Teaching ScienceIdeas and help for trainee Science teachers

Principles and Ideas in Science Education is a report, developed by a group of ten international experts in science education and edited by Wynn Harlen, sets out the principles that should underpin the science education of all students throughout their schooling.

It argues that students should be helped to develop ‘big ideas’ of science and about science that will enable them to understand the scientific aspects of the world around and make informed decisions about the applications of science.

The report outlines the 10 principles of Science education along with 14 big ideas in Science that all teachers should be able to understand.

It was published by the ASE and is freely available, as long as the sources are credited. You can download a copy here. It’s a must-read for all teachers and student teachers.

Here’s a new site that may be useful, What Works Well. I saw this at Teachmeet and it looked like it’s something to bookmark and keep an eye on.

WhatWorksWell is a growing database of case-led studies which describe learning improvement. It’s the place where teaching practitioners can share real studies which have improved learning and teaching. They are ‘case-led’ studies because they start and end with the learning needs of the pupils and the difference made to their progress. You can browse or search for case studies relevant to you. If you register, you can add your own case-led study to describe the impact of your own work on pupils’ learning.