On 3rd September 2025 The Strathclyde University Physics Education Research (SUPER) Group hosted a fact-finding discussion about current issues in Scottish Physics Higher Education attended by a number of teaching staff from across the country.
To set the scene and focus discussions, Dr Iain Moore presented a little bit of background about the work that the group had done to investigate practical skills in the secondary sector which had led to discussions within Dept of Physics about if and how these changes would impact their degree.
Physics HE participants were asked to discuss topics of transition, resilience and practical labs to identify if they thought things were changing, what activities had been embedded or removed over time to address changes and whether they saw any challenges in the near future. Discussions were conducted in an open manner with knowledge these were not recorded – only anonymous post-it notes were collected. The afternoon used a similar format with discussions turning to the more positive “what can be done about it and what can we do together”.
The information recorded will be transcribed, analysed by non-participants, reported anonymously and reported in a paper about the current issues in Scottish Physics HE. Those who couldn’t come along on the day were invited to share views and opinions via a questionnaire and this will be analysed alongside the data collected on the day. The information will inform bids for collaborative Physics Education Research (PER) funding, themes for future inter-university PER or training activities and will develop greater networking about Physics HE teaching and learning via the SUPA network. Participants were keen to start networking and suggested topics such as laboratory skills and GenAI amongst others. We encourage you to contact us at SUPER if you want to collaborate.
After plenty of cakes and discussion the event was rounded off by a short presentation by Dr Nic Labrosse who introduced a recent Institute of Physics Publication “A Vision for Physics Higher Education Research in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland”. This presentation focused on the analysis of research done into how the field of PER has grown and what can be done to continue to support it.
Summarising the event, SUPER group member, Laura Gray said: “It was great to have participants from a variety of institutions and job families. Everyone was clearly invested in the discussions, and there was a real collaborative effort to understand what the challenges are, and how these can be addressed. There was a feeling that the opportunity to get different Physics HE educators together allows for the sharing of ideas to consider how we can support our students to become the next generation of Scottish physicists.”
The SUPER group acknowledge the support of the IOP Scotland committee and IOP Higher Education Group for financial support to enable those travelling significant distances across the country to attend.
Report from Helen L Vaughan on behalf of the SUPER group.