John K. Gilbert
King’s College London
The University of Reading
Structure
 Landmarks in the history of SER in the UK;
 Achievements to date
 Current challenges in doing SER
 Critique of educational research
 The future: Types of research
 The future: Themes for research
 The future: Conditions for success in SER
 References
Landmarks in the history of SER in UK
 Nuffield Science Teaching Trust: 1962-mid 1970s
 SER in Specialist Centres and Education Departments
 SSRC Studentships and overseas research students
 ‘Studies in Science Education’ (1974)
‘European Journal of Science Education (1979)
 Assessment of Performance Unit (1974-88),
Secondary Science Curriculum Review(1983-1989)
 The National Curriculum for England and Wales 1988
Achievements in SER (1)
 Common commitments:
- School system, especially 11-16 age range
-Improvement in teaching, hence in learning
- Qualitative enquiry, hence explanation
- Constructivism: Piaget, Kelly, Vygotsky
Achievements in SER(2)
 Alternative conceptions / misconceptions
 Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education
 Teacher development
 Language use in the classroom
 Attitudes
 Laboratory work
 Argumentation
 Policy document : ‘Beyond 2000: Science Education for the future’
Current challenges in doing SER
 Staff profile and education
 Isolation
 The fate of good researchers
 Availability of high-quality time
 Administrative and teaching load
 Research design possibilities
Factors affecting educational decisions
 Local political issues
 Public, especially parental, sentiment
 Potential legal pitfalls
 Issues of resource availability
 Media pressure
 The welfare of individual pupils
----- and ‘research evidence’
(Nelson et al{2009})
Critique of educational research(1)
 Funding based on peer review;
 Low involvement by major stakeholders;
 Insufficient basis in existing published research;
 Too small scale to produce ‘valid and reliable’ results;
 Published in specialist language;
 Published in inaccessible media;
 Lack of interpretation for teachers or policy-makers;
 Lack of recognition of existing norms of practice.
(Hillage, Pearson, Anderson, Tamkin {1998})
Critique of educational research (2)
 Lack of relevance to issues of local importance
 Lack of timeliness
 Unstated assumptions
 Uneven quality
 Lack of clear implications
(Nelson et al {2009})
The future: Types of research
 Inform new policy or practice in a specific area
 Evaluation of existing policies or practices
 Action research in specific context
 Identification of effective practices
 ‘Blue skies’ research
 Enquiry from particular psychology-of-learning perspective
( McIntyre{1998})
The future: Themes for research(1)
 Relation between aims and content
 Relation between aims and assessment methods
 Links with other subjects, especially English, Mathematics,
and Technology
 Increasing students’ engagement with science
 Use of out-of-school activities
 Influence of gender and cultural background on learning
 Linking research, policy formation, classroom practice,
teacher education
(Gilbert(Ed){2006})
The future: Themes for Research (2)
 Students
- attainment of ‘scientific literacy’
- cross-curricular integration of learning
- learning from ‘contexts’
- continuity/differentiation/progression
- adult and multi-generational learning
 Teachers
- use of informal resources
- subject and pedagogic content knowledge
 Policy makers
- procedures for decision-making
- use of research output
The future: conditions for success: resources
 ESRC
- 55 studentships in Education (2009-2010)
- TLRP, 1998-2009, £3.6m
-epiSTEMe, 2008-2012
 Charities
- Nuffield Foundation
- Wellcome
- AstraZenaca Science Teaching Trust
- Gatsby Foundation
 European Union
 Schools
References
 Gilbert,J.K.(ed.)(2006). Science Education in Schools: Issues,





evidence and proposals. London: TLRP
Hillage,G.,Pearson,A.,Anderson,A., Tamkin,P.(1998). Excellence
in research in schools. London: DES.
Jenkins,E.(2000). Research in science education: Time for a health
check?. Studies in Science Education, 35,1-26
McIntyre,D.(1998). The usefulness of educational research. In:
J.Rudduck, D.McIntyre(eds.), Challenges for Educational
Research. London: Paul Chapman
Nelson,S.,Leffler,J.,Hanseb,B.(2009). Towards a research agenda
for understanding and improving the use of educational research.
Portland,Oregon: Northwestern Regional Educational
Laboratory. (http://www.nwrel.org/researchuse/report.pdf)
Waring,M.(1979). Social Pressures and Curriculum
Innovation.London: Methuen