John taught Science and Physics in secondary schools for fourteen years, including as a Head of Science. For three years, he worked part time at the University of Warwick on the Science PGCE course and part-time in school. He joined the University of Birmingham in 2007 as Lecturer in Science Education with a focus on Physics initial teacher education.
Kirkman, J.R. (2012) "Decisions about likelihood of veracity of news reports of science: The contribution of advanced knowledge of science." Paper presented at Researchers sharing with researchers. National Science Learning Centre, University of York, York. 2-4 July 2012.
Kirkman, J.R. (2011) “Pre-service teachers’ use of heuristics to evaluate scientific claims in Web-based news stories.” Paper presented at European Science Education Research Association Biannual Conference. Lyon, France. 5-9 September 2011.
Kirkman, J.R. (2010) "Trainee teachers’ evaluations of newspaper reports of scientific research: Inferences made with reference to scientific methodologies." ESERA PhD Summer School. Udine, Italy. 25-30July 2010.
Kirkman, J.R. (2010) Reading between the lines or reading ‘off the wall’ - interpreting media reports of science and their plausibility. Papers from the 9th Student Conference. University of Birmingham. 5 July 2010.
Kirkman, J.R. (2009) 8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas: Making judgments about ‘scientific’ knowledge claims. Papers from the 8th Student Conference. University of Birmingham. 4 July 2009.