Dr Keith Taber

Science and Education

Position/Status

Senior Lecturer in Science Education

E-mail Address:

kst24@cam.ac.uk

Phone:

(+44) 01223 330569

Qualifications

BSc(Hons), PGCE, DPSE, MSc, PhD, MA(Cantab), CSci, CChem, FRSC, CPhys, FInstP, CSciTeach, FHEA, FRSA

Membership of Professional Bodies/Associations

Royal Society of Chemistry
Institute of Physics
Association for Science Education
British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Educational Research Association
Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, manufacture and commerce
Higher Education Academy
Australasian Science Education Research Association
European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction
Association of Science Teacher Educators
International History and Philosophy of Science Teaching Group
National Association for Research in Science Teaching

Profile

Keith Taber trained as a graduate teacher of chemistry and physics, and taught sciences in comprehensive secondary schools in England. He moved into further education where he taught physics and chemistry to A level, science studies to adult students, and research methods on an undergraduate education programme. He acted as the mentor for trainee science teachers on placement at the college. Whilst working as a teacher he earned his masters degree for research into girls under-representation in physics and his doctorate for research into conceptual development in chemistry. He joined the Faculty of Education in 1999. Please refer to Keith Taber's web pages.

Dr. Taber was the RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry) Teacher Fellow for 2000-1, undertaking a project on Challenging Chemical Misconceptions (http://www.chemsoc.org/networks/learnnet/miscon2.htm). He was the CERG (Chemical Education Research Group) Lecturer for 2000. He wrote a column (Reflections on Teaching and Learning Physics) for the journal Physics Education over a period of 6 years. He led the Cambridge project on teaching about ideas and evidence in science for the National KS3 Stategy (http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/keystage3/casestudies/cs_sc_ideas).

Dr. Taber is the moderator of an international electronic discussion list on learning in science. This list is intended as a forum for discussion among teachers, researchers and others who are interested in aspects of this topic. You may join the list at:
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/learning-science-concepts/

Academic Area/Links

Academic group - Science, Technology and Mathematics Education
Editorial Board member: International Journal of Science Education
International Advisory Board member: Chemistry Education Research and Practice (a journal published by the RSC, available free on the internet at: http://www.rsc.org/cerp)
Board of Reviewers: Science Education
Editorial Board Member: School Science Review
Editorial Advisory Board member: Teacher Development
Editorial Board member - Education in Chemistry
Editorial Review Board member - Journal of Science Teacher Education
Editorial Review Board member - Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Reviewer for a number of other journals
Past Chairman of the Royal Society of Chemistry's Chemical Education Research Group
Education Board member of the Institute of Physics

Research Topics

Dr. Taber's main research interests are in aspects of teaching and learning in science: learners' ideas, misconceptions, alternative conceptions and alternative frameworks; conceptual understanding, conceptual integration and conceptual change and development; constructivism in science education; learner thinking and metacognition; explanations in science; teaching about the nature of science; challenging high attainers;
Notions of 'giftedness' (especially in science);
How teachers can use diagnostic assessment to explore the nature and origins of learners' thinking in science.
Student thinking about science and religion

Current Research Projects

Conceptual development in science: ECLIPSE
Meeting the needs of the most able in science (collaborative project): APECS
Learning about Science and Religion: LASAR
Effecting Principled Improvement in STEM Education: Student Engagement and Learning in Early Secondary - School Physical Science and Mathematics - epiSTEMe

Course Involvement

MPhil in Educational Research - core team member
Research supervisor - MEd, MPhil, PhD
Topics of student research projects supervised include conceptual learning about the concept of field / astronomy topics / chemistry; thought experimentation; metacognitive aspects of physics problem solving; intuitive learning in physics; using drama-based simulations in teaching chemistry; coordination of knowledge in solving physics problems; science teacher beliefs and classroom behaviour; explaining phenomena in terms of particle theory. (Informal contacts from potential graduate students considering research at Masters or Doctoral level into aspects of science education are welcome.)
Dr Taber has previously worked in initial teacher education on the PGCE course.

Publications include: *

Books

Taber, K. S. (2009) Progressing Science Education: Constructing the scientific research programme into the contingent nature of learning science. Dordrecht: Springer.

Taber, K. S. (2007) Classroom-based Research and Evidence-based Practice: A Guide for Teachers, SAGE Publications.

Taber, K. S. (Editor) (2007) Science Education for Gifted Learners, London: Routledge.

Taber, K. S. (2007) Enriching School Science for the Gifted Learner, London: Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme.

Mclaughlin, C., Black Hawkins, K., Brindley. S., McIntyre, D. and Taber, K. S. (Eds.) (2006) Researching Schools: Stories from a schools-university partnership for educational research, Abingdon: Routledge.

Kind, V. and Taber, K. S. (2005) Science: Teaching School Subjects 11-19, London: Routledge.

Taber, K. S. (2002) Chemical misconceptions - prevention, diagnosis and cure: Volume 1: theoretical background, London: Royal Society of Chemistry; Volume 2: classroom resources, London: Royal Society of Chemistry.

Chapters in Books include

Taber, K. S. (2009). Progressing the Constructivist Research Programmer to Advance Teaching and Learning about the Nature of Science. In I. M. Saleh & M. S. Khine (Eds.), Fostering Scientific Habits of Mind: Pedagogical Knowledge and Best Practices in Science Education (pp. 37-57). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

Taber, K. S. (2009). Learning at the symbolic level. Chapter 4, in J. K. Gilbert and D. F. Treagust (Eds.), Multiple Representations in Chemical Education (pp. 75-108). Dordrecht: Springer. ("This chapter…should be required reading for teachers and trainee teachers at all levels", IJSE)

Taber, K. S. (2008) Of Models, Mermaids and Methods: The Role of Analytical Pluralism in Understanding Student Learning in Science, in Ingrid V. Eriksson (Ed.) Science Education in the 21st Century, pp.69-106. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.

De Jong, O. and Taber, K. S.(2007) Teaching and learning the many faces of chemistry, in Abell, S. K. and Lederman, N. G., Handbook of Research on Science Education, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp.631-652 . (ISBN: 0-8058-4714-6)

Taber, K. S. (2004) Conceptual Development, in Alsop, S., Bencze, L. and Pedretti, E. (editors), Analysing exemplary science teaching: theoretical lenses and a spectrum of possibilities for practice, Buckingham: Open University Press, pp.127-135. [Introduction]

Taber, K. S. and Coll, R. (2002) Chemical Bonding, in Gilbert, J. K. et al., (editors) Chemical Education: Research-based Practice, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers BV, pp.213-234.

Journal papers include

García Franco, A., & Taber, K. S. (2009). Secondary students' thinking about familiar phenomena: learners' explanations from a curriculum context where 'particles' is a key idea for organising teaching and learning. International Journal of Science Education, 31(14), 1917-1952.

Taber, K. S. (2008) College students' conceptions of chemical stability: The widespread adoption of a heuristic rule out of context and beyond its range of application. International Journal of Science Education. (Published on-line 26 March 2008, DOI: 10.1080/09500690801975594.)

Taber, K. S. (2008) Exploring student learning from a constructivist perspective in diverse educational contexts. Journal of Turkish Science Education, 5 (1), 2-21.

Adbo, K. and Taber, K. S. (2008) Learners' mental models of the particle nature of matter: a study of 16 year-old Swedish science students. International Journal of Science Education. (Published on-line 03 January 2008, DOI: 10.1080/09500690701799383).

Taber, K. S. (2008) Exploring conceptual integration in student thinking: evidence from a case study. International Journal of Science Education, 30 (14), 1915-1943.

Taber, K. S. (2008) Conceptual resources for learning science: issues of transience and grain-size in cognition and cognitive structure. International Journal of Science Education, 30 (8), pp.1027-1053.

Tan, K. C. D., Taber, K. S., Liu, X., Coll, R. K., Lorenzo, M., Li, J., Goh, N.K. and Chia, L.S. (2008). Students' conceptions of ionisation energy: A cross-cultural study. International Journal of Science Education, 30 (2), pp.263-283.

Cokelez, A., Dumon, A, and Taber, K. S. (2008) Upper secondary French students, chemical transformations and the "register of models": a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Science Education. 30 (6), pp.807-836.

Taber, K. S. and Tan, K. C. D. (2007) Exploring learners' conceptual resources: Singapore A level students' explanations in the topic of ionisation energy. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 5, pp.375-392.

Taber, K. S. (2006) Towards a curricular model of the nature of science, Science and Education. (Published on-line first, 10.1007/s11191-006-9056-4, 40 pages.) [Abstract]

Taber, K. S. (2006) Constructivism's new clothes: the trivial, the contingent, and a progressive research programme into the learning of science. Foundations of Chemistry, 8 (2), pp. 189-219.

Taber, K. S. (2006) Beyond Constructivism: the Progressive Research Programme into Learning Science. Studies in Science Education, 42, pp.125-184.

Taber, K. S. (2005) Developing Teachers as Learning Doctors. Teacher Development, 9 (2), pp.219-235.

Taber, K. S. (2005) Learning quanta: barriers to stimulating transitions in student understanding of orbital ideas. Science Education, 89 (1), pp.94-116.

Taber, K. S. (2003) Mediating mental models of metals: acknowledging the priority of the learner's prior learning. Science Education, 87, pp.732-758.

Taber, K. S. (2003) Understanding ionisation energy: physical, chemical and alternative conceptions. Chemistry Education: Research and Practice, 4 (2), pp.149-169.

Taber, K. S. (2003) Lost without trace or not brought to mind? - a case study of remembering and forgetting of college science. Chemistry Education: Research and Practice, 4 (3), pp.249-277.

Taber, K. S. (2003) The atom in the chemistry curriculum: fundamental concept, teaching model or epistemological obstacle? Foundations of Chemistry, 5 (1), pp.43-84.

Taber, K. S. (2001) Building the structural concepts of chemistry: some considerations from educational research. Chemistry Education: Research and Practice in Europe, 2 (2), pp.123-158.

Taber, K. S. (2001) Constructing chemical concepts in the classroom?: using research to inform practice. Chemistry Education: Research and Practice in Europe, 2 (1), pp.43-51.

Taber, K. S. (2001) The mismatch between assumed prior knowledge and the learner's conceptions: a typology of learning impediments. Educational Studies, 27 (2), 159-171.

Taber, K. S. (2001) Shifting sands: a case study of conceptual development as competition between alternative conceptions. International Journal of Science Education, 23 (7), 731-753.

Taber, K. S. and Watts, M. (2000) Learners' explanations for chemical phenomena. Chemistry Education: Research and Practice in Europe, 1 (3), pp.329-353.

Taber, K. S. (2000) Chemistry lessons for universities?: a review of constructivist ideas. University Chemistry Education, 4 (2), pp.26-35.

Taber, K. S. (2000) Case studies and generalisability - grounded theory and research in science education. International Journal of Science Education, 22 (5), pp.469-487.

Taber, K. S. (2000) Multiple frameworks?: Evidence of manifold conceptions in individual cognitive structure. International Journal of Science Education, 22 (4), pp.399-417.

Taber, K. S. (1998) The sharing-out of nuclear attraction: or I can't think about Physics in Chemistry. International Journal of Science Education, 20 (8), pp.1001-1014.

Taber, K. S. (1998) An alternative conceptual framework from chemistry education. International Journal of Science Education, 20 (5), pp.597-608.

Watts, M. and Taber, K. S. (1996) An explanatory gestalt of essence: students' conceptions of the 'natural' in physical phenomena. International Journal of Science Education, 18 (8), pp.939-954.

Taber, K. S. and Watts, M. (1996) The secret life of the chemical bond: students' anthropomorphic and animistic references to bonding. International Journal of Science Education, 18 (5), pp.557-568.

Taber, K. S. (1995) Development of Student Understanding: A Case Study of Stability and Lability in Cognitive Structure. Research in Science and Technological Education, 13 (1), pp.87-97.

* A fuller list of Dr. Taber's publications is available