Professor Michael Reiss

  • Qualifications and position:
    • MA, PhD, PGCE, MBA, FSB, FRSA
    • Assistant Director of Research, Consultancy and Knowledge Transfer
    • Professor of Science Education
  • Faculty:
    • Faculty of Culture and Pedagogy
  • Department:
    • Department of Geography, Enterprise, Mathematics and Science
  • Summary:
    • My research, teaching and consultancy are in science education, bioethics and sex education. After a PhD and post-doctoral work in animal behaviour and evolutionary biology at the University of Cambridge, I trained to be a teacher and taught in schools before starting an academic career in education.
  • Teaching:
    • I teach on the MA in Science Education and in the Doctoral School (EdD and PhD).
  • Research Projects:
  • Postgraduate Research:
    • My main areas for doctoral supervision are science education, sex education and bioethics.
      My current doctoral students are:
      • Dee Cavender (USA, 2009-present)
      • Catherine Lee (England, 2009-present)
      • Tamjid Mujtaba (England, 2009-present)
      • Anna Nicolaou (Cyprus, 2008-present)
      • Jen Jamieson (England, 2008-present)
      • Colin Rawlins (England, 2008-present)
      • Perle Brewster (England/Trinidad, 2006-present)
      • Ruth Amos (England, 2006-present)
      • Juliette Fritsch (England, 2005-present)
      • Amanda McCrory (England, 2005-present)
      • Jaya Naugah (Mauritius, 2003-present)
  • Professional Activities:
    • I am Chief Executive of Science Learning Centre London, Vice President of the British Science Association, Honorary Visiting Professor at the Universities of Birmingham and York, Docent at the University of Helsinki, Director of the Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology Project, a member of the Farm Animal Welfare Council and editor of the journal Sex Education.
  • Conferences/presentations:
    • • Mathematics and physics participation in the UK: influences based on analysis of national survey results (British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, 2010)
      • The legacy of the 1860 Huxley-Wilberforce debate (British Science Association, 2010)
      • How should schools and museums respond to creationism? (Open University Joan Solomon memorial lecture, 2010)
      • The benefits of residential fieldwork for school science: insights from a five-year initiative for inner-city students in the UK (European Researchers in Didactics of Biology, 2010)
      • Post-16 participation in physics and the factors that influence it (National Association for Research in Science and Technology Meeting, 2010)
  • Personal Country Knowledge:
    • • Egypt – Science education and environmental education
      • Iceland – Science education
      • Japan – Science education and sex education
  • Languages Spoken:
    • French (basic)
      German (basic)
Professor Michael Reiss

Contact details

Contact details

  • Name: Alison Ma'ayan, PA
  • Email:
  • Email:

  • Address:
  • Institute of Education
    University of London
    20 Bedford Way
    London WC1H 0AL

  • Office Location:
  • Room 536
    20 Bedford Way, WC1H 0AL

Publications

  • Collins, C., Reiss, M. and Stobart, G. (in press) 'What happens when high-stakes testing stops? Teachers' perceptions of the impact of compulsory national testing in science of 11 year olds in England and its abolition in Wales', Assessment in Education
  • Reiss, M.J. (2010) 'Science and religion: implications for science educators', Cultural Studies in Science Education 5, 91-101.
    Further information
  • Jones, A., McKim, A. and Reiss, M. (eds) (2010) Ethics in the Science and Technology Classroom: A New Approach to Teaching and Learning. Rotterdam: Sense.
    Further information
  • Reiss, M.J. (in press) 'Imagining the world: the significance of religious worldviews for science education', Science and Education
    Further information
  • Reiss, M. (2009) Assessing Ethics in Secondary Science. London: Nuffield Foundation.
  • Reiss, M.J. (2008) 'The use of ethical frameworks by students following a new science course for 16-18 year-olds', Science and Education 17, 889-902.
  • Reiss, M.J. (2008) 'Should science educators deal with the science/religion issue?', Studies in Science Education 44, 157-186.
    Further information
  • Caccavale, E. and Reiss, M. (2008) 'Miracles, monsters and disturbances' In Levinson, R., Nicholson, H. and Parry, S. (eds), Creative Encounters: New Conversations in Science, Education and the Arts. London: Wellcome Trust.
    Further information
  • Reiss, M.J. (2007) 'What should be the aim(s) of school science education?' In D. Corrigan, J. Dillon, and R. Gunstone (eds), The Re-emergence of Values in Science Education. Rotterdam: Sense, pp13-28.
  • Jones, L. and Reiss, M.J. (eds) (2007) Teaching about Scientific Origins: Taking Account of Creationism. New York: Peter Lang.
  • All publications