ASE 2025 Annual Conference

In 2023/24 the British Science Association were tasked by UKRI to 'convene' the sector around the topic of 'engaging underrepresented young people in STEM'. Over the course of the year we ran focus groups, discussion sessions and round tables on the topic, including listening to the lived experiences of young people and teachers.

This session will look at the recommendations from the last round table, and will include a panel discussion, with contributors from the STEM engagement community as well as academia and schools.

In response to a crisis in recruitment of physics teachers, the DfE expanded those eligible for a bursary enrol on teacher education courses to include international candidates applying for physics teacher education courses. By 2024 the expansion of the physics bursary resulted in a exponential increase in the number of international candidates applying to science PGCE programmes. This significant increase masks the decline in home students applying for courses that lead to qualified teacher status as a science teacher
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These changes highlight a major shift in the diversity of our preservice teachers, mirrored across all institutions involved in this project.

This shift compels us to reflect on and address the impact of our colonial heritage on our teaching practices. Yet, recent policy developments such as the Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework require us, as teacher educators, to prioritize research-informed methods, which risk perpetuating a white westernised curriculum.

To gain new insights that ensure our practices as teacher educators are inclusive and welcoming of diverse pedagogies, we summarize the findings of two research projects:
In the first half of our presentation, we discuss a research project led by Dan Cottle which investigated the experiences of international preservice teachers on PGCE courses across England. We include ECTs on this proposal to centre their voices and gain greater insight into their experiences on their teacher education courses and ECT positions. We as teacher educators proactively use this research to construct ongoing conversations which informs our ongoing practice and support.
Consequently, in the second half of our presentation, we will explore how these discussions prompted us as a group of teacher educators to construct a collaborative self-study to critically examine our practice as a group of science teacher educators. In creating this project, we aim to discover how adopting self-study research techniques could improve our practice as white teacher educators in British universities. As an outcome of our self-study research we construct a guidance document for fellow teacher educators supporting a diverse cohort of preservice teachers.

By attending this presentation, delegates will:
•Gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of international students during their PGCE and ECT courses.
•Examine how to effectively support international students succeed in UK as a science teacher.
•Discuss inclusive strategies when working with a diverse cohort of students.
•Reflect upon the value self-study research, as a technique that can revolutionise any teaching practice.
Due to current government initiatives aimed at addressing the science teacher recruitment crisis, it is imperative that the entire teaching community critically reflect on how they welcome and support an increasingly international audience of preservice teachers.

Coding for Climate Action is an innovative cross-curricular program that empowers KS2 and KS3 students to explore climate change issues and design solutions using code and micro:bit inventions. Developed in partnership with Digitall, this comprehensive curriculum provides ready-to-use lesson plans, student journals, slide decks, and other resources to seamlessly integrate computer science into science and sustainability education.

The program is built around an anchoring phenomenon - the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide. Students are challenged to create early warning systems and other digital solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Through this real-world, relevant context, they develop key computational thinking skills like coding, data analysis, and problem-solving, while also cultivating creativity and a solutions-oriented mindset.

Aligned to the national curriculum, the Coding for Climate Action materials include detailed lesson plans, student activity journals, exemplars, and comprehensive curriculum maps. Designed as a plug-and-play unit, the resources make it easy for teachers to swap these engaging climate-focused lessons into their existing schemes of work.
Whether you're looking to inject more climate education into your computing curriculum or bring computational skills into your science lessons, this session will equip you with the tools and strategies to empower your students as the next generation of climate leaders and digital innovators. Join us to explore how Coding for Climate Action can ignite students' passion for addressing environmental challenges through computer science.

The relationship of mathematics to science subjects continues to evolve; from the 2010 SCORE report, the ASE’s Language of Mathematics in Science, through advanced qualification reforms, and General Mathematical Competences in the T-levels.

The Royal Society’s Mathematical Futures Programme proposed a greater focus on Domain Specific Competences, imagining that with a more mathematically literate workforce, all teachers will become teachers of Mathematical and Data Education. This session will trace these developments and consider what they mean for science education in the future.

If you’re keen to identify the benefits and opportunities of taking an engineering-approach in your primary classroom, the Engineering in Primary School Stakeholder Group (EiPs) are the people to meet. A cross-sector group working to improve awareness and quality of provision through the mainstream and enrichment curriculum.

This is a one-stop shop for all you need to know about engineering education opportunities for 5-11 year olds.

Every student should leave school with the basic climate literacy that enables them to engage with the media, make informed decisions about their personal opportunities and responsibilities, act as local and global citizens and develop green careers. But what do we mean by climate literacy, and how do we cater for the different forms of climate literacy required by different school leavers?

 
The recently published report by the Royal Society on the Science Education Tracker survey indicates that we have had a fall off in practical activities in science classrooms. The question is why has this happened when we know that hands on practical activity motivates science learners and helps them learn.

This session draws in teachers and heads of science who will speak to the practical work situation in their school and help provide evidence of why this fall off is happening – lack of resources, teacher confidence with practical activity, shortage of lab space, overloaded curriculum, reduction in teaching time, post-covid catch up????

This session links with the panel session on post Covid practical work on Saturday.

Imagine telling your students that their upcoming science mock exam is the most important exam of their life. Imagine the pressure this puts them under. Imagine the enormous quantity of information that they feel they need to ‘know’ for their exam. Imagine thinking that some revision lessons on ‘difficult topics’, and some general advice on revision will help.

Imagine doing this with the majority of students every year. Without question.

Imagine if you did question whether there was a ‘different way’. For many years, like most other science teachers, I had assumed that there was no ‘other’ way. Then I asked the question, and started on a journey, during which I used all my knowledge of formative assessment, built up since my early involvement with the King’s College team and the ‘Inside The Black Box’ project, to develop new formative methods for preparing my students for their science examinations. This journey resulted in the total breakdown of the differentiation between preparation for summative assessments, such as mock exams, and the formative assessment techniques that my students were used to using in their lessons.

Imagine the end result of the journey being a totally different, more formative, approach to both preparation for exams, and of the revision done, by students.

Imagine discovering that this benefitted every students’, confidence with their science exams, regardless of their abilities and past attainment. Imagine that this also resulted in far better examination results across the board.

Imagine that nothing on my journey involved any more work for the students, nor for the teacher.

Imagine if you could get the benefits of the first part of my journey in a single session at this year’s ASE conference.

Imagine a totally new approach to linking formative and summative assessment to help students prepare for their science exams.

Engaging students in the practice of science is fundamental for learning. Debate persists over how this can be achieved in the classroom and the research reveals the potential and caution required if teachers are to utilise practical science activities effectively, as ‘hands-on’ and ‘minds-on’ learning opportunities.

In this keynote, we will review and discuss the importance of facilitating practical work that supports students’ deep intellectual engagement with the practice of science during inquiry-based activities and how this translates into improved learning.

We will reconsider research around inquiry-based learning, cognitive acceleration in science education, and classroom dialogue through a practical science lens. This body of research provides valuable insights into how this can be achieved in your classroom. Drawing from the real-classroom experiences of KS2-KS4 teachers (like you) who have adapted their pedagogical and assessment practices, we will illustrate how practical science activity can engage students in minds-on learning.

Science Education has always been bound up with technology. Advances in technology mean that we need to re-think not only how we conduct education but also what education is for.

The new generative AI challenges many of the current goals of education. I argue, with examples, that this should return us to valuing the importance of dialogue more. Dialogues supported by AI can help teach students how to think better about science and help induct them into participation in the long-term global dialogue of science.

Practical work in KS3 Science is often framed as an activity and may not represent good progression from the primary phase.  This workshop will propose a way of ensuring students are challenged and supported to develop their skills and understanding of Working Scientifically, building foundations for GCSE.

The focus of our research is to inform how classroom science practice can be improved through effective engagement with parents in an out of school science club.

The focus participant samples are families from ethnic diverse backgrounds from The Meadows in Nottingham. Both parents and their children explore different scientific concepts from the EYFS or National Curriculum and develop their use of scientific vocabulary.

Parents are an important factor to the collaboration of home-school communication. In the session, they reflect on their school experiences and reflect on their science learning. They use their own unique experiences and life journey to present scientific learning in the classroom.

Providing contextual learning linked to the seasons/weather/local habitats allows the children to experience science daily and engage in everyday conversations using their scientific literacy.

By providing effectively engaging sessions, we are building a community of families that can envisage careers for their children in the world of science. The children build confidence in themselves as scientific explorers and can feel what it means to think like a scientist.

The co-collaboration of parents has enlightened us on their invaluable support for encouraging and supporting their children’s learning away from school.

As the majority of our families have English as a second language and some children also have SEND, we are proactive in promoting effective use of scientific literacy and scientific vocabulary.

We have observed children’s and their parents’ engagement and enthusiasm grow over the past 18 months. We have identified language as a barrier for communicating abstract concepts but have found that using the right approach and apparatus, we are able to teach the learning objectives clearly.

The approaches we have used are self-narration; short simple direct instructional language for processes and challenge; verbal feedback from the parents, praise and encouragement for the children. Importantly we have found that reflection on the learning also helps consolidate the new learning, ready for the next session.

Interestingly, we have applied adapted approaches to the input but have retained the same outcome for all of the children in attendance. We have noticed that the competency of children’s first language at home also correlates with the engagement of science learning. They can be imaginative and support this with language. They can create pictures mentally with the support of their parents in their first language. We call this ‘family learning’. Many of the families from the marginalised backgrounds express their desire for social mobility for the children and they believe that a firm grounding in science is essential. Many of our parents are highly qualified from the country of birth and apply their knowledge to the sessions explaining what is happening to their children.

The children have developed essential skills such as listening, following instructions, asking questions, sharing, turn taking, drawing, explaining, relating their understanding to others, developing writing skills and collaborating in family learning.

Join us for a dynamic, one-hour introductory session focused on mastering pedagogy in light of the RSC’s new on-line, on-demand course ‘Effective Pedagogy’. This session features a panel of expert authors and educators who will provide valuable insights into essential pedagogical topics, such as cognitive science and checking for understanding. Our experts will share their experiences and successful practices, offering practical strategies to enhance teaching effectiveness and student learning outcomes. Find out how you can make the most of the RSC’s fully funded teaching resources and the RSC’s ‘Education in Chemistry’ magazine articles alongside the on-demand course as part of your professional teaching journey.  

Rationale:
This workshop addresses two important themes in primary science education:
•the effective application of oracy to the teaching and learning of science;
•the need to teach conceptual disciplinary knowledge (to develop an understanding of what science is and how the scientific community works) more effectively.

The materials to be shared are being developed as part of a project funded by the PHG Foundation and led by Professor Rupert Wegerif at Hughes Hall, Cambridge. They build on the legacy of the Thinking Together project which set out to enable pupils to make better use of spoken language to think well, both socially and individually. It is hoped that teaching pupils to think well about the nature of science and the scientific community will enhance their appreciation of science as a way of knowing about the world, make the subject more relevant and meaningful to them (build their science capital), and support them to better understand and evaluate information they are exposed to online. We also hope that engagement with the materials will support pupils to feel more ‘present’ and valued as co-constructors of their own understanding of science.

Outcomes:
Each participant will be given a set of materials developed as part of the project.
The session will enable participants to:
•use a set of detailed lesson plans and accompanying resources to teach pupils how to talk and think effectively in small groups and as a whole class (with benefits that extend beyond science lessons!)
•use the materials to explore key ideas about the nature of science and the scientific community with their pupils, mainly through the medium of talk;
•engage students in dialogues that connect the science curriculum to their lived experience, building their science capital;
•develop their own confidence to teach conceptual disciplinary knowledge;
•more confidently facilitate classroom dialogue so that pupils are more actively engaged in co-constructing their own understanding.

Session details:
Participants will be given an overview of the project materials and the opportunity to engage in a number of the activities. There will be time to reflect on the value of the materials and different models for their integration into the science curriculum. These discussions will be informed by feedback from rigorous in-school evaluation. The presenters will draw on their extensive experience of oracy-based pedagogy to model and discuss the effective use of the materials (Neil Phillipson is a SAPERE P4C trainer, an associate of Oracy Cambridge, and an author on dialogic education, as well as being an experienced Primary Science Quality Mark hub leader.  A practicing teacher from our teacher-evaluation team, will also attend).

This session will explore the ways in which AI can be employed to support learning equity and diversity throughout students' time in schools, including the impact on uptake of and achievement in STEM. In addition to looking at the current research in this area, attendees will be introduced to a range of AI tools they could use in their classroom immediately.

As a paediatrician I am very focussed on the importance of improving the wellbeing of children and their families. This is key to developing a resilient community and giving children the skills they will need to adapt to climate change.
We need to bring education and health care together to meet this challenge.

Approximately 5% of the UK carbon footprint is produced by the NHS, 5% of journeys are related to the NHS and 5% of the UK workforce is within the NHS. My talk will be joining the dots between health and education and how we all need to work together to create a positive vision of a healthy low carbon future.

Have you recently left the classroom, or perhaps considering alternative career paths in science education? Maybe you are considering part time with a related role elsewhere. There is an increasing rise in the ‘portfolio’ career for educators. Come along to this discussion to consider the risks, opportunities, pros and cons of diversifying beyond the classroom. If you have already developed this sort of career come along and share your experiences.

In 2023, we had the third Science Education Tracker which surveys young people’s views and experiences of science education in England and their attitudes towards science and to career aspirations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The findings of this survey are quite concerning. Between 2016 and 2023, there has been a marked reduction in young people’s access to more interactive forms of practical science, with these trends most accentuated between 2019 and 2023. While we know experience of hands-on practical work is key to learning and motivating students in science, most students in 2023 encountered practical work via videos. The survey also showed that, between 2019 and 2023, young people were less interested in science and computing with this decline in interest being more pronounced among younger cohort

Join in with this panel session chaired by David Montagu from the Royal Society, to hear the perspectives of experts with a wealth of experience in science education, on the decline of practical work post-covid and ideas of how we might address this in our schools and colleges.

This session looks at how AI can support accessibility and inclusion in science teaching.

Miles will begin the keynote with a quick introduction to the foundations of generative AI, before demonstrating some of the practical ways in which tools like Chat GPT may be used to save on science teachers' workload. He then turns to consider some ways in which pupils might use, and misuse, these technologies themselves.

He concludes with a discussion of the broader ethical and other implications of generative AI. This will be a great opportunity for teachers to consider how and why they might incorporate more use of AI into their practice.