This study applied an unconventional use of past examination papers by converting questions into hands-on experiments for students. Students in an experimental group were engaged in use of those experiments while the remainder attended conventional lectures with written practice. The results reflect that the experimental group positively improved…

People use many different products made from plastics every day. But conventional plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) do not always have a good reputation in society at large. Bioplastics such as thermoplastic starch (TPS) promise to be better alternatives but are they really better than conventional plastics? This article presents a new…

Students at age 11 or 12 took a course where scientific skills were taught discretely rather than in an integrated approach alongside scientific knowledge and understanding. There is evidence that this may be a more beneficial approach for developing scientific skills. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

In 2000, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study was conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is a worldwide study of 15-year-old students' performance in mathematics, science and reading skills. The study showed relatively poor results for German students' scientific literacy…

Designing investigative skills sessions for key stage 5 students based on field research in the Ghanaian savannah prompted reflection on the similarities and differences in the ways farmers and students learned about and applied scientific methodology. Circumstantial constraints mean that farmers' experiments were less controlled than those…

Questionnaire responses from 5044 year 8 (age 12 years) pupils in Oxfordshire state schools were used to identify "exemplary" science teachers. These teachers met for a one-day forum to explore their perspectives on "exemplary" teaching. The key characteristics of exemplary practice to emerge related to teacher attitudes and…