Dr Jim Ryder
Senior Lecturer in Science Education
Tel: +44 (0)113 3434589
Room: EC Stoner 10.62
Email: J.Ryder@education.leeds.ac.uk
Physics and science education at secondary and university level, the nature of science in science education, science education for citizenship.
Member of CSSME.
Interests
I am a Senior Lecturer in science/physics education, co-ordinator of the physics Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) teacher training course and a member of the Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education (CSSME). I have a PhD in condensed matter physics and have taught science/physics in secondary schools in the UK.
My research examines attempts to develop a school science education that supports people’s engagement with science outside of formal schooling. This includes a focus on teaching and learning about the ‘nature of science’. I have conducted a number of studies into the development of students' ideas about the nature of science at both secondary school and university level. I have also investigated the experiences of teachers as they engage in teaching/learning about the nature of science. In addition I have written about the role of understandings about the nature of science when people engage with science-related issues outside of formal education settings. I am currently examining the varying ways in which schools, teachers and students respond to a major national curriculum reform initiative that includes a significant focus on aspects of the nature of science. This includes examining the impact of the reforms on students’ attitudes towards science education and their participation in post-compulsory science courses. I supervise doctoral students in the above research areas and teach related sessions within the Postgraduate MA in Science Education at Leeds.
I am co-editor of the international review journal Studies in Science Education.
Current research projects:
- Enactment and Impact of Science Education Reform (EISER) (with Professor Jim Donnelly, Dr Indira Banner, Dr Matt Homer and Helen Morris; funded by the ESRC and The Gatsby Charitable Foundation);
- Interests and Recruitment in Science (IRIS) (with Jaume Ametller, Professor Jim Donnelly and Professor Edgar Jenkins; funded by the European Seventh Framework Programme);
Recent research projects
- Evaluation of the take-up of science GCSEs at KS4 (with Professor Jim Donnelly and Dr. Jacqueline Bell; funded by QCA);
- Physics Enhancement Programme Evaluation (with Professor Phil Scott; funded by Gatsby Technical Education Projects);
- 21st Century Science Evaluation (with Leeds collagues; funded by the University of York and the Nuffield Foundation);
- A National Survey on Innovation in Science Enquiry (with Professor Jim Donnelly; funded by NESTA).
Selected Publications
PAPERS
Guerra-Ramos, T., Leach, J. and Ryder, J. (Forthcoming). "Ideas about the nature of science in pedagogically relevant contexts: insights from a situated perspective of primary teachers´ knowledge". Science Education.
Ryder, J. (Forthcoming). "Enhancing engagement with science/technology-related issues: The role of students’ understandings about the nature of science". In Hodson, D. (Ed.) Handbook on Technology Education. Sense Publishers.
Banner, J., Ryder, J. and Donnelly, J. (2009). "The role of teachers' priorities for science education in the enactment of science curriculum reform". Paper presented at the European Science Education Research Association conference, Istanbul., _, 1-16. (PDF File, 419K).
Ryder, J. & Leach, J. (2008). "Teaching about the epistemology of science in upper secondary schools: An analysis of teachers’ classroom talk". Science and Education, 17, 289-315. Read Abstract.
Ryder, J. (2007). "The development of secondary school students' understandings of 'ideas about science'". Paper presented at the European Science Education Research Association Conference, Malmo, August, 21-25. (PDF File, 78K).
Ryder, J. (2007). "Perspectives on Epistemology in Science Education: Designing effective teaching about the epistemology of science. International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Conference.". Paper presented as part of invited plenary symposium: Cognitive Perspectives on Epistemology in Science Education: An Interactive Panel., Calgary, 24-28 July.
Ryder, J. and Leach, J. (2005). "Teaching about the epistemology of science in upper secondary schools: An analysis of teachers' classroom talk". Paper presented at the International History and Philosophy of Science Teaching conference, Leeds, July 15-18.
Angell, C., Ryder, J. and Scott, P. (2005). "Becoming an expert teacher: Novice physics teachers' development of conceptual and pedagogical knowledge". Paper presented at the European Science Education Research Association Conference, Barcelona, Spain, 2005.
Paatz, R., Ryder, J., Schwedes, H. and Scott, P. (2004). "A case study analysing the process of analogy-based learning in a teaching unit about simple electric circuits". International Journal of Science Education, 26(9), 1065-1085.
Leach, J., Hind, A. and Ryder, J. (2003). "Designing and evaluating short teaching interventions about the epistemology of science in high school classrooms". Science Education, 87(3), 831-848.
Ryder, J. (2002). "School science education for citizenship: Strategies for teaching about the epistemology of science". Journal of Curriculum Studies, 34(6), 637-658.
Ryder, J. (2001). "Identifying science understanding for functional scientific literacy". Studies in Science Education, 36, 1-44.
Extended list of publications.
This page last updated by Jim Ryder on 29th September 2009