International Society of Science Educators

(ISSE)

ISSE

• ISSE is a non-profit professional development society organized and directed by serving and retired science educators worldwide.

• ISSE aims to equip its members with the necessary skills and tools to meet the demands of their science disciplines in schools, colleges and universities.

• The beneficiaries are the students who get a well delivered comprehensive curriculum that prepares them for their respective careers.

ISSE

Membership: • Serving member £40• Retired member £10

Publication: • Science EDUCATORS Review (price £1)(NB: members half price)

ISSE

Member benefits include:• Conferring of Certified Science Educator (CSE) to

those who satisfy the set criteria and pass the certification examination

• Magazine called Science Educators Review• Activities such as Educators Competitions,

seminars, conferences, exchange visits, Student Contests, etc. NB: ISSE members do not pay for competitions but non-members pay £10 per competition.

ISSE

Headquarters: • Nottingham, UK NB: the Secretariat is responsible for all the society activities, including overseeing the election of Office bearers. This is in liaison with SCHCOLUNI EDUCATION RESOURCING.

ISSE

Office bearers (5 years) positions include:• President• Vice president• Organising secretary• Deputy organising secretary• Liaison officer• Deputy liaison officer

ISSE

2015 EVENTS:• Skills training. Half Price for members.• Educators sports competitions i.e. Darts, Scrabble and

Chess.• Student competitions i.e. Kick-up (football), Individual

Talent Quiz, Amateur Scientist Competition (writing), Contests (Primary Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc.)

• NB: competition awards days communicated annually to winners by ISSE Secretariat in conjunction with Schcoluni Education Resourcing.

ISSE

First task for society:• Make changes to titles in science like Dr, Prof, etc. No

one to hold title of Dr unless they have done PhD. Those who go through medical training to have title Med, those who do any MSc in ‘science’ to have title Sci, those who do any engineering to have title Eng, those who do veterinary to have title Vet, dentistry Dent, pharmacy Pharm, etc.

• This to be extended to other disciplines e.g. architecture Arch, geography Geog, geology Geol, anthropology Anthr, history Hist, education Educ, etc.

What qualifies for Sci?

• Chemistry and allied, biology and allied, biochemistry and allied, physics and allied, biophysics, genetics and allied, biotechnology and allied, biological sciences like immunology and allied, microbiology and allied, bacteriology and virology, the ‘omics’, biomedical, etc.

• NB: ‘allied’ needs to be well interpreted to get it right first time….for there will not be comebacks soon….changes take a long time to come by!

What qualifies for Sci?

• The old disciplines of parasitology, zoology, botany, entomology, mycology, ecology, taxonomy, etc.

• These shall be permitted with the full knowledge their variants will dominate sooner than later, allowing a transition from old to new….which is crucial and in order. NB: they remind us how far we have come!

What happens to clinical disciplines?

• One enters medicine and then branches out into the options. All the disciplines are about treating an individual, be it the eye (optician), heart (cardiologist), skin (dermatologist), etc. All of them shall qualify with the title Med and shall presumably work in hospitals. If they want to enter research, then their title shall reflect that i.e. Medsci. Conversely, if a Sci trains as a medic, the title becomes Scimed.

Who then shall be called Dr?

• All those who successfully complete their PhD/Doctorate studies via research.

• Those whose doctorate studies are not fully by research of an investigative type/quantitative shall have a different format e.g. one in education shall have title EdDoc, law LawDoc, history HistDoc, art ArtDoc, music MusDoc, theology TheolDoc, etc. Such titles shall be subordinate to Dr but superior to Med, Sci, Hist, Geog, etc. Henceforth, there shall never be honorary Dr or XyzDoc….it is illegal and the guilty universities shall forthwith be blanked out into oblivion.

Who shall be called Prof?

• This is the ceiling for titles. Therefore the bearers must be of the highest standards possible to man. The conferring of the title shall be a concerted effort of scholars and colleagues in respective fields with the full knowledge of the burden that goes with the title. NB: the title can only be agreed upon if the candidate has held the title of Dr for more than ten years or XyzDoc for more than fifteen years, irrespective of the discoveries thereof!

New formats of Prof

• ProfMed, ProfSci, ProfArt, ProfHist, ProfVet, ProfPharm, etc. This introduces clarity and bearers are easily interpreted. It also spells the careers/disciplines, giving students a clearer picture re pathways….promotes the respective disciplines.

• It is such bearers who can only hold faculty positions e.g. dean, principal, chancellor, etc. This is in order. NB: they can be relied upon!