1 Introduction

Education Research sets out to improve educational practice to improve teachers’ and pupils’ experience. Consequently, tutors should be introducing trainees to research as well as being active researchers themselves.

Ideas are not static and trainees need to expect to review and change their practice in the light of new scientific and educational research. The former will require them to change the content and use of equipment in their lessons and the latter the pedagogy of how they teach and subsequently to evaluate their own developing science understandings and the effectiveness of any changed pedagogic strategies.

At one level, becoming aware of one’s own practice and making critical judgements - based on evidence, i.e. becoming a reflective practitioner, is a beginning of a research process. Sharing and comparing results with colleagues is the beginning of publication i.e. making the results public. Without the development of such ‘reflective awareness’ of what is going on in one’s own classroom it is arguable that the main avenue for improving the learning for one’s own pupils is lost - as well as the rich seam of experience that should underpin research activity.

Trainees need to be introduced to research to help them understand that

• The reasons for taking particular pedagogical and content approaches should be the result of well thought out and tested strategies;
• The education community wants to constantly review and improve practice and that they can and should be part of this process; and that
• They need to keep up to date through reading professional and research journals so that they can improve their practice throughout their teaching career as well as to share new findings and ideas with their colleagues as they take senior positions.

Professional Journals which contain research findings are a user friendly way for trainees to be introduced to research findings. Useful journals to start with include:-

Primary Science Review which has short articles or 2 or 3 pages in length and School Science Review.

Research journals and books with research findings can be daunting to start with so it is helpful to provide one or two carefully chosen articles linked to a topic. The trainees could be asked to read the article before a session. Trainees could each be given one different paper on a similar topic and be required to share their reading with one or two others. This gives them practice in picking out the important ideas and in articulating them. It is also useful to encourage them to practise reading articles critically to evaluate the information and the limits of its applicability generally and with respect to their own practice.

Useful starting points for new researchers in many fields of science are:-

• Harlen W. (1999) Effective Teaching of Science: A Review of Research Edinburgh: SCRE
• Millar R., Leach J. and Osborne J. (2000) Improving Science Education: the Contribution of Research Buckingham: OUP

Carrying out small research projects has been shown to be helpful in developing trainee teachers’ ability to teach effectively. Trainees find it difficult to shift their attention from themselves to the design of instruction for pupils learning. This can be achieved by ‘structured’ research assignments that allow them to stand back temporarily from their personal beliefs so to focus on children’s learning in manageable way.

Another important outcome of trainees doing small research projects is to introduce them to the research process so that they can use and judge research for themselves such as that on the Internet as well as to improve their observation and analysis.

The trainees could replicate an existing piece of research or carry out a small project chosen by a tutor, teacher mentor or self-chosen.  See Download 4 for developing a small research project for trainees.  These points can also be helpful for very new researchers.

Download 4 'Steps for developing a small research project for trainees'

It must be remembered that increasing information on the web means that trainees have easy access to a lot of published and unpublished academic work. They need to be reminded that use of material from the web follows exactly the same rules as use of information from traditional printed sources i.e. any source they use, either directly in the form of quotations or indirectly as a basis for ideas and theories, must be acknowledged in a bibliography.

They should quote text from a web page in the same way as any other text, by enclosing it in quotation marks. When referencing the source, however, they need to add two pieces of information in addition to the usual name, date etc.: the web address of the page, and the date on which it was accessed.

They may also need advice about photocopying. All photocopying, whether self-service or copied by staff, is subject to UK Copyright Law. Details can be found at http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/index.htm.

Teacher trainers need to

• Use existing research findings to keep up to date with science education ideas and to improve their own practice and others involved in science education; and
• Carry out new research to check existing research ideas are applicable in a different context and to investigate new situations.

Hopefully the trainees will see this process being carried out by their tutors and, if possible, they should participate in some aspect of this themselves.

Tutors were asked via email and at the ATSE conference in 2004 for information about how they began their research career and strategies that assisted them to learn about the process of research and publishing.  The next sections are based on their responses.

Joint research and authorship in a team or with more experienced colleague(s) was the overwhelming approach suggested for beginning researchers. It was also clear that support by the intuition was also valuable. New tutors often lack confidence to ask for advice from colleagues. Their colleagues will also have been through this beginning process so are likely to supportive if asked.

Other useful strategies suggested by tutors include:-

• Participating in a network of tutors with similar interests such as ATSE;
• Working in partnership with teachers;
• Linking into parallel studies in other contexts such as Canada, Australia, South Africa and Scandinavia where people are often keen to collaborate and share ideas and workload;
• Attending and presenting at supportive conferences as a way of developing the argument of a paper; and
• Registering for a higher degree.

It is important to try to find a niche to develop research that is original. Therefore it is useful to identify a personal interest and ensure that a lot of reading is done around the topic is done. Many pieces of research can be linked to the tutors’ own teaching whether in a school or higher education institute. For example, trying out a new approach to solve students’ difficulties in a topic or working with an unusual category of students could start off a small scale research project. It might not be possible to get funding initially, until a track record have been developed, so the project will need to be done alongside normal work.

Download 9 'Journals used by ATSE tutors to support their teaching and research'

Finding funds can be a very disheartening process. Producing a proposal is time consuming and most will be unsuccessful. However a proposal to one funder can often be adjusted to match the criteria for another. Small grants of a few thousand pounds to do a small scale project are the ideal beginning point. Such funds can come from:-

• Tutors' own university and/or department
• Teacher Training Agency (TTA)
• Charities
• Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
• Institute of Physics (IOP)
• Nuffield Foundation
• Wellcome Trust

An ESRC grant is the goal of most researchers, but a good idea which is very theoretically grounded is needed. A track record is also very helpful. It is better to ask for smaller grant categories when starting to apply for ESRC grants.

Colleagues, research committees and Research Directors can give advice about potential funders. It is sensible to look for adverts in ASE journals and TES. Other information about UK funders can be found at

• www.nerf-uk.org/funders/funding_sources/

Some organisations buy into a research warning system and/or research information sources such as

ESCalate has grants of up to £5k for research which are relatively painless to apply for, and well worth considering:

ESCalate (Education Subject Centre) provides small development grants of up to £5000 to support initiatives promoting networking, development and the achievement of high standards.  ESCalate is part of the Higher Education Academy: Supporting Teaching and Learning across the UK (heacademy-escalate@bristol.ac.uk).

Most research will need to be done alongside other work such as teaching and administration. Consequently good time management is essential. Tutors have found the following approaches helpful:-

• Getting up early to do research at beginning of the day;
• Reading something everyday and /or writing every day;
• Blocking out time at the end of terms; and/or
• Identifying small regular chunks of time and not waiting for longer periods.

Different strategies work for different people but it is important to be strict about the allocation to teaching and related preparation time and not let it run into research time.

Other helpful strategies include:-

• Getting senior colleagues support;
• Teaching on an MA or PhD course which forces reading more widely around a subject and students will also find new articles; and
• Submitting a paper for a conference which provides motivation to complete. Several tutors suggested the Association of Tutors in Science Education conferences as an excellent start for beginner researchers. Others suggested conferences run by the Institute of Biology (IOB) and British Education Research Association (BERA).

Getting published is the ultimate goal of the researcher. They will be aiming to publish in journals and books.

It is important to write an article with a chosen journal in mind so that the content is targeted to the appropriate audience. Good journals will be peer reviewed. Therefore be prepared to respond to critical comments and advice before resubmitting. This may be a long drawn out process (see Download 12 below), which covers:

• Choosing the journal
• Submitting the paper
• What a reviewer will be looking for
• Dealing with referees’ comments

Wellington, Jerry (2003) Getting Published: A Guide for Lecturers and Researchers. London: RoutledgeFalmer provides an excellent start for new writers. (See review of the book www.lib.msu.edu/corby/reviews/posted/wellington.htm)

One strategy of having publications is to edit a book producing work from a number of people. Typical examples are where a group of tutors from the same department write different chapters within one theme.

Download 12 'The process of writing and submitting a paper to a journal'

A PhD by research will involve equivalent to 3 years full time work and can be very difficult do to with a full time teaching post.

An alternative is to take a Doctor of Education (EdD), which like the PhD, focuses on a rigorously constructed research-based study contains a course work and a research component. As well as providing a thorough basis in research methods, the initial course work stage exposes candidates to key issues and theoretical concepts in their field encouraging them to reflect critically on education practice. Candidates are then ready to embark on a shorter detailed research study leading to the final dissertation.

A third option is to take a PhD by publication. This involves presenting a set of published materials, books and articles, in one ‘oeuvre’ which is equivalent to a PhD. This may take several years to accumulate. It is also challenging to ensure that all the publications are interrelated and include the theory and methodology that would be demonstrated in a PhD by research. However this option has the advantage that publications are being steadily produced throughout the ‘study’ period.

Tutors considering doing PhDs, should find out what their own institution (if they offer higher degrees) can offer first as it is likely that fees will be waved. However, another institution may have supervisors working in a field that is more relevant. It is therefore worth enquiring what different institutions have to offer. It is important to have agreement of senior staff before proceeding with a PhD as it will make considerable demands of time and study periods may be available.

Downloads in this document:

Download 4 'Steps for developing a small research project for trainees'

Download 9 'Journals used by ATSE tutors to support their teaching and research'

Download 12 'The process of writing and submitting a paper to a journal'

This Section prepared by:

Tina Jarvis: University of Leicester

Contributions from:

Gordon Guest: University of the West of England
Chris Harrison: Kings College London
S. Hinley: Kingston University
E. Lakin: University of Gloucestershire (now at St. Martin's, Lancaster)
Peter Loxley: University College Northampton
Alan Peacock: University of Exeter
A. Soares: Birmingham University
Robin Smith: Sheffield Hallam University
Dave Thompson: University of Huddesfield
Rob Toplis: DeMontfort University
Jerry Wellington: University of Sheffield