This report, published by the Nuffield Foundation in July 2009, examines the major issues of policy and practice surrounding applied science qualifications, taking account of empirical evidence where it is available. The report is centred on the following questions:

• what is distinctive about applied...

More complex careers, with more options in both work and learning, are opening up new opportunities for many people.  However they are also making decisions harder for young people and adults given the financial and emotional penalties associated with making wrong decisions.

There are around 1.09m young...

The main purpose of this booklet is to provide a tool for analysing science practicals to clarify their objectives, highlight main features, and evaluate their effectiveness.

The Practical Activity Analysis Inventory (PAAI) is intended to be a useful tool which will stimulate thought about practical...

A Catalyst article about ice cores from Antarctica which contain air bubbles which record the changing atmosphere. The Antarctic ice sheet is over 3 kilometres thick; ice cores enable scientists to sample each year of snow fall in sequence. This evidence is vital in understanding how the climate is changing. The...

A Catalyst article looking at how research using animals causes heated debate. New drugs must be safety tested on two species of animals, the article looks at how many experiments use animals and how they are regulated, scientific procedures and genetically modified animals.

This article is from Catalyst:...

This Catalyst article describes how bacterial colonies produce antibiotics and explains how their growth depends on the medium they grow on. Over sixty years ago, a Russian soil scientist called Selman Waksman discovered that soil bacteria belonging to the Streptomyces genus produce some very useful...

A Catalyst article about the role of environmental scientists working for a local authority. Climate change science needs to be applied to everyday life and this article explains how local authorities and their staff are often in the front line applying the science and making it work for public benefit.

This...

A Catalyst article about recent expeditions to the Arctic Ocean which have revealed previously-unknown deep-sea coral reefs. The article explains how these havens of biodiversity survive, and how human activities are damaging them.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2007, Volume 18,...

This Catalyst article explains how artificial photosynthesis could provide a useful energy supply and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Experiments are underway in labs around the world. The aim is to use the basis of Photosynthesis to recycle the huge amounts of Carbon Dioxide being emitted...

This report was commissioned by the National Curriculum Council to look at the developments in design and technology education, soon after it was introduced to the National Curriculum. The article outlines some general features of the design and technology curriculum and looks at the importance of managerial as...

The aim of this Children’s Learning in Science Project (CLIS) research study was to describe aspects of secondary school students’ ideas about light and to set these in the context of results from other studies in the area and of the history of ideas about light and...

The report from the Children’s Learning in Science Project (CLIS) gives an account of a number of aspects of students’ ideas about energy including:

*Do students use ideas about energy spontaneously to help them interpret phenomena?

*When students are ‘cued’ that energy is involved in a situation,...

The report from the Children’s Learning in Science Project (CLIS) gives an account of a number of aspects of students’ understanding of plant nutrition including:
*To what extent do students understand that plants carry out autotrophic nutrition and not...

The report from the Children’s Learning in Science Project (CLIS) gives an account of a number of aspects of students’ ideas about particles including:
*What do students understand about the particulate nature of matter?
*Do they understand the scientific...

This report, published in 2009, is based on a seminar held in London in 2008 at the Nuffield Foundation. It discusses why teaching ethics in science is important and examines approaches to the assessment of ethics in science considering key issues, such as the importance of ethical debate in science classes, the...