ASE 2027 Annual Conference

There continues to be a physics teacher recruit and retention crisis across the nations of the UK.  
There is little point in governments investing heavily in teacher recruitment if qualified teachers then leave the profession in large numbers.

With this in mind, Mark Whalley and Stuart Farmer have conducted research in both England and Scotland into identifying the reasons why physics teachers have recently left the profession. In this session, these reasons will be explored and comparisons made between the situations in Scotland and England, which factors are in common and which are different in the two nations where there has been an increasing divergence in educational policy in the last two decades. How do factors such as accountability and performativity, administrative workload, pupil behaviour, relationships with colleagues, and career progression routes impact on teacher wellbeing and their decisions to stay or leave teaching?

Physics is full of abstract ideas. For many students, these concepts can feel remote and inaccessible. Narrative and analogy offer powerful ways to bridge that gap.

This interactive session will explore how storytelling, models, and analogies can transform the teaching of physics. We will look at classic examples such as the “rope” model of current electricity or the “dice roll” analogy for nuclear decay alongside original classroom tested narratives I have developed. We will discuss how these approaches benefit student learning, from reducing misconceptions to increasing engagement.

We will also consider the limitations of analogies, how encouraging students to recognise where a model breaks down can be beneficial to understanding. Given time, there will be an opportunity for participants to share their own analogies and reflect on how narrative can enrich their teaching practice as well as how AI can play a role in this style of teaching.

Outcomes: By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
•Identify effective uses of narrative, storytelling, models, and analogies in physics teaching.
•Apply at least two new analogies or narratives in their own lessons.
•Evaluate the strengths and limitations of analogies to avoid reinforcing misconceptions.
•Develop strategies to make abstract concepts more memorable and engaging for students aged 11–18.

Background: Over 30 years of teaching physics to students aged 11–18, I have found that physics concepts - from Newton’s laws to nuclear decay - often become more accessible when framed through narrative or analogy. My classroom practice has involved developing stories and models that resonate with learners, drawing on both established teaching analogies and my own creations. These approaches have consistently helped students connect new ideas to prior knowledge, making difficult concepts memorable and meaningful.

This CPD session explores how science teachers can effectively plan for and support strong progression in practical work from KS3 through to KS5. Moving beyond isolated experiments, the session focuses on how practical skills develop over time, building from curiosity and engagement in KS3 to confidence, independence, and precision at A-Level. Teachers will consider how to sequence practical experiences, reinforce key skills, and ensure students are well-prepared for the increasing demands of assessed practical work. The session emphasises the importance of coherence and continuity in developing scientifically skilled and confident learners.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
> Identify the key components of effective practical progression from KS3 to KS5.
> Recognise gaps and inconsistencies in students’ practical skills development.
> Apply strategies to support a coherent and purposeful approach to practical work across the curriculum.

The session will explore what effective practical progression looks like across the secondary phase, using examples to highlight how skills can be built and revisited over time. Teachers will engage in activities to map practical skills, analyse current practice, and identify opportunities to strengthen progression. Through discussion and practical approaches, participants will develop strategies to ensure students move from early curiosity to confident, capable practical scientists by the end of KS5.

Aims:
- To create a safe space for debate where people can explore their own understanding of gender/sex
- To deconstruct some ideas about classification systems and essentialism.

Objectives:
- To be able to answer the question “What is a woman?”
- To be able to answer pupils’ questions about gender/sex more confidently
- To be able to name and explain several examples of organisms that are outside of the gender/sex binary

In this workshop I will create a space where we are able to debate about gender and sex, we will be looking for the grey areas and discovering how and why things are not always as binary as they seem. Using my gender studies background I will share with you some philosophical ideas about gender/sex and oppression. We will explore how queer nature can be, and share exceptions to the sexual binaries in humans, and many other organisms.

Our society is facing technological advancement, environmental challenges, and evolving labour market demands. As such, science education is increasingly expected to equip young people with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to deal with these issues and thrive in an uncertain future. Science teachers are at the forefront of this effort, adapting curricula, pedagogies, and assessment practices to prepare students for a complex and interconnected world.
 
The panel discussion will explore how the global science teaching workforce is responding to these challenges and opportunities. Drawing on international perspectives, it will examine the ways teachers are fostering critical thinking, real world problem-solving, creativity, scientific literacy, collaboration, inquiry-based learning, sustainability, digital technologies, and adaptability essential for future readiness. This includes highlighting how science educators are empowering learners not only to succeed academically, but also to contribute meaningfully to their communities and address global challenges. The discussion will reflect on the pivotal role of the science teaching profession in shaping resilient, informed, and engaged citizens who are prepared to thrive in the future and help create it.

This CPD session supports science teachers in strengthening the connection between practical work and exam success in A-level Biology. While practical experiences are central to the subject, students often struggle to translate hands-on understanding into high-quality written responses in assessments.

This session explores how practical skills, knowledge, and exam technique intersect, helping teachers bridge the gap between classroom practice and examination performance. By focusing on how practical work is assessed, teachers will be equipped to maximise the impact of practical activities on student outcomes.

Session Outcomes:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Identify how practical skills and knowledge are assessed in A-Level Biology examinations.
Recognise common weaknesses in how students apply practical understanding in written responses.
Apply strategies to better integrate required practical work with exam preparation and assessment success.

The session will explore the relationship between practical work, CPAC and exam performance, using real A-Level Biology questions and mark schemes to highlight key demands. Teachers will engage in activities to analyse how practical knowledge and skills are examined, review student responses, and identify where marks are gained and lost. Through discussion and practical strategies, participants will develop approaches to ensure that practical experiences translate into confident, accurate, and successful exam performance.

This CPD session supports chemistry teachers in strengthening the link between practical work and examination success in A-Level Chemistry. Although practical activities are a fundamental part of the subject, students often find it challenging to convert their experimental experience into precise, high-quality written answers.

This session examines how practical understanding, subject knowledge, and exam technique work together, enabling teachers to better connect classroom investigations with assessment performance. By focusing on the ways practical work is examined, teachers will be able to enhance the impact of practical teaching on student outcomes.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
> Identify how practical knowledge and skills are assessed within A-Level Chemistry examinations.
> Recognise common issues in the way students interpret and apply practical understanding in written responses.
> Apply strategies to more effectively link required practical work with exam preparation and student success.

The session will explore the relationship between practical work, CPAC requirements, and exam performance, using authentic A-Level Chemistry questions and mark schemes to highlight key expectations. Teachers will take part in activities to examine how practical skills and concepts are assessed, analyse student responses, and pinpoint where marks are achieved or missed. Through reflection, discussion, and practical strategies, participants will develop approaches to ensure that practical experiences are translated into accurate, confident, and successful examination performance.

In this session I am to  explore ‘what works’ in initiatives that support schools and universities/researchers to work together.  

Welcoming educators, senior leaders, and STEM professionals with experience funding or supporting research in schools to an exploratory workshop finding out what works to involve young people directly in research and innovation. Come along to learn more. Discussions will also inform the design of a new grant aimed at supporting educators to build the confidence and capacity to tap into existing programmes connecting schools and researchers or run their own research projects.

Outcomes: Participants will share and learn about best practice in integrating participating in research in teaching and learning approaches.

Participants will connect with others with an interest in supporting a culture of research and innovation in UK schools.

Participants will influence the design of a pilot grant being developed by the British Science Association.

There are a number of ways that schools can engage with researchers, including through schemes like IRIS, Orbyts and the Royal Society Partnership scheme. However visibility of, and access to these opportunities is not always consistent. With funding from UKRI, the British Science Association will be supporting UK schools in challenging circumstances to deepen their relationships with research and researchers; by taking part in existing schemes or running their own research projects.

The workshop is for educators, senior leaders, and STEM professionals with experience of funding, supporting, or brokering relationships with research and researchers, as well as educators interested in connecting their students with real research.

The session will follow our own involvement in understanding accessibility and improvements in accessibility in formal assessments for Cambridge OCR.

During 2026 Mike Jackson was on a panel for SecEd to speak about accessibility which builds on conversations within the organisation as well as learning from teachers who have fed back from both summative assessments and practical endorsement adaptations (e.g. for blind students).

Every child deserves to see themselves and their cultures reflected in science. This interactive session offers a practical framework for doing that, without adding pressure to an already full curriculum. We'll introduce "two-eyed seeing" and share six dimensions of holistic science learning, then move quickly into short hands-on tasks. You'll sit briefly in a yarning-circle-inspired opener, try a story-to-science mapping using the emu life-cycle example, sketch a seasonal plan around a "class tree", audit a familiar lesson using nature-as-teacher prompts (symbiosis, hedgehog foraging, squirrels storing acorns), and rewrite a paragraph of planning language to shift from "resources" towards respect, reciprocity and responsibility. You'll leave with an A4 planning mat, a sensitivity checklist, and at least one concrete change you can make to next week's science lesson.

The aims of this session are to:
•Explain the principle of ‘two-eyed seeing’ and why it strengthens primary science.
•Explore six dimensions of holistic scientific literacy.
•Participate in practical activities to showcase how six dimensions of scientific literacy can be embedded in the primary science curriculum.
•Apply a simple cultural-sensitivity checklist when planning.

Outcomes:
Participants will leave able to articulate two-eyed seeing to a colleague, integrate at least one Indigenous or local knowledge example into an existing science unit, apply a cultural-sensitivity checklist when planning, and use relational language that positions children as part of, not separate from, nature.

Background
This session draws on our work at UCL and experience working in Jamaica, Singapore, The Gambia, Japan, Senegal and Australia, synthesised in our recent research in planetary-conscious pedagogy (Strachan & Markwick, 2025). It has been shaped by classroom practice, conversations with community knowledge holders, and research on science capital (Godec et al., 2017), storytelling in science (Salehjee, 2020; Fishman, 2020), and two-eyed seeing (Hatcher et al., 2009). We approach the examples with humility, acknowledging that all knowledge, including modern science, is interpreted through a cultural lens.

Crucially, biology and psychology feed each other. Cortisol impairs working memory, which worsens worry, which keeps the amygdala firing, which sustains the stress response. The loop runs until something interrupts it, which is why both physiological strategies (controlled breathing) and cognitive ones (reappraising arousal as challenge, not threat) work.

By the end, participants will:
> understand the biological and psychological mechanisms driving exam anxiety
> recognise the difference between knowing material and being able to show it under pressure
> have practical strategies to help students break the anxiety loop from both directions

Background and context: Exam anxiety is common, and for many students it actively undermines performance - the familiar experience of a capable student who "goes blank" despite knowing the material.
This isn't simply nerves. When the brain appraises an exam as a threat, the amygdala triggers two stress responses: a fast one (adrenaline, via the sympathetic nervous system) and a slower one (cortisol, via the HPA axis). Cortisol directly impairs the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus - the very structures handling working memory and retrieval.
This is the biological mechanism behind the blank mind.

This session focuses on the latest findings and recommendations from ASE’s International Science Teachers project, supported by the Gatsby Foundation

The session will give science educators across all phases insight into how science has been used in the past to promote racism, how it can now be used to undermine racism and how to include in curriculum topics the contributions of several black scientists.  It will therefore support the aim of the curriculum and assessment review to empower teachers to illustrate the Science curriculum with inclusive examples of individuals working in and contributing to science.  

I have taken this approach because as a science teacher of 20 years I know that black British children often face more barriers to engage with their school education than their peers, that they can sometimes think that science is not for them and my experience is that racism is still an issue in many schools. I therefore to wanted to make a contribution towards changing this big issue as a science educator. I now work at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, a Cambridge based research and educational institute, where we have found that integrating ways of knowing from science with those that consider worldviews, philosophy and ethics helps approach big questions, like racism, in a more holistic manner enabling a more effective response.

Using this approach, I developed this presentation which explores the nature of science, considering the elements of both data collection and theory formation and how, for scientists, being aware of one's own world view is important as it may influence theory formation. This was sadly the case for some leading scientists in the past whose scientific work supported a racial hierarchy which still influences thought today. The presentation will suggest ways we can use science to start to redress this by drawing on findings from the human genome project which undermine a genetic basis for race and it will also explore the significant contributions of some black scientists in the development of evolutionary theory, the introduction of immunisations and movement of Halley’s comment for example.

The presentation will give science educators the confidence to begin the journey to ‘decolonise their curriculum’ which can be a difficult one to start and navigate, but they will be inspired to do so and equipped with ideas, examples and a classroom resource, to take the first steps towards helping children who think that science might not be for them, start to believe it might be and help everyone to value contributions from scientists from a wide range of backgrounds.  This will be through learning about those who had to overcome significant barriers to succeed as scientists, sometimes because of their skin colour and celebrating their success.