ASE 2027 Annual Conference

In this interactive session, participants will be invited to join a community of experienced educators with plant-based interests, but the session will cater for all levels of experience and expertise. Participants will, for example, have the opportunity to review creative and inspiring plant practicals to engage their classes with plant science and learn about current best pedagogy for the classroom. Participants will also have the opportunity to get involved in an emerging plant science education community to join up secondary and higher education.

The 50-minute session divided as follows

0-40 minutes – 4 x Lightning presentations by multiple presenters sharing good practice, organisations and resources for researchers and educators to take away, use, develop and adapt in their own teaching. Attendees will have the opportunity and be encouraged to record questions from these sessions for a Q& A and plenary at the end. Participants will be divided into groups to discuss and share good practice and their views on what is needed to advance the teaching of plants in schools including areas such as specific support and resources needed plus areas for future research. These will be fed back and captured on a Padlet and will be used to identify barriers to plant science education in the classroom and guide future research and solutions. This will provide the means to advance plant science education considering educator feedback.

Outcomes: After attending, participants will be able to:

> Utilise and share current best practice, research and resources in plant science education
> Identify and access key plant science education organisations and projects
> Join, or be able to refer to, a community of other educators interested in plant science
> Co-create recommendations to inform future research and support

This session will be run by the BERG Plant Science Education Working group. The group, set up in March 2025, comprises of a diverse range of educators, researchers and representatives of plant-related organisations. We recognise the fundamental need to share positive plant teaching practices, shape learning opportunities, and research to improve plant science education in general.