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Welcome to the REISE Network

Research, Evaluation and Innovation in STEM Education

Welcome to the REISE (Research, Evaluation and Innovation in STEM Education) Network.

What is REISE?

REISE is a network of Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) networks and is a hub for connecting the fantastic work that is going on within individual disciplines of STEM Education Research in the UK and beyond.

Internationally, the field of Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) is well established, with large communities supported by national funding in countries such as the USA and Australia. However, in the UK, DBER is relatively unrecognised with limited access to funding or opportunities for professional development. Excellent work is going on in the field, but often in isolated pockets and without the recognition it deserves within UK Higher Education Institutions or from funders and professional bodies.

REISE seeks to connect Discipline Based Education Research colleagues across the UK to raise the profile of DBER in the UK by demonstrating the scale and excellence of the research that is already taking place, facilitating interdisciplinary collaborations, providing opportunities for sharing learning, enhancing access to professional development opportunities and vitally, to campaign for access to funding to enable the UK to compete as a leading nation in DBER.

If we are to effectively tackle global challenges and meet the UK government’s ambition of being a world-leading science sector, we need world-leading STEM education, which can only be achieved through investment in world-leading interdisciplinary STEM Education Research.

Who is REISE for?

REISE is for anyone who would like to be part of an interdisciplinary community and who has (or is developing) an:

  • expert knowledge of their STEM discipline,
  • understanding of the challenges of learning and teaching in their discipline,
  • understanding of the science of learning and teaching (Singer et al., 2012),

and would like to undertake high-quality STEM education research and scholarship.

What is Discipline Based Education Research?

In REISE, we define Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) as:

“research that investigates learning and teaching in a discipline using a range of methods with deep grounding in the discipline’s priorities, worldview, knowledge, and practices. DBER seeks to develop evidence-based knowledge and practices that improve teaching and learning in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.” (Henderson, 2017)

You may see DBER described within individual disciplines as Physics Education Research, Chemistry Education Research, STEM Education Research etc.

Why is DBER important?

High quality DBER is vital for the advancement of STEM education. The benefits are clear within the definition of DBER proposed by Singer et al. (2012), who stated that DBER seeks to:

  • identify approaches to make science and engineering education broad and inclusive.
  • understand how people learn the concepts, practices, and ways of thinking of science and engineering;
  • understand the nature and development of expertise in a discipline;
  • help identify and measure appropriate learning objectives and instructional approaches that advance students toward those objectives;
  • contribute to the knowledge base in a way that can guide the translation of DBER findings to classroom practice; and
  • identify approaches to make science and engineering education broad and inclusive.

Why join REISE?

Being part of REISE means that you will be part of the mailing list for those interested in Discipline Based Education Research across the UK and beyond. The REISE newsletter shared updates and information about what is going on in STEM education research within individual discipline based networks across the UK, and shares links to professional development opportunities and opportunities for collaboration with colleagues across the network.

If you are a lead in a Discipline Based Education Research network that would like to be included within the REISE network of networks, please do get in touch.

If you would like to join, please email eise@durham.ac.uk

REISE Webspace

The REISE webspace is currently under development in collaboration with colleagues in STEM Education Research communities across the UK.


References

Henderson, C., Connolly, M., Dolan, E.L. et al. Towards the STEM DBER Alliance: why we need a discipline-based STEM education research community. IJ STEM Ed 4, 14 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-017-0076-1

Singer, S.R., Nielsen, N.R. and Schweingruber, H.A., 2012. Discipline-based education research. Washington, DC: The National Academies.