Science in Society at the Royal Institution - a report on the recent teachers' conference

The conference was a great opportunity for Science in Society teachers to meet others teaching the course from September onwards The first conference for teachers of Science in Society was in the beautifully refurbished rooms of the Royal Institution on June 30th. This meeting launched the new AS textbook from Heinemann, gave teachers a relaxed opportunity for extended discussion, and introduced some current issues in bioethics.

QUOTE: "Very useful introduction to the real course and an exciting introduction to bioethics"

Our morning, following a brief introduction, was spent considering the various resources available for the Science in Society course. The structure and content of the new AS textbook from Heinemann and the resources available from the Nuffield and York University resources project through this website were outlined by two members of the team - Andrew Hunt (textbook editor) and Paul Bowers Isaacson.

Olympia Brown talks about the facilities that the RI have to offer students and teachers We also heard of the resources that might be of interest to Science in Society teachers from the Royal Institution's senior young people's coordinator, Olympia Brown. In addition to a regular public and schools programme of events, new exhibition areas with themed handheld-pda guides available - including Faraday's laboratory - are open to visitors including school groups. The first Ri sixth form conference in the re-opened lecture theatre will be Shaping Science on November 7th. This is designed for students of Science in Society and details will be available here soon.

To download the morning presentation, click on the following link (3.0 MB).

Over lunch participants were able to explore the historic building - well, the parts that weren't still occupied by builders before the full re-opening later this summer. The sun shone and brand new chairs for the restaurant found their way onto the balcony overlooking Albemarle Street for coffee and conversation. Chris Kennedy from Heinemann and Philip Bridgehouse from AQA were available throughout with information about publications and the examination specification and administration.

QUOTE: "Great surroundings. I'll be visiting again when bar and bistro are open"

Jackie Leach Scully talking about her career in the field of bioethics In the afternoon we were pleased to have with us Jackie Leach Scully from Newcastle University. Jackie placed an interest in how society makes decisions about the use of science in the context of her own career in the field of bioethics which began as a research biochemist discovering that patients were more interested in the ethical questions than the science - or maybe as an A level student of Nuffield Physics!

Jackie shared her thoughts on the coming big ethical issues in medicine and on what 'lay ethicists' - our students - need to be able to approach such questions. This gave us a stimulating background for forthcoming teaching of our topics on medical ethics and reproductive medicine.

Robin Millar reflecting on Science in Society Our day concluded with some brief thoughts from Robin Millar, looking back to the origins of AS Science for Public Understanding and the solid foundations upon which is built the future of A level Science in Society. We have a course in which there is international interest - schools in the Netherlands, Spain and Russia have translated and are using course materials - and that we were all encouraged to enjoy introducing in September.

A copy of Robin's PowerPoint presentation is available to download here (500 KB).

To read all of the feedback about the day, click here (60 KB).

Last updated: 9 July 2008