TISME
The ASPIRES project is part of the Targeted Initiative on Science and Mathematics Education (TISME). The aim of the initiative is to help find new ways to encourage children and young people to greater achievement and understanding of Science and Mathematics-related subjects.
Professor Louise Archer leads a coordinating team of educational researchers for TISME, along with Professor Justin Dillon and Dr Jeremy Hodgen. They are working with the five projects to develop and implement a strategy to communicate their findings. They are using the high quality research to provide evidence for policy makers and practitioners and hope the research will support an increase in the current low levels of interest and participation in mathematics and science among young people in the UK.
The TISME Initiative is also seeking to better understand the factors that lead to the under-representation of girls and women, as well as young people from working-class and some ethnic minority backgrounds, in the subjects.
The Research Questions
Four research questions are being addressed by the successful projects, focusing across the secondary school age range:
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What are the key factors that shape patterns of participation, engagement and achievement in science and/or mathematics education by children and young people?
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What can we learn from the effectiveness of past and current interventions, initiatives and practice?
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How can research-informed approaches help to address some of the key challenges in enhancing participation, engagement and achievement in science/mathematics?
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What specific new interventions or changes in policy or practice offer the greatest potential to improve participation, engagement and learning in science/mathematics and how could their potential effectiveness and feasibility be assessed more fully?
Click here for information about the five TISME projects and for details of their
programme activities.