Research opportunities in science education
at Cambridge University
The Faculty of Education at the world-famous University of Cambridge offers
opportunities for study and research at master's
(MEd, MPhil), doctoral (PhD) and post-doctoral level. Supervision is offered
within a range of academic groupings, including science education (Dr. Taber's
'home' academic group).
Science education is a lively international
research field (with sub-fields in chemical education, physics education,
biology education, environmental education…), with various foci relating to curiculum, assessment
and teaching (pedagogy, didactics/Didaktics) and learning (conceptual understanding
and development, cognitive issues, problem-solving, etc.) of science.
**
The Faculty offers courses for practitioners such as teachers wishing to
research their own practice; for those wishing to train to be researchers;
and for those wishing to undertake doctoral research. Research training in
educational research is provided through an ESRC recognised full-time or
part-time course that allows potential students to apply for funding through
studentships from the research council. *
Those having completed research training (at Cambridge, or through another
ESRC recognised course) may be eligible to apply for research council funding
for doctoral study and research.
The Faculty also welcomes applications from students who are funding their
own studies, those sponsored through grants and studentships by their employers
or governments, and those applying for funding from
other sources of support.
Completing or recently completed doctoral candidates from other institutions
who have research expertise closely linked to Faculty interests might be able
to apply to the Research Council for support for a post-doctoral ('post-doc')
fellowship.
Link to research interests of Cambridge Faculty staff
* ESRC - The Economic
and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's leading research funding
and training agency addressing economic and social concerns
** e.g. Learning in science - progression in knowledge
and understanding; Processes of learning in science
(including the role of metacognition); The use of diagnostic
assessment in the science classroom; Conceptual development and
cognitive development ; Cognitive and conceptual structures (including
theoretical considerations, such as the possible role of p-prims,
redundancy in structure, domains etc.); Understanding of
scientific ideas (including misconceptions, alternative conceptions,
alternative frameworks etc.); Conceptual integration of scientific
ideas in learning; The nature of giftedness in science -
and how it can be developed; Methodology for exploring learning
in science; The research programme for exploring learning in
science (including constructivism as a progressive research programme);
Teaching science - pedagogy, e.g. constructivist approaches; The
nature of scientific knowledge - and the status of school science;
Process of modeling science in the curriculum and through
teaching; The disciplinary structure of science and how this
reflected in school science - the relationship between chemistry and
physics in science and in school science; Teaching the nature
of science (ideas and evidence); The role(s) of analogy, metaphor,
thought-experimentation, modeling and simulation in teaching and learning
science; Challenging the most able in science. See Dr.
Keith S. Taber's homepage