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…
Do Primary Science Educators Know that Enquiry Based Learning is Problematic?
I’m looking for articles on direct, explicit instruction in primary science but there is almost none. I’ve gone through all…
My ResearchEd Norwich Talk on Visuals and Gesture in the Science Classroom
The slides are here
