and experiences with designing and implementing such activities worldwide. This paper focuses on their challenges by drawing upon twenty-two interviews with practitioners involved in diverse science learning activities in various non-formal settings in seven European countries. By including diverse activities and settings, this study contributes to the existing knowledge base, addresses the aforementioned gap in the literature, and informs future practices. Our findings suggest that despite the existing and celebrated diversity, practitioners face similar challenges related to (a) the activities' organisation and management, (b) the competencies required to run such activities, and (c) the attitudes held by the parties involved in them. Direct interview quotes exemplify each theme, further pinpointing the interconnection of multiple factors that inform the organisation and implementation of non-formal science learning activities. The findings allowed for a deeper understanding of challenges reported in the literature and shed light on the challenges voiced by the practitioners including the multiple competencies required and the workload. We conclude with a discussion foregrounding the need to build a knowledge base of shared practices in the field of non-formal science learning.

Primary school science emphasises hands-on interactions, but little is known about how the sensorimotor experiences these interactions provide shape children's science ideas. Early interactions with science need to be engaging as these shape children's developing attitudes towards science and themselves as science learners; however, these activities need to go beyond engagement to set children up with the resources they need to develop and deepen their learning. Findings demonstrate that designing science activities and the discourse they are situated within through an embodied lens can support children's meaning making by providing them with sensorimotor experiences to draw upon, valuing their lived experiences and being open to their multiple modes of communication. Such body-based activities offer alternative routes into learning which are playful, engaging, and dynamic, whilst making concrete connections between children's interactions and the development of complex science ideas.

"Creative Little Scientists" was a 30-month (2011-2014) EU/FP7-funded research project focusing on the synergies between early years science and mathematics education and the development of children's creativity, in response to increasing interest in these areas in European educational policy. Using a variety of methods, including desk research, a teacher survey and classroom-based fieldwork, the research provided insights into whether and how children's creativity is fostered and appropriate learning outcomes, including children's interest, emerge. Based on these and ongoing collaboration and dialogue with participants and other stakeholders the project proposed recommendations for policy and teacher education. This paper presents these recommendations and the research on which they were based. Throughout the study, mixed methods were employed, combining quantitative approaches used in surveys of policy and teachers' views based on a list of factors, alongside qualitative approaches employed in case studies of classroom practice. A strong conceptual framework developed at the start of the project guided data collection and analysis, as well as the presentation of findings and the development of policy recommendations, thus ensuring the latter's strong and consistent relationship with the relevant theoretical knowledge, the comparative research, analysis of classroom practices and the production of guidelines for teacher education.

This article examines the question of how biology courses can take student concerns more seriously than they often do. The focus is on school biology although the arguments apply to other biology courses too. The article begins by examining Michael Young's argument that schools should provide students with access to powerful knowledge--the sort of knowledge that they are unlikely to obtain from elsewhere--and compares this with John White's argument that the curriculum should enable student flourishing, and that as part of this, there should be more student choice about what they study. It then discusses recent work on the benefits of independent research projects, in which students undertake authentic investigative work where they have considerable control over the work, and concludes that these generally motivate students and are a good source of learning for them. It goes on to examine what lessons might be learnt for school biology from the informal learning sector, such as Natural History Museums, where visitors have great autonomy with regard to what they study. Finally, it looks at the concept of 'worldviews' and argues that this provides another argument for taking student concerns seriously. The article concludes that taking student concerns seriously in school biology would facilitate human development, in particular, development towards greater student autonomy, and that this can be done in ways that have been tried and allow for high quality biology teaching and learning.

The first of Ofsted's research reviews focused on science education. It is broad in scope, including content on school systems, the science curriculum, teaching, learning, assessment and materials -- with implications for practice. However, the review's scope does not provide much detail of the research on which it is based. I agree with many of the implications for practice, which reflect directions of travel in the curriculum and pedagogy over the last 20 years or so. However, there will be tensions in implementing the findings, given the climate of prioritising ideology over evidence in setting the conditions for teachers' practice in schools.

Biodiversity-monitoring citizen science schemes provide valuable long-term monitoring data and benefit participants. There is increasing interest in engaging young people with nature. The British Trust for Ornithology's 'What's Under Your Feet?' project shows how schoolchildren can monitor soil invertebrates. Although individual projects like this are often funding- and time-limited, more generic long-term biodiversity-monitoring citizen science schemes may be equally suitable for school participation. Exemplar schemes from the UK are reviewed, and the potential advantages in school participation for teachers and students are highlighted in order to raise awareness of this potential opportunity

Students commonly find specialist scientific language problematic. This study investigated developments in chemical language usage by six "non-traditional" students over the course of 1 to 4 years. The students participated in semi-structured interviews and were asked to explain specific chemical scenarios. Interviews were transcribed and analysed for the correct use of macroscopic and sub-microscopic scientific language and occurrences of interlanguage. Results indicate that students experienced difficulties incorporating sub-microscopic language into their explanations. Students also demonstrated "potential" chemical interlanguage, which we characterise as transitioning from vague to defined use, combining everyday and scientific language, interchanging terms and omission of terms and formulaic phrases. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to science pedagogy.

Recent reforms in science education have promoted students' understanding of how science works, including the methodological approaches used by scientists. Given that teachers are expected to teach and promote methodological pluralism, it is worth examining how teachers understand and view scientific methods, particularly when scientific methods are presented as a diverse array and not as a linear model based exclusively on hypothesis testing. The empirical study presented in the paper examines science teachers' understanding of scientific methods, particularly the diversity of scientific methods. Brandon's Matrix, a philosopher's account of scientific methods, has been adapted for educational purposes, and two tasks were developed in order to investigate teachers' understanding of scientific methods. Fifty-six science teachers (25% male, 75% female) from different regions in the UK responded to an online survey. The results showed that the majority of the teachers showed satisfactory understanding of basic components of Brandon's Matrix. However, more than half of the sample held naïve understanding of scientific methods. By providing insight into teachers' misconceptions about scientific methods, the study provides suggestions for the design of teacher training programmes and highlights the need for explicit instruction about scientific methods. In addition, we suggest the use of heuristics such as Brandon's Matrix for the development of pedagogical tools as well as research instruments.

Global warming and climate change are serious issues facing humanity at present and education needs to focus on including informed-decision in classroom practices. The conceptual framework used in this study has provided interconnections that influence beliefs and understandings in providing a knowledge base for making "informed-decision" among high school students. This study was conducted in three year 9 classes in two high schools in the UK and among 65 students. An inquiry intervention model was developed using the 5E instructional model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) to identify beliefs and understanding and to strengthen students' knowledge base. This study used a design-based research setting and utilised a mixed methodology. The Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were computed to examine the pre-post-difference among questionnaire items, and structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilised to explore the relationship between belief, understanding, and intention. Data analysis of the intervention revealed that students developed a strong understanding of the causes and effects of global warming. There is evidence that students used that knowledge to "inform-decision" in relation to global warming and climate change. Promoting informed decision-making through science teaching can encourage responsible action in the future. The real gap identified in this study is that the regular school curriculum does not engage socio-scientific issues in the real world and has no opportunity to organise an inquiry-based instructional sequence for informed decision-making.

The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a landmark in the history of science communication. With today's changing media landscape, it is important to know who is currently watching, how they are watching, and how they are perceiving the content. This cross-sectional study evaluated perceptions of live audiences, people watching at home via Twitter, and awareness of the Lectures by science-interested audiences. The Lectures are valued by science-enthusiast audiences for performative identity sharing and valued tradition. However, younger generations are shifting away from traditional television to online videos, and the Lectures must adapt to remain relevant to new audiences.

There have been calls for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education to become more interdisciplinary, reflecting the reality of contemporary research. However, communicating across disciplines is challenging. In this article, I explore what and how students read in the STEM disciplines. I provide an overview of key topics in literacy research, and discuss the disciplinary nature of literacy. I compare disciplinary literacy requirements in STEM through thematic analysis of UK quality subject benchmark statements, which identifies considerable variation in the expectations of undergraduates to engage with primary research literature. I explore implications this has for interdisciplinary teaching, and present some published pedagogical strategies for engaging students in research literature. I call on STEM educators to embed inclusive disciplinary literacy teaching within curricula to support students in their reading. I also highlight the need for clear understanding of disciplinary conventions and reading expectations when designing interdisciplinary educational programmes.

Within the currently diverse UK higher education environment, one important aspect of learning is the development of intercultural competence. The study that informs this paper investigated the ways intercultural competence was perceived as being enhanced or inhibited through current language and educational practices at a university that positions itself as internationally engaged and globally recognised. The project employed a multiple-case study design, examining eight academic programmes drawn from four different broad disciplinary groupings: social sciences, science, engineering, and management. Data were collected through individual, focus group and stimulated recall interviews, the latter using class observation recordings as a stimulus. The study revealed the ways in which language was exploited by both staff and students to convey particular meanings within an intercultural context. It was found that language choices, register and style were perceived as contributing to the pragmatic impact of either reinforcing barriers to or promoting intercultural competence development.

Aims: To gain practice-based insights, we evaluated outcomes from a science-themed Minecraft Club for children with Special Educational Needs over a four-year period. Science topics were introduced, followed by themed building in Minecraft in a multi-player setting. Particular focus was placed on the benefits of playing a shared-interest game in a social and educational context. Methods: Mixed-methods interviews and surveys were used to gather feedback from children attending the club and their accompanying caregivers. Inferential statistics assessed the influence of individual differences and club attendance time on responses. Findings: Children consistently enjoyed attending the club and most felt that they had developed their scientific knowledge. Social-communication skills and confidence were also positively impacted, as reported by both children and caregivers. The accepting and inclusive nature of the club was of high value. Limitations: Sample sizes and data collection methods were necessarily restricted and mainly qualitative due to the purpose of the club and the nature of the attending cohort. However, valuable insights were gained from respondents. Conclusions: Both children and caregivers communicated that Minecraft Club succeeds in providing a context through which children can develop social and communication skills, build confidence, make new friends, and learn about science. These insights have important implications concerning the potential social and educational benefits of Minecraft for children with Special Educational Needs, and the value of extra-curricular clubs that provide safe and supportive spaces for children to thrive.

The present paper is a case study based on a first year BA Hons Education Studies module that explores a number of important questions about the relationship between technology, knowledge and society and begins to think about how our ideas about each of these contribute to an understanding of what education means. Following a Foucauldian perspective on discourse, truth and power, we look with our students at science--and science education--to explore the production of knowledge in a context where many initiatives promote scientific literacy for children and young people as an important factor in their educational upbringing. The paper argues that it is important to reflect with students on these forms of knowledge production and dissemination and so to avoid seeing and teaching science purely from a consumerist perspective; rather we embrace and develop the idea of science education as a discourse that shapes our understanding of the world and ourselves.

In recent years, the publication of children's non-fiction books about women has skyrocketed. These books aim to inspire children to get excited about STEM, emphasising that STEM can be accessible for all. Speaking informally with teachers, parents and other practitioners, Louise Couceiro has found that there seems to be an assumption that boys are unlikely to be interested in reading these types of books. In this article she begins by reflecting on data from this study to suggest that people should refrain from making assumptions about who will and who won't be interested in these types of books. She then discusses why it is important to suspend any preconceived expectations regarding the texts' popularity with particular groups of learners. Finally, she concludes by offering some recommendations on how teachers can facilitate all learners' engagement with books that celebrate the achievements of women in STEM.