English year 5 pupils scored pretty well on the TIMSS 2019 science enquiry questions. In this post I will: describe … More
Category: solving problems
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
Developing better diagrams for problem solving
This post about an approach to developing better diagrams for problem solving from Barbara Tversky’s book: Minds in Motion. I’ve … More
Up and Down the Ladder of Abstraction
Yesterday I wrote about the importance of physical, experiential knowlegde of physics: a sense of forces and flow; of motion … 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
How To Draw Like a Physicist
Physicists are often mocked for their drawing skills – they are misunderstood. You too can draw like a physicist using … More
Ratio, Load and Difficulty – 3 Lesson Sliders
In my mental lesson control booth, I have three sliders I try to get right. Ratio The first slider is … More
The single most important thing for teachers to know…
Dear Reader, There is a lot being written about Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and how important it is. I have … More
Reading for Learning 