Superficial knowledge is poor stuff – even carefully curated, well taught superficial knowledge. It isn’t satisfying and isn’t likely to … More
Category: problem solving
Where Does Enquiry Belong?
Short answer: in science lessons, use enquiry once pupils already know the content. You might ask: Why use a pedagogical … More
Micro-Enquiry: something to try?
English year 5 pupils scored pretty well on the TIMSS 2019 science enquiry questions. In this post I will: describe … More
The Problem Solving Methods Learners Use – and How to Develop Them
Solving problems, especially in physics, has been well studied (e.g. Larkin, McDermott, Simon and Simon 1980: here and Chi, Glaser … 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
Using Multiple Choice Questions to Assess High-Level Thinking in Science
We are very good at assessing retrieval through multiple choice questions (MCQs): they are easy to write and quick to … More
A Visceral Hinterland in Physics
Underneath it all, physicists think with their bodies. They know what it feels like. Einstein described his approach to problem-solving … 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
Solving Problems with Diagrams
When physicists are presented with a problem, they reach for a pen and scrap of paper. Sometimes we go straight … 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
