ASE 2025 Annual Conference

Do you have sets of iPads that you are not sure how to include in your science lessons?  Do you want to find out how technology can be used to enhance teaching and learning?  We will show you some practical ways that you can use iPads within your science teaching.  This session will leave you with ideas to use next week in your classroom.

Join us on this hands-on workshop where we will unlock the secrets of Sickle Cell Disease. We will explore the genetics of sickle cell disease and genetic testing. Extend the narrative by becoming medical geneticists conducting newborn screenings for SCD to determine disease inheritance and susceptibility. We can wrap up with modern therapies now available for SCD.

This workshop on the Nature of Science, given the ‘green tick’ on the ASE’s accreditation scheme addresses questions like ‘Why did I really go into teaching? What future do I want for my students? How can I help them get there?’   Cathy Priest passionately taught secondary school science for 20 years, her students excelled in their exams and loved science, but she rarely got a chance to think about these questions. She now works in teacher training at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, aiming to help busy teachers find ways to reach beyond day-to-day curriculum requirements, and inspire their students about the deeper, wider, and more wonderful reaches of science. She aims to equip teachers to help their students develop the scientific literacy to thrive in a world filled with complex, interdisciplinary questions and issues.

The workshop delves into topics including the underlying curiosity and creativity of the scientific endeavour, and aspects like the history and philosophy of science. Here’s why it is so exciting to help students better understand this and other aspects of the nature of science.

Young people today face many deep and important questions, such as those about identity and meaning; humanity’s response to issues like food security, the climate crisis and natural disasters; and the ethical considerations of different technological developments. Helping students to appreciate the nature and role of science including its power but also its limits and therefore the need for other perspectives to approach society’s big questions with wisdom, knowledge, curiosity and confidence is something that science teachers can do to help prepare young people for using their science well beyond the world of exams. This is helpful whether they are going to become brilliant scientists and thought-leaders, or simply citizens able to thrive in a complex, science and technology-filled society.

We do know however, that exams, syllabuses and inspections are important, so the workshop addresses the OFQUAL requirements ‘to appreciate the power and limitations of science; the ethical considerations which may arise from science; the everyday and technological applications of science; and the personal, social, economic and environmental implications of science”. Furthermore, an aspect of CPD identified by Ofsted in their recent science review: ‘Evidence suggests that CPD should align with the curriculum and include teachers learning about the nature of science and its methods. So, it supports teachers to help their students to develop scientific literacy, critical thinking and an understanding of how science can interact with other subjects to offer holistic solutions to world problems and big questions.

In summary, delegates will be supported in understanding that students come to their science lessons with different experiences and personal beliefs that should be considered when planning and delivering science lessons.  It enables them to explore through an interactive presentation, the power and limits of science to answer, 'Big Questions' and the value of other perspectives and it will also support science teachers in reviewing and considering strategies and resources which help students learn about the nature of science.

This session explores how to implement the Institute of Physics' Top Tips for Inclusive Science Teaching in the classroom.   The focus will be on the themes of:

•Creating an inclusive classroom culture
•Making the learning relevant
•Building numeracy and literacy for science

The aim of the tips is to make sure all students feel included in science lessons and have what they need to thrive.
Examples will be physics based but the workshop is suitable for ALL teachers of science, including those early in their careers!

Step into the role of a crime scene investigator and explore potential clues left behind at the murder scene of Dr. Ward, such as hair, fingerprints, and DNA.
Can you use these pieces of evidence to help solve the mystery and identify the culprit? Join us for an engaging session where we will analyse evidence and conduct gel electrophoresis to find out WHODUNNIT!

Unsure what to do  with your waste after practical lessons? Come and discover strategies for waste management including dealing with hazardous waste, repurposing everyday rubbish, recycling chemicals from lessons and generally reducing waste in the department.

Despite recent efforts from Ofqual to raise the profile of experiments in terminal GCSE assessments, recent research reviews from Ofsted suggest that teachers frequently focus on substantive knowledge at the expense of detailed understanding of the experimental skills (the working scientifically skills) required to undertake scientific enquiry. Consequently, research nationally and internationally suggests that teachers adopt recipe-style experiments restricting students' curiosity and scientific understanding.  

Microscale experiments offer an affordable and safe pedagogic strategy to support teachers move beyond a recipe-based approach to experimentation and support teachers diagnose and challenge the misconceptions held by students. Moreover, our recent research has shown that offering early career teachers professional development, including microscale experiments within their teaching practice, can be revolutionary. However, teachers are yet to adopt microscale experiments readily, given concerns about compliance with terminal examinations.

Through a suite of hands on minds on microscale experiments, this interactive practical session explores how microscale experiments can support delegates to develop enquiry skills as part of their everyday teaching practice. We offer a range of microscale practicals that align with the required practicals in the GCSE and A-level chemistry curricula in England. In doing so, we provide guidance that supports delegates to center working scientifically skills in their teaching and support their students' understanding of the practical components of the chemistry curriculum in England. By attending this workshop, delegates will uncover the power of microscale experiments. Delegates will examine how microscale practicals are valuable time-saving tools that act as a springboard to develop oracy in their classroom. To support delegates embed microscale practicals in their teaching, each attendee will receive copies of 7 GCSE and 4 A-level microscale experimental methods and accompanying worksheets.

School grounds will almost all have a variety of habitats and microclimates – even if just unkempt vegetation, a tree or two, asphalt and all-weather sports “grass”. These can be the starting point for helping students to discover how our urban spaces can be developed to influence resilience climate change, even if first learning is to suggest what not to do! For the future, school grounds will play a very significant role in schools’ Climate Action Plans.
The Coop Manchester Academy, 11-16, has been a pilot school for the National Education Nature Park (NENP). This session will look at the progress made with the steps that they have taken with their outside space and the impact that this is having within the formal curriculum across the sciences for instance in fieldwork, and in a multitude of ways outside it. Richard (STEM lead and Science Technician) and Aimee (physics and science teacher) will have very practical advice about what the simplest steps can be to “greening” your grounds, the connections that offer support and developing change in your school.

School grounds are a haven for STEM in action – from engineering to ecology. Melissa will discuss how observations in hot weather can inspire learning in sometimes dull-to-teach areas of physics, bringing Science Capital to lessons, showing the difference that planning and planting for nature and climate can make. Infra-red images, and also low-cost infra-red thermometers, will show how the thermal picture of your school can be revealed – even though much of this can be found from simple experience on a hot day. This will link with teaching about e.g. latent heat – making very important biology connections with transpiration, specific heat capacity and materials, the e/m spectrum and the greenhouse effect. Resources for lessons on the NENP website will be referenced.

Delegate outcomes:
Awareness of
•how your school grounds, whatever their current state, can be a resource for learning
•links with specific parts of GCSE (and KS3) sciences
•material available on NENP website for connecting with 11-16 teaching in the sciences
•using infra-red thermometers and images – enlivening thermal physics and adding cross curricular dimensions
•steps to improve your school grounds for nature
•careers relevance in fields such as construction, landscape architecture, civil engineering, materials and urban design, as well as routes via ecology
•potential enhanced engagement of students in STEM climate relevant action and connections

Looking to infuse biology with excitement and innovation? The workshop offers attendees the opportunity to immerse themselves in hands-on demonstrations and training in cutting-edge biology techniques.

Participants will gain insights into optimising microscope usage through proper setup and maintenance protocols and delve into the exploration of the newest range of microscopes and slides.

Moreover, they’ll participate in their own Moss Safari, and experience an innovative approach to teaching photosynthesis with the innovative PASCO Photosynthesis Chamber that leverages fully controllable conditions for photosynthesis experiments.

Attendees can anticipate leaving the workshop equipped not only with enhanced technical skills but also with a deeper understanding of how to transform conventional biology lessons into dynamic and interactive learning experiences.