Elizabeth’s research interests focus on mathematics classroom language. Her doctoral research involves using systemic functional linguistics to analyse classroom discourse on functions and graphs.
Elizabeth has taught mathematics at school and university level, including teaching undergraduate mathematics to prospective teachers. She was also a resource designer for the Underground Mathematics project.
Elizabeth has been involved in mathematics outreach for many years, including running Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclasses and volunteering for the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust.
Sarah has a background in Biodiversity and Natural Resources Management and Rural Community Development.
She has been working for the past 8 years in the sustainable development sector. Aware of the importance of educating students about biodiversity, natural resources, and environmental issues to promote the sustainability of the environment and our societies, Sarah is currently conducting her DPhil in environmental education. She will be assessing the integration of environmental education in the Lebanese curriculum, assessing the status of students’ environmental awareness, and identifying ways to enhance environmental education via the Threshold Concepts framework and via partnerships between the developmental and educational sectors.
Supervisors
Jenny Wynn and Steve Puttick
Publications
- Karam, S., Kreidy, C., Bechara, N., Bou Harb, C., Abu Nasr, Y., and Hamadeh, S. (2022) Promoting Innovative Alternatives – The Urban Oasis Case Study, The Blessed Tree Magazine November 2022
- Abi Said M., Bou Shroush J., Karam S., Shaib H. 2022. Intestinal parasites of Apodemus mystacinus along altitudinal stratification of Ibrahim River – Mount Lebanon. Annals of Parasitology, 68(2): 227-239.
- Karam, S., Martiniello, G., Chalak, A., Abi-Said, M., & Hamadeh, S. K. (2021). Biosphere Reserves in Lebanon: Rifts between Conservation Discourse and Practice. Sustainability, 13(22), 12411.
- Tawk, S. T., Chedid, M., Chalak, A., Karam, S., & Hamadeh, S. K. (2019). Challenges and Sustainability of Wheat Production in a Levantine Breadbasket. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 8(4), 1-17.
- Chedid, M., Tawk, S. T., Chalak, A., Karam, S., & Hamadeh, S. K. (2018). The Lebanese Kishk: A Traditional Dairy Product in a Changing Local Food System. Journal of Food Research, 7: 16.
- Abi-Said, M.R. and S. Karam. 2017. Morphological, cranial study and habitat preference of Mus macedonicus (Petrov & Ruzic, 1983) (Mammalia: Rodentia) in Lebanon. Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences 10(4): 235-237.
- Karam, S. & Issa, D. (2015). Évaluation de la biodiversité sur deux sections du LMT. The Magazine of the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association, 4.
Motema studied Neuroscience as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College in the USA and it is one of its courses, found interest in Education.
Motema then worked for various non-profit organisations in Lesotho and South Africa focusing on helping high school students from low SES backgrounds access opportunities to study in HE. In her Masters’ project Motema analysed Lesotho’s 2009 Curriculum and Assessment Policy. This analysis’ findings brought Motema to her current research interests which include gendered STEM education and decolonisation of education policies and curricula in Lesotho. For her DPhil project, Motema is interested in finding out the lived experiences of female Science teachers in Lesotho Secondary Schools especially focusing on the major changes in the Secondary school education system in Lesotho that have happened in the past five years as unique meeting points.
Supervisors
Ann Childs and Judith Hillier
Robert (Rob) Klassen joined the University of Oxford as Professor of Education in November 2023.
Rob was previously at the University of York, where he worked from 2012 as Professor and Chair of the Psychology in Education Research Centre. Before coming to the UK, Rob was Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta (2004-2012). Before entering academia he worked as an educational psychologist and high school teacher in his hometown of Vancouver.
Rob’s primary research interests are in building an understanding of teacher motivation and development across the career span and across countries. His current work aims to develop and test theory-informed technological interventions related to teacher and school leader recruitment, selection, and development.
Rob has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, chapters, and books. Recent projects have been funded by the ESRC, the ERC, GIZ, and the World Bank, with recent projects in the UK, Australia, Africa (Morocco, Kenya, South Africa), and Europe. He has served as advisor to education ministries in England, Africa, Australia, Europe, and South America. In 2023 he founded the spinout company, TSP, in collaboration with the University of York. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the American Psychological Association, and has served on editorial boards for the British Journal of Educational Psychology, the Journal of Educational Psychology, and the Oxford Review of Education.
Representative research includes:
On teacher recruitment: Klassen, R. M., Rushby, J. V., & Wang, H. (2023). Can an online scenario-based learning activity influence preservice teachers’ self-efficacy, person-vocation fit, and career intentions? Computers and Education, 207, 104935.
On teacher retention: Wang, H., & Klassen, R. M. (2023). Longitudinal relations between teachers’ utility values and quitting intentions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 127, 104109.
On teacher selection: Klassen, R. M., & Kim, L. E. (2021). Teacher selection: Evidence-based practices. Springer, ISBN 978-3-030-76186-8.
Rachel’s research focuses on exploring the experiences of ethnic minority trainee teachers with a view to better supporting their progress through teacher education and beyond.
Rachel received a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Birmingham. She later completed a PGCE in secondary science and an MSc in Teacher Education at the University of Oxford. She also has a MA in Photography.
Rachel taught physics for seven years in local Oxfordshire secondary schools, becoming a mentor to trainee science teachers and Head of Physics. She most recently worked on the second year Teach First science course at the Institute of Education at UCL and as a curriculum tutor on the Oxford science PGCE. She has taught the Teaching Physics in Schools option for second year physics undergraduates studying at Oxford for the past four years.
Laura is currently working on the FoSTER project which seeks to understand the range of ways that schools support teachers to engage with and in research across the UK and Ireland.
This involves conducting a survey of teachers’ engagement with/in research, followed by detailed case studies of schools who are successfully supporting teachers to engage with/in research. Laura is also a practising primary school teacher and is studying for an EdD Education at the University of Birmingham. Her research uses a constructivist grounded theory methodology to explore children’s lived experience of the maths mastery policy, through the lens of social justice.