Benefits to Secondary School Chemistry Teachers Who Have Brought Their Students to Engagement Activities With a University Chemistry Department - Continuing Professional Development by Diffusion?

Oct 15, 2026

Outreach activities led by university chemistry departments often focus on student impact, yet their effects on participating secondary teachers receive less attention. Long-term engagement by a cohort of secondary science teachers at a single Higher Education Institution was examined through interviews, with responses grouped into distinct impacts: pedagogical content knowledge, subject knowledge updates, university access, project funding, connections to learned societies, networking opportunities, and changes to teaching practice as forms of CPD.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Secondary teachers interview group

Questions asked

Question 1

Question 2

BENEFITS TO SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEACHERS WHO HAVE BROUGHT THEIR STUDENTS TO ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES WITH A UNIVERSITY CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT FOR SEVERAL YEARS; CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT BY DIFFUSION? Sarah R. Glover, Timothy G. Harrison, Dudley E. Shallcross Abstract. Outreach is often seen as only having an impact on the school students taking part rather than also having an impact on the accompanying teachers participating in university led outreach activities. A group of secondary school science teachers who have been long-term engagers in chemistry outreach at a single Higher Education Institution have been interviewed and their feedback has been grouped into several categories of impact; Pedagogical Content Knowledge, updating subject knowledge, access to the university, funding for projects, access to Learned Societies, networking opportunities and changing or otherwise affecting teaching practice. Many of these are aspects of continued professional development (CPD) that teachers are picking up subconsciously during the engagement. Key words: outreach, secondary school teachers, training, school teacher fellow, Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning 1. Introduction Outreach initiatives run by Higher Education Institutes are often focused on recruitment. The funders are interested in the value of an activity that can be demonstrated by the number of recruited students per unit cost. Therefore, big numbers reached at single events have historically been valued more highly than long-term partnerships or relationships engaging with a smaller number. However, there is little evidence to suggest that these kinds of large events result directly in higher recruitment numbers [1-7] . The School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol have run an outreach program since 2000. In 2005 the School of Chemistry became the UK’s Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) in practical chemistry, known as Bristol ChemLabS [8-10] . Hence, the Outreach program came under the auspices of Bristol ChemLabS from 2005 and is a significant component of the Bristol ChemLabS program, extending to secondary and primary school students and their teachers and the general public [9-11] . The Outreach program run under Bristol ChemLabS features a School Teacher Fellow who has been part of the program since the CETL started. The role and impact of the STF at Bristol ChemLabS and other Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) has been discussed in previous papers [12-14] and only will be briefly recapped here. In this instance the STF is a highly experienced secondary school chemistry teacher, but could be a teacher with a specialism in any of the sciences, chemistry, biology or physics. The STF was tasked with advising the School of Chemistry on congruence between the transition from post-16 study and first year undergraduate studies, supervising final year projects for undergraduates that were education based and expanding the Outreach program. Sustainability and the promotion of Chemistry is the focus of this Outreach program rather than on recruitment of new undergraduates. 2. Secondary teachers interview group A group of 9 chemistry teachers from a variety of schools types (Table 1) were identified from those that have been engaging in outreach since under the auspices of Bristol ChemLabS, i.e. for around 10 years. The teachers may have changed schools during this time but this is of no consequence as Bristol ChemLabS outreach is unusual as it links with teachers rather than schools. The teachers were given the opportunity to be interviewed in person or via the telephone at a place of their choosing. All teachers were sent the questions in advance. The teachers were also asked about the impacts of outreach on their students as part of the interview. That research is reported elsewhere. The responses to the two questions relating to impacts on the teachers themselves are reported here. All ethical consider

FAQs

What benefits do secondary chemistry teachers report from participating in university-led outreach?

Teachers describe multiple impacts, including growth in pedagogical content knowledge, updated subject knowledge, greater access to the university, funding support for projects, connections to learned societies, networking opportunities, and changes to teaching practice.

Why do outreach initiatives by Higher Education Institutes often prioritize student recruitment?

Funders tend to value measurable outcomes such as the number of recruited students per unit cost, which historically favors large events over long-term partnerships.

How was the impact on teachers investigated in the study?

A group of nine chemistry teachers who had engaged in outreach under Bristol ChemLabS were interviewed in person or by telephone, with their responses to questions about benefits to teachers analyzed separately from impacts on their students.

Oct 15, 2026

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