View from the lab

On this episode of the pod, I spoke to a pillar of the STEM community – Dr Ajay Sharman.

Ajay is a science enthusiast who has spent much of the past 20 years building stronger connections between STEM education and STEM industry. He has had extensive experience in the bioscience sector working for several high-profile organisations but has also found time to support education in his role as a school governor, trustee, and STEM ambassador.

In our conversation we discuss Ajay’s route into science and discover how STEM learning actively promotes opportunities for young people particularly in areas of disadvantage across the country. It was a real treat to talk to someone with such passion and knowledge of the sector.

Don’t delay – just press play to hear Dr Sharman’s …. View from the lab.

https://www.stem.org.uk/about-us/our-network/sah

In this episode of the View from the Lab podcast we're talking about the thorny issue of recruitment and retention of science teachers. Andy Woods’s guest is Sarah Longshaw from STEM learning. Sarah has deep experience of the education sector, with her 25 plus years in the classroom and has also supported schools and science teachers in her role as a trainer. In this episode we explore the many factors that could be affecting the perennial problem we seem to have in holding on to our science teachers In England. We talk through some facts and figures about the current scale of the problem, we discuss the causes, the effects, and possibly some solutions to address this current challenge we face in our schools and colleges.

Useful link: https://community.stem.org.uk/blogs/daniel-pledger/2023/06/06/the-vital-role-of-cpd-in-teacher-retention

Kathy Joseph is an author, educator and YouTube maverick are who has a special interest in the history of science especially physics. In this episode I talked to Kathy about her love science and what inspired her to study it further at college before eventually become a high school physics teacher. Kathy has now had a change direction by becoming an inspirational science communicator who focuses on the history of science with her YouTube channel ‘Kathy loves physics’ and her recent book the ‘lightning tamers’ a history of the changing understanding around electricity. We have a wide-ranging chat exploring the wonders of physics as well as Kathy’s thoughts on her recent ADHD diagnosis.

On today's episode Andy Woods talks to young entrepreneur Francis Jones. Francis has been working on a new approach to support practical science for those students who have found it difficult to engage in mainstream education. Francis is a former science teacher who has taken what he has learned in schools, and turned it into a solution that has widened access to science practicals. In this conversation we hear how Francis’s STEM@Home, company (https://www.stemathome.me/) is aiming to disrupt the science education system, by changing 'where, when, and how students’ carry out their practicals whilst also maximizing safety'.

In this episode of the View from the lab podcast Andy Woods is joined by science advocate Dr Jo Foster. Jo is the director of innovative STEM organization known by the acronym ‘IRIS’, which stands for... the Institute for Research in Schools. IRIS has a mission to make real-world, cutting-edge science research projects accessible to pupils from across the UK. In this episode we find out about Jo’s career journey and her passion for supporting an engaging science education for ALL young people. Jo also outlines how your school/college learners can start their own IRIS journey!

In this episode of the podcast Andy Woods talks to micro-economist Dr Hans Sievertsen from the School of Economics at the University of Bristol UK. Hans has published research that reviewed data linked to assessment practises in Danish schools, and their effect on the uptake of STEM courses at the tertiary level. Dr Sievertsen found that one aspect of the assessment process had an unintentional but positive impact on girls’ probability of picking a STEM course at university. We delve into the details of the research and find out what the key conclusions were and whether we can make use of these findings in other educational settings.

In this episode Andy Woods talks to Professor Sibel Erduran from the University of Oxford's education department. Over the past couple of years Sibel has been involved in an EU research project known as the ‘FEDORA project’. The project is looking at answering some very big questions in science education namely: What knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values will today’s students need to thrive in and shape their world? In addition, we discuss how we can develop students into informed ‘citizens of science’ grappling with concepts in a world of fast paced change.

In this episode Andy Woods talks to Dr Mike Milner to discuss his journey from science teacher to head teacher at schools in both the independent and state sectors. We hear about his experience of working in Wellington College when the irrepressible educationalist Sir Anthony Seldon was at the helm and inspired him to go into school leadership himself. In addition, we discover how Mike became the vice principal of the state school - Wellington Academy and find out how he led it from a ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted rating in 2014 to a ‘good’ rating in 2016, before moving back to the independent sector at Reddam House School in Berkshire.

In this episode of the podcast, we’re discussing how to build a more ‘culturally responsive’ education with a spotlight on diversity, equity and inclusion within the science curriculum. Andy Woods met up with Kaye Jones (AKA ‘the Herstorian) and Rebecca Durose-Croft from Westchester Education for an in-depth conversation. We look at the way things currently stand – specifically in science at GCSE level in terms of: ‘centrality and accuracy’, ‘perspectives and context’ and ‘sources of knowledge’. We consider options for the future and discuss how things could be improved as we move towards a truly representative science education.

In this episode of the pod Andy Woods catches up with innovative science teacher Euan Douglas, who teaches in the South of England. Euan is an advocate of supporting practical work with bespoke software and digital simulations to help support this aspect of the curriculum. Euan has been experimenting for several years along with his colleagues at St Georges School, down in Southampton. Over this time, he has refined the optimal approach that really supports his science students. He's got lots of great advice to share and resources to highlight. So, don’t delay, just press play and you can benefit from Euan’s… view from the lab