This APU report for teachers focuses on students’ planning of investigations. Although considered important in several respects, Rep...

Published by the Wellcome Trust in October 201, this report looks at how one-year postgraduate Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses in England and Wales support trainees’ acquisition of subject knowledge and topic specific pedagogy across the sciences.

The study, which was the first of its kind to look...

The aim of this Ofsted survey was to analyse the elements of successful alternative provision. Alternative provision has been defined as education outside school, arranged by local authorities or schools. For the purpose of this survey, alternative provision was defined as something in which a young person...

Alternatives for Science Education was produced and published by the Association for Science Education (ASE) in 1979. Its sub-title, A Consultative Document, indicates its aim and status. In addition to being a document of considerable historical interest, it contains arguments of continued relevance.

The...

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...

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...

Published in December 2013.  The ASPIRES study sought to shed new light on our understanding of how young people’s aspirations develop over the 10-14 age period, exploring in particular what influences the likelihood of a young person aspiring to a science-related career.

This report presents key findings...

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...

This resource is a summary of a seminar organised by SCORE (Science Community Representing Education) in November 2009. The seminar aimed to discuss the purpose and methods of assessment of practical work in science. It also looked at the current GCSE specifications and the key philosophical differences of the...

In 2005 the Wellcome Trust commissioned this survey of teachers and managers in state maintained schools in England, focusing on three main aspects of continuing professional development (CPD):

• What do different types of teacher want from CPD?
• What are the benefits of CPD, and for whom?
•...

This report from Ofsted looks at low level classroom disruption. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) raised concerns about low-level disruption in schools in his Annual Report 2012/13. As a consequence, guidance to inspectors was tightened to place greater emphasis on this issue in routine inspections. In addition...