Liam is a Senior Departmental Lecturer in Science Education, Course Director of the MSc in Learning and Teaching, and leads the Advanced Qualitative Research course for doctoral students across the Social Sciences Division. He also teaches on the PGCE Science programme, MSc in Medical Education, and supervises DPhil (PhD) students.

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

For example, he led the FoSTER Project, which sought to understand the range of ways that school’s support teachers to engage with and in research across the UK and Ireland, and conducted research on the first iteration of the ‘Researchers in Residence Scheme (RiRS)’ that is funded by the Teaching Council of Ireland. He was a team member of the H2020-funded ‘FEDORA’ project, focusing on future-orientated science education that includes future thinking skills and interdisciplinarity in a society of acceleration and uncertainty. Prior to his appointment as a lecturer, he was a post-doctoral researcher on the Oxford Argumentation in Religion and Science (OARS) project, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

He is currently conducting research projects on (1) capacity and culture for teacher education research, (1) epistemological belief development during the MSc Medical Education, and (3) the role of epistemic cognition in sentencing councils’ communication and consultation with the public.

As a qualified Emergency Medical Technician, he currently holds the role of 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.

Research

Book chapters

  • ERDURAN, S., GUILFOYLE, L., & PARK, W. (2024). Broadening STEAM Education Through Cross-Curricular Collaboration: The Case of Argumentation in Science and Religious Education. In Y. Li, Z. Zeng, & N. Song (Eds.), Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Education in STEM Changes and Innovations. Springer.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52924-5_12https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-52924-5_12

  • Chan, J., & Guilfoyle, L. (2023). Argumentation and religious education. In Debates in Religious Education: Second edition (pp. 190-198).
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003406280-19

  • Guilfoyle, L. (2022). Multicomponent and cognitive interviewing. In T. Delahunty & M. Ní Ríordáin (Eds.), Perspectives in Contemporary STEM Education Research Research Methodology and Design (pp. 110-119). Routledge.
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003108122https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:196c5e58-a9ec-4a9a-ac44-f1e081455ddf

  • Erduran, S., & Guilfoyle, L. (2022). THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHER EDUCATION. In Handbook of Research on Science Teacher Education (pp. 5-15).
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003098478-2

  • Erduran, S., & Guilfoyle, L. (2022). Learning to teach epistemic practices of science in secondary schools. In International Encyclopedia of Education: Fourth Edition (pp. 254-262).
    https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.04036-7

    • Journal articles

  • Guilfoyle, L., McCormack, O., & Erduran, S. (2024). The role of research experiences in developing pre-service teachers’ epistemic beliefs. Teaching and Teacher Education, 144, 104599-104599.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104599

  • Park, W., Erduran, S., & Guilfoyle, L. (2022). Secondary teachers’ instructional practices on argumentation in the context of science and religious education. International Journal of Science Education, 44(8), 1251-1276.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2022.2074565https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:28c46a38-8896-4166-8835-f11d2251f61d

  • van der Meer, L., & GUILFOYLE, L. (2022). Drawing on teachers’ professional expertise to develop an impactful EAL policy. Impact Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching, 15.

  • Cullinane, A., McGregor, D., Frodsham, S., Hillier, J., & Guilfoyle, L. (2022). Transforming a doctoral summer school to an online experience: a response to the COVID‐19 pandemic. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(3), 558-576.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13195https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:33b9f8f4-6887-47ab-b137-aaa845de398f

  • Fancourt, N., & Guilfoyle, L. (2021). Interdisciplinary perspective-taking within argumentation: students’ strategies across science and religious education. Journal of Religious Education, 70(1), 1-23.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-021-00143-9https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ae23c734-affd-404c-9871-f6eeb249704a

  • Guilfoyle, L., & Erduran, S. (2021). Recalibrating the evolution versus creationism debate for student learning: towards students’ evaluation of evidence in an argumentation task. International Journal of Science Education, 43(18), 2974-2995.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2021.2004330https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d20eacb1-5003-4f67-9d4d-a82c2956bfbf

  • Guilfoyle, L., Hillier, J., & Fancourt, N. (2021). Students’ argumentation in the contexts of science, religious education, and interdisciplinary science-religious education scenarios. Research in Science and Technological Education, 41(2), 759-776.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2021.1947223https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f6d787da-117d-4ba9-9ffe-3d9c1c27078b

  • Erduran, S., Guilfoyle, L., & Park, W. (2020). Science and religious education teachers’ views of argumentation and its teaching. Research in Science Education, 52, 655-673.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-020-09966-2https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ce490745-ebbc-4017-977e-b2e97d7aea7a

  • Guilfoyle, L., Erduran, S., & Park, W. (2020). An investigation into secondary teachers’ views of argumentation in science and religious education. Journal of Beliefs and Values: Studies in Religion and Education, 42(2 ), 190-204.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2020.1805925https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c57b7334-3bad-4006-94eb-61865090c199

  • Chan, J., Guilfoyle, L., & Fancourt, N. (2020). Argumentation in religious education in England: an analysis of locally agreed syllabuses. British Journal of Religious Education, 43(4), 458-471.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2020.1734916https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:145ee7f3-2532-4354-966e-13ecb31bc2eb

  • Guilfoyle, L., McCormack, O., & Erduran, S. (2020). The "tipping point" for educational research: The role of pre-service science teachers’ epistemic beliefs in evaluating the professional utility of educational research. Teaching and Teacher Education, 90.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103033https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e31a9013-0667-43b8-9df9-a2a80d034e99

  • Erduran, S., Guilfoyle, L., Park, W., Chan, J., & Fancourt, N. (2019). Argumentation and interdisciplinarity: Reflections from the Oxford Argumentation in Religion and Science Project. Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research, 1.
    https://doi.org/10.1186/s43031-019-0006-9https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:28d293cd-35ae-49d7-9fb3-4c72839e7922

  • O’Grady, E., Guilfoyle, L., & McGarr, O. (2018). "Biting one’s lip" and "distancing": exploring pre-service teachers’ strategies in dysfunctional professional relationships. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 46(4), 369-383.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2018.1469115https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:4a2299bc-fdae-445f-84db-7f808816b281

  • McGarr, O., O’Grady, E., & Guilfoyle, L. (2016). Exploring the theory-practice gap in initial teacher education: moving beyond questions of relevance to issues of power and authority. Journal of Education for Teaching, 43(1), 48-60.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2017.1256040https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:92c7d309-8629-435f-a7e7-95d2113bf6d0

  • Kelly, R., Erduran, S., Walshe, G., & Guilfoyle, L. (2016). STeP into Science Project: Engaging Students, Teachers and Parents in Debates. Seventh Science and Mathematics Education Conference (SMEC 2016).
    https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7b4f9f73-a90f-41d6-a9b6-546c64e00d11

  • Erduran, S., Guilfoyle, L., & Park, W. (n.d.). Broadening STEAM education through cross-curricular collaboration: the case of argumentation in science and religious education.
    https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:34c14590-31dc-42df-97bc-c0ff2c67b099

    • Other

  • Kelly, R., ERDURAN, S., Walshe, G., & GUILFOYLE, L. (n.d.). STeP into Science: Engaging Students, Teachers and Parents in Debates - Resources for Continuing Profession Development. https://www.academia.edu/29010716/STeP_into_Science_Engaging_Students_Teachers_and_Parents_in_Debates.

    • Funded Research Projects