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A public engagement event hosted by the Centre for Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck as part of Mars Week 2024.
Exploration of our Solar System has never been more exciting with many new space missions planned or on route to their distant destinations, promising to increase our understanding of the Universe and our place in it. Exploring the Moon and Mars has been at the forefront of our endeavours so far making discussion of how essential human-crewed missions are relative to future possibilities with robotic-only missions of great significance.
Our event 'Exploring the Moon and Mars: Are human missions essential or are robotics the future?' aims to highlight both sides of this exciting and topical debate. After hearing from our experts and delving deeper by asking them your questions, you can cast your own vote for Team Human or Team Robotic Exploration!
22
4/18/2024
We use maths in every aspect of our lives. We need numeracy at work, as citizens to make sense of economic news, as patients to understand risks, as consumers to work out the best deal; the list goes on. We've asked leading experts: if you were schools minister, what steps would you take to resolve this problem?
Maths is something that as a nation we're not good at, and poor numeracy costs individuals and the UK dearly. And despite this, it remains acceptable to say - boast even - 'I'm no good at maths'. Why do so many of us struggle with maths at school, and what can schools and parents do so that more children grow up enjoying this subject and confident in their use of numbers? Can we learn anything from other subjects, or other countries?
#IOEDebates
9
12/10/2019
The rise of neuroscience within education has been dramatic; accusations of 'neuro mania' and warnings about 'neuro myths' have become common place. Are we correct to pin our hopes on this field as a means of improving learning and attainment?
In this debate we bring together leading neuroscientists and educationalists to reflect on the 'state of the art' in (educational) neuroscience, future prospects for the field in providing insights into the learning process and the likely timescales for that, the ethical questions we could be considering now, as well as how we can collectively avoid the worst excesses of 'neuro-nonsense'.
#IOEDebates
32
12/6/2019
The Warnock Report marked a pivotal change in the provision of education for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) - encouraging these children's inclusion in mainstream classes, and introducing the system of 'statementing' that set out a child's needs and entitlement to additional support.
But much has changed in the intervening years - not least the increase in the number of children with SEND and the complexity of their needs, wider policies of parental choice and school accountability and, now, funding constraints on the availability of special school places and SEND support in mainstream classrooms. More recent years have also seen challenges to the bias towards inclusion.
In this context we have brought together reflections from Baroness Warnock herself and a range of perspectives to take stock of the Warnock Committee's recommendations - their underlying principles, their implementation, and their relevance for the future.
#IOEDebates
8
12/6/2019
In the age of robots and artificial intelligence, what kind of education will young people need to prosper, and can our current curriculum and testing regime deliver it?
There's a lot of talk at the moment about robots and artificial intelligence and how they are bringing about a 'fourth industrial revolution' in which occupations and the labour market, right up to the top professions like medicine and law, will be transformed.
The debate over whether schools should focus first and foremost on developing pupils' knowledge or pupils' skills is a long-running one; do current technological advances add a new dimension to that debate? Is it time for a more radical rethink of what and how we teach, or can a classic 'liberal education' - introducing children to 'the best that has been thought and said' in science and culture - continue to conquer all?
#IOEDebates
16
12/6/2019
Some schools have made a name for themselves in performing 'against the odds', their pupils chalking up impressive achievements in national tests and exams. But still there remains a link between schools' circumstances and their performance, and some glaring geographical disparities.
Breaking that link has been a focal point for education policy and many high profile organisations in education over the past two decades. There are occasional signs of progress, but they have often been modest and faltering. How far can we get with school-based interventions, and are there any such interventions, existing or hypothetical, that we should pursue with greater vigour?
Come and debate sector leaders' views on which policies and interventions we should prioritise in order to cut through this problem once and for all, and what wider reforms would best help more schools in challenging circumstances.
#IOEDebates
5
12/6/2019
It's a cause that's generated reams of policy wonkery, as well as a far-reaching education reforms - most recently the drive to provide 'powerful knowledge' for all in schools, through to the removal of the cap on university student numbers.
But is any of this really going to bring about the meritocracy that many say we should aspire to, and any time soon? What if we wanted quicker results?
Speakers
• Kate Pickett, Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York; co-author, 'The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone'.
• Lord David Willetts, the Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation
• Diane Reay, Professor of Education at Cambridge University
• James Croft, Chair of the Centre for Education Economics (CfEE)
Chair: Professor Becky Francis, Director of the UCL Institute of Education (IOE)
#IOEDebates
128
12/4/2019