Berry Billingsley

Berry Billingsley specialises in Science Education and leads the LASAR (Learning about Science and Religion) Research Centre at Canterbury Christ Church University.

For more details about LASAR please see:

We are developing a national and international research and innovation strategy to open classrooms to Big Questions - and build learners' epistemic insight.

See:

The launch of the Epistemic Insight Initiative, 'Big QuestionsDay' was filmed by BBC Breakfast - see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07blqmv

Berry's interests include Epistemic Insight, young people's engagement in science, artificial intelligence, Big Questions bridging science, religion and the wider humanities and also the communication of science and technology news in the media. Berry's first career was with the BBC where she produced and presented television and radio programmes including BBC World Service's 'Science in Action', BBC TV's 'Tomorrow’s World' and BBC Education's 'Search out Science'.

Science education for various undergraduate and postgraduate teacher education courses.

Principal Investigator for the following grants

Evolution on Rural Tour, The Wellcome Trust, 2016, £19,983.
Research to discover the efficacy of science-related activities in raising primary and secondary school students’ understanding of global concerns relating to health and nutrition. Pearson, 2015, £20,000
Creating strategies for primary teachers to teach evolutionary science and its applications, The Wellcome Trust, 2014-15, £27,903
Being Human: Discovering and Advancing School Students' Perceptions of the Relationships between Science and Religion, Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF), 2014-17, £613,656
Evaluation of God and the Big Bang, TWCF, 2014-17, £75,400
Research to explore and evaluate the ways in which Exploring Science supports formative assessment, Pearson, 2014, £15,000
The Nature-Nurture narrative and other explanatory models of human behaviour in the Humanities curriculum for secondary schools in England, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, 2012-13, £20,000
The LASAR (Learning about science and religion) Project, the John Templeton Foundation, 2008-12, £547,000
Teaching Science to students with visual impairment funded by University of Reading in collaboration with Porto University, 2011, £900

Additional collaborative grants

The contribution of natural history museums to science education, PI Michael Reiss, The Wellcome Trust, 2014-5, £68,076

Research Projects

An Investigation into the Justification, Validation and Relevance of Practical Science in Secondary Education. Researcher(s): Mr Angus Hope. Supervisor(s): Dr Lee Hazeldine, Professor Berry Billingsley. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Cultivation of Quality, Efficiency, Systematic and Organisation - a Critical and Content Analysis on Recent Trends in Nigerian STEM education at Secondary and College Settings. Researcher(s): Mr Cyprian Alozie. Supervisor(s): Professor Berry Billingsley, Dr Ruth Rogers. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Dr Lloyd Hughes. Supervisor(s): Professor Lynn Revell, Professor Berry Billingsley. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Mr Thomas Fenley. Supervisor(s): Professor Lynn Revell, Professor Berry Billingsley. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Mr Nicholas Rogers. Supervisor(s): Dr John-Paul Riordan, Professor Berry Billingsley. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Dr Olufunbi Alaba Adesina. Supervisor(s): Dr Robin Precey, Professor Berry Billingsley, Dr Rebecca Austin. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Exploring parental and education and health professionals' perspectives on mobile and assistive technologies for KS3 students with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC). Researcher(s): Mrs Eliana Penn. Supervisor(s): Dr Sue Soan, Professor Lynn Revell, Professor Berry Billingsley. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Global Trends, Local Contexts: Ideological Positions and their Impact on Early Childhood Education Practices in Algeria. Researcher(s): Miss Bochra Tari. Supervisor(s): Dr Christian Beighton, Professor Berry Billingsley. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Immersive Technology in the Secondary School Classroom: can 3D colourised imaging of historical objects develop students’ understanding of the diversity of human experiences of the past?. Researcher(s): Mrs Faye Wills. Supervisor(s): Dr Lee Hazeldine, Professor Berry Billingsley. [Postgraduate Research Project]
Mathematics Teacher Education as a Scientific Discipline: Demarcation, Theoretical Foundation, Classroom Applications, Implications on Teacher Education Or Towards Efficient Mathematics Teacher Education: A Framework for PCK. Researcher(s): Mr Yaser Al-Hams. Supervisor(s): Professor Berry Billingsley, Professor Peter Vujakovic. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
Use of digital media to influence policy design - teacher podcasters, etc.. Researcher(s): Mr Kieran Mackle. Supervisor(s): Dr John-Paul Riordan, Professor Berry Billingsley. [Postgraduate Research Project]