STEM Teachers as Researchers CPD Workshop
co-sponsored by Methods@Manchester
Overview
Join us for a free CPD workshop series for primary, secondary, and sixth form STEM teachers and trainee teachers.
Register on Eventbrite
The series is broken into three sessions:
Session 1 (three hours either in person or watch the recording): registrants can choose to attend in person on Monday 11th January 1-4pm or watch the recording
Date (for in person attendees): Monday 11th January 2027
Time: 1-4pm
Location: University of Manchester campus (Room location will be emailed to registrants)
Food and Drink: Coffee, tea, and biscuits will be available on arrival.
Transportation: You must arrange your own transportation to and from the workshop. There is no funding available to cover transportation.
Session 2 (Thursday 11 February 3:30-4:30pm online or watch the recording): registrants are asked to prepare for the session in advance including readings and short videos
Session 3 (Tuesday 16 March 3:30-4:30pm online or watch the recording): registrants are asked to prepare for the session in advance including readings and short videos
Who is it for? The CPD workshop series is designed for UK-based primary, secondary, and sixth form STEM teachers and trainee teachers across science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects. Teachers at all career stages are welcome, and early career teachers and trainee teachers are particularly encouraged to participate. Whether you already have a question you want to investigate or simply want to discover how research could become part of your professional practice, the workshop will give you a practical starting point.
Overview
Join us for a practical CPD workshop series for UK-based primary, secondary, and sixth form STEM teachers and trainee teachers offering an introduction to the skills and knowledge needed to design a small-scale research project in your classroom or school.
What have you always wanted to know about your pupils, your teaching, your school, or your STEM classroom? For example, do you want to understand how to increase pupil engagement with their STEM learning? Or perhaps you want to explore whether a new teaching approach enhances STEM knowledge retention? Or whether your STEM learning activities are enhancing oracy skills?
IGNITE+ STEM Teachers as Researchers CPD workshop series will introduce you to the knowledge and skills you need to turn questions like these into a small-scale research project. The programme is designed to support teachers to generate research grounded in classroom life and to use evidence to understand and improve pupil learning, engagement, inclusion, and STEM pedagogy.
What will you learn?
Through a combination of presentations, examples, practical activities, and discussions, you will explore the research process from brainstorming your research ideas through to sharing your project findings. As the primary funding that enables us to offer this CPD for free is generously provided by the IGNITE+ Network, many of the examples we will explore will be focused on the science and engineering of energy, but all areas of STEM interests are welcome for the project you develop.
Session 1, you will be introduced to:
- turning an area of curiosity from your classroom or school into a focused research topic and research question
- designing a manageable, small-scale classroom or school-based research project
- choosing appropriate methods for collecting or generating evidence, including qualitative, quantitative, creative, and mixed methods approaches
- understanding research ethics and the ethical responsibilities involved in conducting research with pupils and school communities
Session 2, you will be introduced to:
- making sense of the evidence you collect through data analysis
- using existing research and undertake a focused literature review
Session 3, you will be introduced to:
- considering how your own experiences and perspectives shape your research through researcher positionality and reflexivity
- exploring how theory and research philosophy can help you think differently about classroom questions
- identifying effective ways to communicate and disseminate your findings.
You do not need any previous research experience. The day is designed to introduce research design to busy STEM educators so that they might become Teacher Researchers.
Research the questions that matter to you
STEM classrooms are spaces of curiosity, inquiry, experimentation, and problem-solving. They are also places where important questions arise about who participates, who feels that they belong in STEM, how pupils learn and communicate, and which teaching approaches make a difference. Your small-scale research project might investigate pupil engagement, classroom pedagogy, inclusion, STEM identity, pupil aspirations, oracy, numeracy, creative and/or critical thinking, assessment, curriculum design, or another question arising from your own professional practice. The emphasis throughout the day will be on developing research that is manageable, meaningful, and relevant to your own setting.
After the CPD workshop series
The CPD series is the starting point for what we hope will become a wider STEM Teachers as Researchers community. Participants who want to take their research further will be able to access follow-on online support sessions as they develop and undertake their small-scale projects. These sessions will provide opportunities to discuss work in progress, troubleshoot challenges, exchange ideas, and learn alongside other Teacher Researchers and the academic team.
There will also be opportunities for interested participants to share their research with wider audiences, including potential participation in the Methods@Manchester organised annual Methods Fair at the University of Manchester. Participants interested in publishing their work may have the opportunity to work with an academic or postgraduate researcher to co-author a chapter based on their project for a proposed book.
Presenters include:
- Dr Jessica Gagnon, Director, Methods@Manchester, University of Manchester
- Professor Andy Howes, Head of ITE, Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester
- Dr Rosa Archer, PGCE Secondary Programme Director & Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education , University of Manchester
- Professor Lynne Bianchi, Director, Science and Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub (SEERIH) and Vice Dean for Social Responsibility, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Manchester
- Grace Marson, Science and Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub (SEERIH) Specialist Lead
Questions? Please email Dr Jessica Gagnon, Methods@manchester.ac.uk