What makes effective science practical work?

by Pauline Hoyle

We  recently held a one day professional development day focussing on what makes an effective science practical. This post pulls together my presentation, including video interviews with Robin Millar from the University of York, Fred Young, Chief Executive of our partner organisation in Scotland, SSERC, and Ian Richardson a former HMI for Ofsted.

The slideshare presentation has links embedded to our YouTube site for the video presentations. You can watch the full playlist of science practical work videos there.

As part of the day we asked teachers to give their views, here are the post it notes, I’m afraid you may need a magnifying glass, but if you click on them they should become large enough to read.

Why do Practical Work?

Reinforces what you are doing?

Purposeful, real-life

Team work – responsibility

To make risk aware

What makes practical work effective?

Being clear about objectives

Well planned practical work

We have a range of  science practical work courses running across the network of Science Learning Centres and a specialist practical work course for PGCE graduates.

Psychology Training Courses – An interview with Jeremy Airey

In this pyschology video interview, Jeremy Airey outlines the national network of Science Learning Centre’s psychology training courses for teachers and lecturers. He articulates the importance of psychology teachers continuing their professional development throughout their psychology teaching career, particularly the importance of keeping in touch with contemporary psychology research.

This psychology video will be particularly useful for teachers who are considering options to improve their psychology teaching.  It outlines the various pyschology  training courses offered by the National Science Learning Centre and indicates which courses are best suited to various career stages or subject understanding.

The courses Jeremy refers to in the video are:

Starting out with Psychology Teaching and Learning

Going Further with Post-16 Psychology

Assessment for Learning – the teachers perspective

In our latest video, we interview three science teachers from across the British Isles who attended our Assessment for Learning course in York.  These are their opinions and thoughts.

If you can’t view YouTube videos you can also watch the video on the Leading Assessment for Learning in Science course page.

Improving Gifted and Talented Children in Primary Science

In this video Nicola Waller, Professional Development Leader, at the National Science Learning Centre talks about how her course will help primary teachers to develop their gifted and talented pupils.  The course is called Extending Gifted and Talented Children in Primary Science.

Valentine’s Day Science Lesson Planning Ideas

by Mark Langley.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, no doubt many of you will be looking for ideas to link your class activity with a day that may be on many of your students minds.  In our video, Mark Langley, one of the Professional Development Leaders at the National Science Learning Centre demonstrates how to make soft centred chocolates, using enzymes, which if created in a food safe environment, using food materials and following a scrupulous hygiene regime, can be eaten or given to loved ones.

This activity is a useful way to bring vocational science ideas into the classroom, and is a good demonstration of how science is applied in the real world – in this instance how creme eggs get their soft gooey centre.

If you have enjoyed this demonstration and are interested in learning about other ways and methods of delivering vocational science in your class activities, the network of Science Learning Centres has a range of vocational science courses going on across the country or you may be specifically interested in Mark’s own course BTEC and Applied: Successful pathways for 14 – 19 year Science.

You may also be interested in reading the National STEM Centre’s Valentine’s Blog.

Do you have any other Valentine’s Day Science activities you’d like to share?  How did they go?  How have you applied them?  Let us know and we can share them with others.

Class. Clips. Action!

By Maria Rossini

Using video footage in lessons has, thankfully, come a long way from the realms of tiny TVs on trolleys and remote controls without batteries.

Nowadays, the biggest bugbear is that many schools block online streaming from sites like You Tube.

Never fear though, there are some great sources of searchable clips, often tailored for education, that should make it safely through the fire-wall.

Where to find clips

Two excellent sources of video are the National STEM Centre e-library, and the BBC’s ‘class-clips’. Both are completely free to use, and should make it through firewalls as they are from trusted education sites.

Whether you are an early-years teacher looking for lambs or a secondary teacher covering the Big Bang, there are free clips available to help to inspire and inform your students.

Some BBC clips, such as ‘The Wonders of the Universe’ or ‘Inside the Human body’ are purposely tailored for education: They have the same look, feel and voice as the documentary, but with much more curriculum-linked concepts and vocabulary. That’s because the BBC occasionally makes clips alongside documentaries, consulting with teachers and education professionals to make them as useful as possible in the classroom.

Using clips in class

 Once you’ve found an inspirational clip, how can you make the most of it?

One technique featured in an  LSS[1] activity, is to give students the title of the video presentation before watching it. Ask them to note down what they would expect to find out, and what questions they have. After sharing these, watch the clip.  Any unanswered questions can become a research task/homework. This works well with topics where students might have some prior knowledge around the topic, like this one on the speed of light.

In another LSS activity, students watch once without writing (good for clips that have a ‘wow’ factor, like this one about sight). They then note their responses, what they learnt, and what questions they still have. After sharing these, they watch the clip again. It’s amazing how many of their questions they manage to answer on a second viewing!

There are lots of ways to integrate clips into lessons, but the best ones, including the two examples from LSS have some things in common:

Do:

• Watch with a purpose (either on a 1^st or 2^nd viewing)
• Engage students in their own learning – get them to pose questions
• Vary what you do – don’t always use clips in the same way
• Use clips as a springboard for:
  • Discussions (around content/ethics/how science works)
  • Productive/creative activity
  • AfL/APP activities

Avoid:

• Posing all the questions yourself
• Using clips as a time filler

Do you have any other do’s and don’ts or experiences with video in the class room that we could add to this?  Please comment.

Have you subscribed to the Science Learning Centres You Tube Channel?  Here you will find a range of testimonials about our courses, demonstrations by our technicians and views from our Professional Development Leaders.

---

[1] Learning Skills for Science helps teachers to integrate learning skills into the teaching of scientific content. At the moment LSS resources are only available to schools who have attended a Learning Skills for Science training course, run by the Science Learning Centres. Go to www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk for dates of training events.

Ice Melting Blocks Demonstration

In this video Simon Quinnell presents the ice melting blocks demonstration. This is a great demonstration to get students thinking about the heat conductivity of different materials.

The Science Learning Centres run a number of courses to help you diffuse thinking skills into your teaching. Click on the links below for more information:

Developing Thinking Developing Learning

Promoting Thinking and Talking in Science

Ice Melting Blocks Demonstration

►

Please ensure you undertake a full risk assessment before performing this demonstration and that it meets your institutions health and safety requirements. We also recommend you consult CLEAPSS or SERC.

Shaping Your Future in a Challenging Landscape

Professor Sir John Holman discusses the new government’s emerging priorities and proactive strategies for managing change:

Shaping-your-future-in-a-challenging-landscape

►

Related courses

Moving Forward with New Curriculum Developments
This course will provide an opportunity for primary and secondary schools to consider transition with a particular focus on progression in skills and assessment.
Find out more

Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP)

In this video Zoe Crompton discusses the benefits of implementing science APP in your school. APP is a structured approach to assessment that enables teachers to track pupils’ progress over time.

Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP) in Science

►

For more information read the Assessing Pupils’ Progress handbook on the National Strategies website.