12. University of Strathclyde (UNIVSTRATH)
The University of Strathclyde is the third largest university in Scotland, has an international reputation as 'a place of useful learning' and is strategically committed to excellence in research, student experience and knowledge exchange. There are five Faculties: Science Engineering, Business, Law/Arts/Social Science and Education. The Faculty of Education has a long and proud history in the field of teacher education and now has more students in programmes of Initial Teacher Education than anywhere else in Britain. Staff also teach courses at postgraduate level, engage in personal research and supervise students undertaking higher degrees. Another major activity is the provision of award-bearing and short courses designed to meet the continuing professional development needs of qualified teachers and other professionals. The Faculty of Education is committed to evaluation and and review and will continue to explore with stakeholders and through research how to deliver excellence in teacher education. Task allocation The main task attributed to UNIVSTRATH is leading Work Package 5. The focus is the early professional development of beginning teachers of Science, covering ITE and the first year of induction. It will collate examples and principles of evidence based good practice in Science Teaching, including the work of SINUS, 'MindtheGap' and the outputs of other WPs, to deliver a tried and tested package of practicable pedagogy for beginners. It will also define in a broader sense what it means to become an effective teacher of Science. UNIVSTRATH is also NLP for Scotland Previous experience relevant to this task consists of considerable breadth of experience in teaching and teacher education in Science, including specific, recent achievements of a) development of a practice-based theory of pedagogy in investigative science* b) successful completion of the four year ESRC funded (£700k) EPL project (www.ioe.stir.ac.uk/research/projects/epl) c) tried and tested indicators of children's views and teacher interactions, to be adapted for the specific case of new teachers of science Staff members who will be undertaking the work: Work Package Leader: Jim McNally, Professor of Teacher Education, former Director of ITE, Lecturer in Science Education, Head of Physics/Science in Secondary School. Seconded to write the Framework for the Induction of New Teachers in Scotland and previously involved in many developments in science education e.g. writer of national curriculum module, independent learning package, exemplar videotape of teaching investigative science; writer of innovative Primary degree with Science as a specialism. Led the EPL project to a successful conclusion, has a range of publications in international journals and has worked across the academic and professional communities. Researchers: Allan Blake was the research fellow on the EPL Project and has expertise in qualitative and quantitative data analysis, as well as working with practitioners. He will co-ordinate a) adaptation of indicators (scepsati and inquiract) of new teacher effectiveness b) collate range of evidence from STEAM Project overall. Dr. Colin Smith, also from the EPL Project, is an experienced teacher of science, researcher and author of articles in professional journals. He will coordinate the input of practising teachers in adapting evidence for effective practical use. Both researchers will provide rigorous evaluations of implementation along with dissemination of WP deliverables.