Trying to understand why ‘Progressive’ and ‘Traditional’ teachers disagree

I’ve been re-reading a couple of books by ‘progressive’ academics who have been celebrated for trying to bride the gap … More

Using story books to overturn science misconceptions in young children

This is an amazing piece of research. The researchers were able to show that children as young as four are … More

How do we manage our working memories?

According to Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), we solve problems using our working memories. Once our working memories are confronted with … More

Inhibitory Control: how the brain supports working memory

Further Reading Diamond, A (2013) Executive Functions: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4084861/ EEF review: Stop and Think: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/learning-counterintuitive-concepts

How to ‘Rosenshine’ Your Primary Science Lessons

I have created a mini-workbook to go with this post in case it is helpful: here. If you haven’t heard … More

Visible Physics – My ASE Presentation

Many thanks to everyone who came. I really enjoyed it and am grateful to colleagues who chose to come. I … More

It’s Hand-Wavy, But in a Good Way

In class, I’m mostly watching hands. There’s a problem I like to set which gets people’s hands waving like windmills. … More

Using Visual Explanations Leads to Better Performance

I have been listening to Barbara Tversky’s wonderful new book: Mind in Motion, about the roots of thinking in the … More

A Short Booklet on What Research Says About Using Visuals in Teaching

Dear all, I have been thinking hard (and reading a lot) about using visualisations in class. Here is a booklet … More

My ASE Talk January 10th 2019 – How to Teach Problem Solving in Science (with added Bar-Models!)

I have planned the outline of my ASE Annual Conference talk (Thursday 12.00). It may develop a little, but the … More