Education
Biology Week in Schools: The Eggs-cellent Victorian Eggs-periment
By Dr Diane Lees-Murdock CBiol MRSB, course director BSc (Hons) Biology, Ulster University and Mr Chris Murdock, DH Christie Memorial Primary School, Coleraine, N. Ireland. Year seven pupils at DH Christie Memorial Primary School have been learning about the Victorian diet and how nutrition varied between the rich and the poor. To celebrate Biology Week, … Continue reading
Pollination and education in the Peaks
By Ida Griffiths – education officer for Pollinating the Peak at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Bumblebees are awesome! But perhaps, being the education officer for Pollinating the Peak – a new Heritage Lottery funded project from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust – I have to say that… However, it’s not just me, my colleagues and keen … Continue reading
How working in partnership with students transformed my teaching
By Dr Katharine Hubbard, lecturer in biological sciences, University of Hull, Royal Society of Biology Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year 2016 Most people who teach would say that they value the views of their students, but how many of us would feel comfortable putting our students in the driving seat and getting them … Continue reading
Society welcomes transparent data as first step in widening university participation
By Dan Rowson AMRSB, education policy officer at the Royal Society of Biology The Government has announced that universities will be required to publish statistical data on applications, admissions and retention by gender, class and ethnic background. The Royal Society of Biology welcomes this development after expressing the need for full transparency of university data … Continue reading
Teaching: first resort or last resort?
By Ben Connor, Policy Officer, British Ecological Society Does the UK Government have a joined up strategy for teacher recruitment and training? According to Chris Waterman, speaking at the recent Education Policy Lunchbox, the simple answer is ‘no’. Waterman, the former Executive Director of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), whose educational experience … Continue reading
So you want to be a life scientist?
By Amelia Perry, Biology Week Intern at the Royal Society of Biology An impressive elephant skeleton took centre stage in the middle of the Life Science Careers Conference, surrounded by exhibitors representing careers in all avenues of biology, from teaching, to research, to conservation to science communication and more. The atmosphere at the Royal Veterinary College was that … Continue reading
The Hungry Games
Rachel Burnett, education and public engagement officer at the Biochemical Society discusses the success of ‘The Hungry Games’ at Big Biology Day in Cambridge, in celebration of Biology Week. Encouraging people to eat a healthy diet is nothing new; from eye-catching headlines announcing the latest ‘superfoods’, to documentaries such as ‘Super Size Me’, we encounter … Continue reading
Hooke, my hero. Micrographia, my Bible.
By Cath Hodsman, entomological artist. The Royal Society of Biology is running an insect life-cycles microscopy art course in partnership with Cath Hodsman on 23rd October 2015. This year celebrates a landmark anniversary that has helped define me as both a person and a professional. It is 350 years since the scientist Robert Hooke published … Continue reading
Soapbox Science – celebrating female scientists
Dr Diane Lees Murdock CBiol MRSB, lecturer in biomedical sciences at Ulster University participated in Soapbox Science, a festival celebrating eminent women scientists from the UK and Ireland. Glorious sunshine bathed the steps of Belfast’s Ulster Museum and Botanic Gardens where 12 women scientists from across Ireland attracted an audience of over 2,000 eager participants … Continue reading
Why do students still need textbooks?
By Dan Rowson, education policy officer at the Society of Biology At the May Policy Lunchbox, we welcomed Tim Oates, Group Director of Assessment Research and Development at Cambridge Assessment. Previously Tim was Head of Research at the Qualifications and Curriculum Agency and in 2010 he led the Government review on the National Curriculum. On … Continue reading