This post is my response to reading the STAs 2018 Key Stage Two science monitoring report (here). We were due…
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…
How Much Enquiry In My Primary Science Curriculum?
I started writing a series of posts on inquiry learning vs explicit instruction earlier in the summer. Over this period…
What Science Enquiry Skills Should I Teach?
The problem with the word ‘enquiry’ is that it means so many different things. It can mean rich authentic science…
Three Questions to Ask about Your Science Enquiry Activity
I am an enquiry sceptic. Evidence shows that when inquiry-learning techniques are used in science, the outcomes are generally worse…
A Short Blog About the Quality of Short Written Responses.
A chemistry GCSE question An answer you might be pleased to see: The yield of methanol would decrease because a…
Bring Back Inquiry-Based Learning
Is there a place for inquiry based learning? The answer is “yes” but only under specific conditions. An analysis of…
When Might You Start Teaching the Idea of Surface Area?
Last week Adam Boxer tweeted this: Surface area is a powerful concept – students need to have a very well…
Classroom Intuition
“Whenever we can replace human judgement by a formula, we should at least consider it.” Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow…
Enquiry Belongs in Primary Physics – But Where?
Reasons for teaching physics in the primary curriculum include: to understand how the world works; to understand and contribute to…
