Biography

Liam is a Departmental Lecturer in Science Education. He teaches on the PGCE Science programme, the MSc in Learning and Teaching, MSc in Medical Education, and leads the Advanced Qualitative Research course for doctoral students across the Social Sciences Division.

He is also a current Co-Chair of the Oxford Research Society, the Research Representative on the University Personnel Committee, and a member of the Research Staff Consultation Group.

His research interests generally centre around (1) teachers’ engagement with and in research, and (2) epistemic beliefs, cognition, and practices within and across disciplines.

Liam is currently leading the FoSTER Project, which seeks to understand the range of ways that school’s support teachers to engage with and in research across the UK and Ireland. He is currently engaged in the H2020-funded ‘FEDORA’ project, focusing on future-orientated science education. Prior to his appointment as a Departmental Lecturer, he was a postdoctoral researcher for three years on the Oxford Argumentation in Religion and Science (OARS) project, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

He has also worked as a researcher on a range of other projects such as an FP7-funded in-service teacher education project on Inquiry Based Science Education (Chain Reaction), a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funded project focused on developing the teaching of argumentation on socio-scientific issues in second-level classrooms (STeP into Science), an evaluation of SFI’s national Celebrate Science Week, and a National Forum for Teaching and Learning commissioned exploration of non-accredited CPD for those who teach in Higher Education.

Liam serves as a member of the Teaching Council’s Research Engagement Group (REG) in Ireland, which works to promote teachers’ engagement with and in research. He has also been appointed as the Education Specialist on the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council’s Education and Training Standards Committee.  He is also a member of the Research Committee of NARST: A Worldwide Organization for Improving Science Teaching and Learning through Research, and he is an active member of the European Science Education Research Association. Liam reviews for a range of academic journals in science education and teacher education including the International Journal of Science Education, Science and Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, Research in Science & Technological Education, and Psychology Learning and Teaching.