Improving Science Education - Softcover

This book takes stock of where we are in science education research, and considers where we ought now to be going. It explores how and whether the research effort in science education has contributed to improvements in the practice of teaching science and the science curriculum. It contains contributions from an international group of science educators. Each chapter explores a specific area of research in science education, considering why this research is worth doing, and its potential for development. Together they look candidly at important general issues such as the impact of research on classroom practice and the development of science education as a progressive field of research.

The book was produced in celebration of the work of the late Rosalind Driver. All the principal contributors to the book had professional links with her, and the three sections of the book focus on issues that were of central importance in her work: research on teaching and learning in science; the role of science within the school curriculum and the nature of the science education we ought to be providing for young people; and the achievements of, and future agenda for, research in science education.

Robin Millar taught physics and science for eight years in comprehensive schools in Edinburgh before moving to the University of York as a Lecturer in Education. He has been Professor of Science Education since 1996. John Leach taught chemistry and science in British high schools before starting work as a researcher at the University of Leeds, where he is now Professor of Science Education and co-ordinator of the Learning in Science Research Group. Jonathan Osborne has worked in science education for the past 25 years, first as a teacher and then as a local authority advisor. He is now a Senior Lecturer in science education at King's College London.