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The Broadening Secondary School Science (BRaSSS) materials
By Michael J. Reiss, on 23 January 2023
We have finally got to the point where the materials we have produced in our ‘Broadening Secondary School Science’ (BRaSSS) project have been published. We have produced two sorts of materials: a teachers’ pack; and materials for students and teachers that are probably best described as rich lesson materials.
Lesson materials
The lesson materials have been written by Dr Jonathan Allday (physics), Professor Vanessa Kind (chemistry) and Professor Michael J. Reiss (biology). One can envisage two main ways in which school science might be made more interdisciplinary:
- Science lessons can include content from other subjects – for example, history or philosophy.
- Teachers of science can draw on teaching approaches more commonly used in other subjects – such as the more open-ended discussion one often gets in the humanities (e.g., RE), elements of role play (drama) and more emphasis on designing and testing objects (design and technology).
The materials for each lesson provide guidance for science teachers to enable science lessons to be more interdisciplinary, using either or both of these approaches. They have been produced to a common template, with the following headings typically used:
- Background, National Curriculum links and suggested aims
- Required teacher background knowledge
- Cross-curricular links
- Required student background knowledge
- Resources and timing
- Activities
- Formative assessment opportunities
- Extension activities
- Resource links.
Teachers’ pack
In the teachers’ pack, ‘Philosophy – a note’ has been written by Professor Michael J. Reiss, ‘History in science lessons’ by Dr Catherine McCrory, ‘Ethics in science lessons’ by Professor Michael J. Reiss and ‘Independent scientific research projects for year 8-10 students’ by Dr John L. Taylor. The philosophy note was added as a result of feedback received during the pilot, and briefly describes the relationship between philosophy and science.
The ‘History in science lessons’ chapter seeks to enable science teachers to go beyond simply using historical anecdotes as ‘garnish’ for their lessons. It therefore examines how good use of history in science lessons can strengthen the learning, and motivation, of students.
The chapter on ethics in science lessons is intended to provide four things:
- An introduction to the discipline of ethics, enabling science teachers more confidently and appropriately to include teaching about ethics in their science lessons, should they wish to.
- Examination of the question of whether ethics should be taught in school science lessons.
- Suggestions as to what student progression in ethical reasoning might look like – so that teachers can see whether students are indeed making progress.
- Suggestions as to how student understanding of ethics in science might be assessed.
The chapter on independent scientific research projects for year 8-10 students recognises that there is a growing literature on the benefits of students undertaking independent scientific research projects in school science. Here, the emphasis is specifically on how such projects can enable more interdisciplinary science teaching. It provides a number of approaches that teachers can use to help their students undertake interdisciplinary research projects, and gives a number of examples of students who have undertaken such projects.
Availability of materials
All materials can be downloaded free of charge from our project website https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-and-centres/departments/curriculum-pedagogy-and-assessment/broadening-secondary-school-science-2018-2022 under ‘Outputs’.
Professor Michael J. Reiss and Dr Tamjid Mujtaba, UCL
Opening minds with open questions.
By Tamjid Mujtaba, on 24 April 2019
Written by John Taylor
A great many of the questions asked during the course of everyday lessons are of the form: ‘Can you guess what I, the teacher, am thinking?’ There is an expected right answer, and relief all around, for both class and teacher, when someone guesses it. What are the 7 signs of life? Can anyone remember the equation linking work done, force and distance? What is the name of the second group in the periodic table?
These questions are the staple of much teacher-student dialogue. They are also closed questions: questions to which there is a single correct answer. Answering closed questions call for recollection, or intelligent guesswork. What closed questions don’t call for is independent thought, or reflection on the merits of alternative possible answers. As such, their value as promoters of learning by means of engaged inquiry is limited.
By contrast, open questions, questions to which there is no obvious right answer, are invitations to thought. I suggest therefore that asking questions to which there is more than one plausible, defensible answer is a good plan if our aim is to foster students whose experience of science is one of active, engaged, independent thinking, not passive reception of the right answers (where rightness is determined by the set of prescribed answers on the exam mark scheme).
Let me illustrate the educational potency of open questions with a question I posed to my year 9 students this week. It had been suggested to me by a colleague in our Learning Support Department. She had fallen into discussion with a group of students about whether you use more energy if you go up the stairs one at a time, or two at a time.
Broadening Secondary School Science
By Tamjid Mujtaba, on 6 February 2019
There is much that is good in England about school science. Compared to most countries, we have well qualified teachers and a tradition of practical work with employed laboratory technicians (at least in in secondary schools). As a society, we value science and many scientists are held in high esteem. However, we have one big problem. And that is that too many students by the time they are 16 are delighted to turn their back on the subject.
Many suggestions have been made as to how we can engage more young people with science. Our own work has shown that when teenagers recognise the ways that continuing with science can help them get good jobs, they are more likely to continue with the subject. But the fact remains that many teenagers find science too narrow for them. They feel that it doesn’t allow them to demonstrate creativity in the way that many other subjects, in particular the humanities, do. Science doesn’t feel part of their identity.
