Connecting with educators at the ASE Conference
Members of staff from the Royal Society of Chemistry participated in the ASE Annual Conference 2018, held in Liverpool from 3–6 January.
The conference, organised annually by the Association for Science Education (ASE), attracts hundreds of science teachers and technicians from the UK and beyond, to network and share knowledge, through lectures, debates, panel sessions, stands and practical demonstrations.
The Royal Society of Chemistry fulfilled several roles at the conference. We held a stand in the conference’s Exhibition space that aimed to promote our support to teachers, including the resources provided by Education in Chemistry (EiC) and the Learn Chemistry platform, and the support we give towards professional development.
The EiC team also provided daily reporting on the entire conference, via Twitter and their website.
Ideas for teachers
Duncan McMillan, Education Resources and Services Programme Manager at the Royal Society of Chemistry, says, "It’s really a highlight of our calendar, and it’s an opportunity to network with like-minded organisations, learn from experts in the field, and connect directly with teachers.
"We know that the main challenge for teachers is that they are time-poor, so a lot of what we do at the event is about lowering the barrier for them to access the support that we offer. There’s plenty of content available for them to use, but little guidance on what to choose, so we need to make our resources directly relevant and functional. It’s about giving teachers ideas for things they can do in the classroom right now."
The team demonstrated some of these ideas on the stand.
One of these was a miniature practical demonstration from EiC’s Cutting Edge series, which shows the difference between natural and synthetic materials. Students add small plasticine masses to strands of real human hair and synthetic hair, and measure the breaking point.
"It’s a very simple practical demonstration to investigate material strength", says Duncan. "It provides a very quick low-resource-intensive activity, and the worksheets are downloadable from the website."
"It did its job in that a lot of people stopped by to see what was going on."
"We ran another demonstration from our teacher Professional Development materials, which was a card-flipping activity that showed the concept of equilibrium in action. It’s quick and easy to do, and participants can race each other, so it’s fun as well."
Reaching new audiences
Several of our education coordinators also attended the event, including Katayune Presland, who was working on the stand for all four exhibition days.
She explained that having a presence enabled us to make contact with potential new audiences. "We spoke to several primary school teachers in particular who assumed we would have nothing for them, so it was nice to be able to show them that we do provide specific support.
"For example our Learn Chemistry site has a tab for primary teachers, which includes cross-curricular activities and context learning, such as science activities that link to the Tudors or the Stone Age or space."
The event included a number of talks from industry experts, including our president Sir John Holman, who revealed the findings of his international survey of practical work in schools, The Good Practical Science report.
Engaging remotely
The in-depth reporting by the EiC team provided the opportunity for education professionals not in attendance to engage remotely, and keep abreast of current thinking and best practice.
Paul MacLellan, Managing Editor of Education in Chemistry, says: "The ASE annual conference is a fantastic opportunity for us to engage with teachers and the issues they face in their work. During the conference Education in Chemistry provided delegates and our online communities with live coverage of sessions, discussions and debates; daily highlights; and articles exploring the subjects being discussed throughout the week."
See all of the coverage, including day-by-day updates and articles on specific topics, on the EiC website.
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