STEM Education Centre E-bulletin: February 2014

Welcome to the February e-bulletin from the ’s STEM Education Centre. It is designed to provide you with information about STEM-related events, resources, news and updates that may be of interest to you and your colleagues.

STEM Policy and Practice News Female students start to show more interest in science and engineering The number of female students considering university course in STEM subjects has seen a bigger increase over the last five years than male students, according to new research.

The survey compiled by Cambridge Occupational Analysts (COA), is based on detailed analysis of answers to 150 questions by around 20,000 sixth formers each year for the last seven years. Published amid concern over the gender imbalance in the study of STEM subjects and the make-up of science and industry workforce, it suggests that campaigns to boost young women’s enthusiasm may be working.

- The percentage of female students expressing an interest in civil engineering rose by 10% over the last seven years, which is double the percentage rise of male pupils

- General engineering was considered as a possible choice by over a fifth of female respondents last year – a 16% increase compared with seven years ago. Over the same period, the proportion of boys expressing interest in the subject rose by just 5%

- Figures for combined sciences show a 19% rise in the proportion of female student’s enthusiasm for the subject, compared to an 11% rise for male sixth formers. Young women’s interest in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering rose by 18% and 27% respectively, compared to 10% and 13% for male students

- Other STEM subjects where the level of interest increased more among young women than men include chemistry and biochemistry, which had a 2% difference.

Despite the findings, women are still under-represented at all levels in STEM subjects. Almost twice as many male students took Maths A-level than women last year, while five times as many male sixth formers than women took physics.

Action already being taken for Women in Scientific Careers, says the IOP The Institute of Physics (IOP) is already implementing many of the recommendations included in the House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee Report on Women in Scientific Careers published in February, through its successful Project Juno and its long- running Girls in Physics programme.

Whilst the Institute welcomes the recommendations from the Committee, it believes that more needs to be done at the grass roots level to tackle culture change in STEM careers.

Professor Helen Gleeson, from the and the Acting Chair of the Institute’s Juno Assessment Panel, said, " The Institute's Project Juno has enabled many physics departments to address this by providing a framework to tackle the major barriers that can affect the recruitment and retention of female academic staff."

Project Juno is an award scheme designed to recognise and reward physics departments wh ich demonstrate that they have taken action to address the under-representation of women in university physics and to encourage better practice for both women and men.

Professor Val Gibson, who has led the Juno work at the Cavendish Laboratory at the , said, " Through Project Juno we have already implemented many of the recommendations … .This has resulted in whole-scale culture change in our department, which has reaped benefits in terms of recruitment, retention and promotion for all staff, not just our female academics. "

The Institute has also been running a Girls in Physics programme for nearly a decade and in December 2013, it released the highly-publicised Closing Doors report, with analysis of student subject choice showing that more than 80% of England’s co-educational schools appear to be doing little to counter gender stereotypes.

You can find out more about Project Juno and about the Closing Doors report, by visiting the Institute of Physics website http://www.iop.org/policy/diversity/initiatives/juno/ http://www.iop.org/education/teacher/support/girls_physics/closing- doors/page_62076.html

The Select Committee’s report is available from the Parliament UK website http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-archive/science-technology/

Poor schoolchildren reluctant to apply to ' posh ' Oxbridge Top universities such as Oxford and Cambridge are still seen by poor pupils as "posh" and "all top hats and stuff", research finds, as a new Government programme is launched to encourage more bright children to apply.

A study commissioned by the Department for Education found evidence of negative perceptions towards highly-selective institutions among large numbers of pupils.

The DfE study, carried out by the Institute for Policy Studies in Education and the social research agency TNS BMRB, was based on a survey of 558 schools and colleges, along with interviews with teachers and groups of pupils.

In all, 92 per cent of schools with sixth-forms insisted that they would encourage applications to universities, while numbers stood at 82 per cent for colleges. But the research found that it was “not common” to promote applications among “high- achieving disadvantaged students”.

Just 14 per cent of 11-to-16 schools encouraged applications among poor pupils, while the rate was as low as 28 per cent in school sixth-forms and 29 per cent in colleges.

The disclosure came as the DfE launched a new programme, the Future Scholar Awards, designed to encourage pupils to aspire towards sought-after degree courses.

Under the programme, poor pupils aged 13 and 14 in England will be invited to visit top universities – the 24 institutions belonging to the Russell Group – for a day of lectures and workshops, with the aim of encouraging them to apply in the sixth -form.

Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, said: “ It’s so important that students and teachers know that –- whatever your background – if you’ve got the right grades, attitude and potential, you have a good chance of getting into a Russell Group university.”

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell to be Royal Society’s first female president The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s national academy of science and the arts, has appointed its first female president.

Dame Jocelyn is an astrophysicist credited with one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 20 th Century. She was a doctoral student at Cambridge University when she discovered the first pulsa rs. The discovery won a Nobel Prize in 1974 – not for her, but for her two male superiors.

She will take up the three-year post in October.

Activity Opportunity

Engage Competition 2014: Celebrating Public Engagement Are you involved in public engagement with research? Have you been involved in a great project that you want to share? Why not enter the Engage 2014 Competition?

The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement [ NCCPE ] are running this national competition to find and celebrate high quality public engagement with research projects. Across the UK researchers are engaging the public in lots of different ways and for lots of different reasons.

The NCCPE wants to recognise and reward great quality examples of public engage ment in practice. Applications are sought covering projects from all disciplines, of any size, length and cost.

The finalists will be invited to showcase their projects at an event on 11th June 2014 at the Natural History Museum in London during Universities Week where the overall winner will be announced. The overall winner will be offered £2,500 to develop or share their engagement work with others.

The closing date for entries is 31st March 2014 at 5pm.

Entry details and the eligibility criteria are available from the NCCPE’s website http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/competition

Publications and Resources Qualitative Research Design: 13 Articles from Research Design

Review In 2013, Research Design Review published 13 articles that dealt explicitly with qualitative research design. These range from general topics to method-specific issues. And while all of the articles discuss quality design measures in some fashion, several posts extend quality considerations to particular facets of the research process, such as participant cooperation, the use of projective techniques, data validation, proposal writing, and the reporting of design in the final research document.

These articles have been compiled into a single document, which can be accessed from the Roller Market Research website http://www.rollerresearch.com/MRR%20WORKING%20PAPERS/Qualitative%20Research%20Design- 2013.pdf

Practical Guide to Three Approaches to Cross-border

Collaboration Science Europe is an association of European Research Funding Organisations (RFO) and Research Performing Organisations (RPO), based in Brussels.

Their Working Group on cross border collaboration serves as a platform for research organisations to exchange practice, to develop solutions to challenges and to foster cross- border collaboration in and beyond Europe, through common approaches. It is a space for experts to discuss multilateral co-operation tools (ERA-NETs, JPIs, and others), issues related to peer-review, and strategies for co-operation outside Europe.

The ‘ Practical Guide to Three Models of Cross-border Collaboration ’ is a tool developed by this Working Group with the aim of helping organisations to implement these models, should wish to apply these.

The guide is available from the Science Europe website http://www.scienceeurope.org/downloads Events

Education @ MDS An exciting new seminar series in the College of Medical and Dental Services continues in March. Led by Professor Prem Kumar (Director of Education, MDS), this series of talks and discussions, open to all University of Birmingham staff, explores current issues relating to designing and delivering high quality education across academic programmes. It brings together the academic innovation network (GRAIN), the technology enhanced learning series (the Learning Forum) and the educational research group (CERG) to combine pedagogy, technology and research.

The events take place every Monday in the IBR, beginning at 1:30pm in the IBR Common Room with an informal catch up about education news and events and a chance to network with colleagues. This will be followed by the themed presentations/discussions in the IBR Seminar Room (N143), as shown here:

3rd Mar – Alternative modes of delivery in MDS : What are the challenges for extending CPD provision in the College and delivering to a broader learning community?

10 th Mar – Transforming module and programme evaluation: What is it that we really need to know from the students about our modules and what would be the best way to obtain this information?

17 th Mar – How much can questionnaires tell us about what students really think?: Questionnaires and attitude scales are widely used in educational evaluation and research. How can we use them to best effect.

Interactive technologies for mathematics and st atistics support:

19 March 2014, University Campus Suffolk, Ipswich This FREE one-day workshop, supported by the Eastern England Hub of the sigma Network for cross-university mathematics and statistics support, will allow participants to experience a number of technologies than can motivate and help interaction in maths and statistics classes or workshops.

Course content to include: - Audience response systems “clickers” - Instant online polling - Apps for tablets and mobile phones

For further information about the event including registration details, please visit the sigma Network website http://www.sigma-network.ac.uk/interactive-technologies-for-maths-and-statistics- support-19-march-2014/

Higher Education Academy’s Research and Policy

Seminar/Webinar Series On 11 March 2014, Dr Colin McCaig and Dr Carol Taylor, Sheffield Hallam University, will present their findings and key themes from this HEA funded research project 'Evaluating the impact of number controls, choice and competition: An analysis of the student profile and the student learning environment in the new higher education landscape' .

Bookings are now open for this event; To learn more about the project, and to book your place, please visit the HEA’s website http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/detail/Research/Impact_numbercontrols http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2014/11_March_Webinar_York

Future events, as part of this series, include: 8 April 2014 - Student approaches to learning in contemporary higher education: implications of reforms across the UK , Michael Tomlinson, University of Southampton

6 May 2014 - Examining difference, in/equity and diversity in teaching and learning , Jacqueline Stevenson, Leeds Metropolitan University and Penny-Jane Burke, University of Roehampton

For more information on each event and to book your place, please visit the HEA’s website http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2014/08_April_Webinar_York http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2014/06_May_webinar_York

HE STEM Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2014: Enhancing the STEM Student Journey: 30 April – 1 May 2014,

University of Edinburgh The conference will include keynote presentations, debates, individual papers, posters, and student poster competitions. Keynote speakers include Andy Field, Professor of Psychopathology at the University of Sussex, Dame Wendy Hall, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton and Nike Folayan, Chair of AFBE-UK. Also, Professor Iain Stewart of BBC Earth fame will present the award for STEM Technician of the Year.

To register your place, please visit the Higher Education Academy’s website. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/stem-conference-2014

Sharing Information to Support STEM Educational

Enhancement:

If you have any opportunities or information relating to STEM Education activity that you would like to share with colleagues through our monthly bulletin, please contact Daryl Davies with details.

And finally:

If you have received our e-bulletin from a colleague and wish to be added to the circulation list, please contact Daryl Davies.

Deadline for contributions for next month’s newsletter is 19 th March 2014.

Contributions should be sent to [email protected]

For further enquires please contact [email protected] .