Certainly not “one of the brilliant and most gifted minds of this century” *
I am Emeritus Professor of Science Education at the University of Cambridge, UK. I retired from my Teaching Office after teaching in the Faculty of Education for 20 years. (Some reflections on retiring can be found here.)
I went to school in Harold Hill, Romford (Hilldene Infant and Junior) and Collier Row, Romford (Clockhouse Lane Junior), then North Romford Comprehensive School (which changed its name to Forest Lodge when all the other state secondaries in the London Borough of Havering also became comprehensives). I read chemistry at Nottingham University (1978-1981) where I was in Derby Hall (and spent a year as JCR/Hall President). I took the PGCE at Nottingham Trent University (still known as Trent Polytechnic at the time).
I was employed as a Teacher of Science at Haywood Comprehensive School, Nottingham, and then Mayflower Comprehensive School, Billericay (Essex), and then as a lecturer (then senior lecturer) at Havering Technical College, or as it soon became, Havering College of Further and Higher Education.
I enrolled in the part-time Practice of Science Education course developed by Surrey University and Roehampton Institute London, first on the Diploma, then the MSc course. I then proceeded to do a part-time PhD at Roehampton (now Roehampton University), supervised by Mike Watts.
I met my late wife Philippa in 1988, and we married in 1995.
I joined the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge in 1999 (initially employed by Homerton College Cambridge, where I am a senior member). I was seconded to the Royal Society of Chemistry for 2000-2001 as that year's Teacher Fellow, spending the year as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Education, London (now University College London Institute of Education). In 2001 the Faculty of Education become a formal institution of the University, when teaching staff of Homerton College were transferred to the University's employment joining colleagues from the School of Education. I was appointed as a University Lecturer in Science Education, then later as Senior Lecturer, Reader, Professor.
I had stints as Manager of the Part-time Ph.D. course, and Deputy Manager of the Masters' Degrees programme. I also had stints as convenor of the Science Education group, Chair of the Science, Technology Education & Maths academic group, and Head of the Science & Technology Education Research Group.
I have a long association with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), having for a time been Chair of the Chemistry Education Research Group (one of the special interest groups); having served several terms on the editorial board of its education magazine, Education in Chemistry; and having been the editor of its education journal, Chemistry Education Research and Practice for over 7 years. I am currently Editor-in-Chief of the RSC Advances in Chemistry Education book series. I was awarded the Society's Education Award in 2014. I have also served on the Education Board of the Institute of Physics.
My teaching career had three main phases.
- For the first 17 years I mostly taught science, and in particular physics and chemistry.
- During my first ten years at Cambridge my main responsibility was in teacher education/preparation ('initial teacher education') as subject lecturer for physics and leading on the KS3 (i.e., lower secondary level) provision for middle school candidates specialising in science.
- During the last decade I mostly taught on aspects of educational research methods, on various courses: in particular becoming a core member of the Educational Research course teaching team,
Over the last twenty years I have supervised research students (a mixture of full-time students and teachers in post) undertaking various projects, mostly in science education.
I was pleased to be invited by Prof. Dr. Fatin Aliah Phang (Chair, School of Education at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, and Cambridge alumna) to provide some virtual lectures and consultancy as Adjunct Professor for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Scholarly journals
Before becoming Editor of Chemistry Education Research and Practice (Royal Society of Chemistry) I was a member of the Editorial Board and had previously been Associate Editor.
I spent a number of years as part of the editorial team of Studies in Science Education (Routledge/Taylor & Francis), as the Book Reviews Editor.
I am a member of the Advisory Group which oversees the journal Science & Education (Springer, for the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group).
I am a member of the Editorial Boards of
- International Journal of Science Education (Routledge/Taylor & Francis)
- Foundations of Chemistry (Springer)
- Teacher Development (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) – for some years I was the book reviews editor.
- Centre for Education Policy Studies Journal (Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana)
- Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research (Springer)
I am on the editorial advisory board of
- Journal of the Turkish Chemical Society Section C: Chemical Education (Turkish Chemical Society)
I have previously undertaken stints on the editorial boards of
- Journal of Science Teacher Education (Routledge/Taylor & Francis for the Association for Science Teacher Education)
- Chemistry: Bulgarian Journal of Science Education ( Ministry of Education and Science, Bulgaria)
- School Science Review (Association for Science Education)
- Education in Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry)
The number of journals seeking submissions form authors has increased considerably in recent years. Sadly, many (not all) of the new journals use dishonest methods to entice submissions, and fail to adopt proper standards of peer review to assure quality (so-called predatory journals). I was asked for guidance on which are the best science education journals for scholars to send their work to, and offer some suggestions here:
The best science education journal
Areas of expertise? (Do not believe everything you read)
I consider myself to have some modest expertise in my own area of science education.
* I am also (dubiously) much in demand for contributions to academic conferences and scholarly publications in a range of fields outside my area of expertise where others have claimed
- advanced materials – outstanding contribution in this field
- analytical and bioanalytical chemistry – renowned research and expertise
- animal science and veterinary medicine – impressive expertise and experience
- applied science – scientific discoveries, innovations
- astronomy – reputation and commitment
- biomedicine – eminence
- brain disorders – reputation and noteworthy contributions, expertise
- cancer science and radiology – significant expertise
- clinical and medical images – renowned scholar in the field
- clinical rheumatology – very good research
- community medicine and public health – immense research track
- computer simulations – academic achievements and professional experiences
- catalysis and chemical engineering – highly cited research; unprecedented research and remarkable work; highly significant work
- democracy research – eminence in the field
- dentistry – scientific discoveries, innovations; expertise and experience; eminence
- dietetics – expertise
- environment and geoscience – great achievements
- environmental pollution and environmental control– research experience and expertise in the field
- environmental research and public health – expertise
- environmental science & ecology – eminency – as "one of the brilliant and most gifted minds of this century"
- forensic science – eminent expertise and immense contributions in the field
- gastroenterology – expertise
- genetic disorders and therapy – record of contributions in this field
- green chemistry and renewable energy – path-breaking research in the field
- lasers, optics and photonics – eminence in the field
- magnetism & magnetic materials – eminence and expertise
- materials science – expertise and unparalleled contribution in the fields
- mathematical physics – academic achievements and professional experience
- medical robotics – outstanding contributions to the research on medical robotic
- medicinal chemistry drug discovery & drug delivery – eminent expert in the field
- mental health and psychiatry – vast expertise and contribution
- microfluids – expertise
- mining science & technology – well known and prominent in the field
- neuroengineering and neurotechnology – expertise and unparalleled contribution
- neurology – prominent researcher; immense expertise in the field; research work and its imprint on the field is unmatched; remarkable contributions to the field of neurology
- neuroscience – unprecedented research and remarkable work; expertise; unparalleled contribution to this field
- nuclear medicine – outstanding contribution to the scientific community in the field
- nursing and healthcare– a celebrated leader in this field
- nutrition – great published works
- oceans – valuable research experience, excellent background
- orthopedic research and surgery – research experience and abundance of knowledge
- otolaryngology – expertise, innovation
- otorhinolaryngology – expertise, experienced research work, eminence; research expertise
- petroleum, gas and mining – impressive profile
- pharmaceutical interventions – eminence in the area
- photonics and materials science – excellent contributions
- physical medicine and rehabilitation – expertise
- plant science – expertise
- political science – eminence in the field
- polymer materials – expertise
- psychology and neuroscience – expertise and experience in the field
- recycling – outstanding contribution
- sensors – expertise in this field; well-respected work
- smart materials – outstanding researcher
- substance abuse and alcoholism – great work
- tissue engineering and regenerative medicine – eminence
- traditional and alternative medicine – leading researcher, research expertise
- treatment of brain disorders – expertise
- vaccination – outstanding contribution to the field
- virology – key performer in the field
- women's health research – great published works
Strangely, I have no recollection of making contributions to these varied fields.**
(Read about this 'faint praise?')
I have always considered honesty and openness very important in life, and critical in academia, and think it is sad that those employed to further many supposedly scholarly enterprises seem to feel that any cheap marketing gimmick (including lying about having read and been impressed by someone's work) is acceptable to engage scholars. This goes against the values underpinning our work. If research is not undertaken and reported as honestly as possible, then the whole academic enterprise loses its foundations, utility and purpose – and academics should call out those who are not honest in their interactions with scholars.
** And this is a profile I found had been kindly compiled for me by a site called Research.com:
"His Aerospace engineering course of study focuses on Range (aeronautics) and Composite material. As part of his studies on Composite material, he often connects relevant subjects like Range (aeronautics). Perspective (graphical) and Heuristic are all intertwined in Artificial intelligence research. His Perspective (graphical) study frequently links to other fields, such as Artificial intelligence. Keith S. Taber regularly ties together related areas like Epistemology in his Heuristic studies. Keith S. Taber conducts interdisciplinary study in the fields of Epistemology and Ignorance through his research. His Statistics study frequently intersects with other fields, such as Value (mathematics) and Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy). Borrowing concepts from Statistics, Keith S. Taber weaves in ideas under Value (mathematics). Mathematics education is closely attributed to Conceptual change in his research."
Research.com
Perhaps this suggests a new slogan for my work: "Ignorance through research"!
