Practical work: the essence
of school science
John Holman
National Science Learning Centre
Improving Practical Work in Science
Sputnik 1, Launched by USSR,
October 1957
Practical work survey
•Carried out by the Science Learning Centres as part of
the ‘Getting Practical’ project with the Association for
Science Education
•Published March 2010
•1339 responses from science teachers and technicians
•Analysis and report by Kirstie Hampson
Top reasons for doing practical work
•Helping learners to understand scientific concepts (88%)
•Making phenomena more real i.e. linking theory to practice
(84%)
•Helping learners to develop skills e.g. observation, using
equipment (82%)
•Motivating learners (81%)
•Helping learners to develop understanding of scientific
enquiry (80%)
Percentage of teachers undertaking
practical work for more than 40% of
teaching time
•
Key Stage 3
63%
•
Key Stage 4
43%
•
Post 16
28%
What factors hinder you from
undertaking practical work?
•Curriculum pressure i.e. curriculum too full (69%)
•Curriculum pressure i.e. assessment demands too frequent
(41%)
•Poor learner behaviour (29%)
•Lack of funding for or availability of suitable equipment (25%
and 20% respectively)
•Lack of time to research suitable ideas for practical work
(21%)
•Health and safety (<10%)
‘Pressure from timetabling and
results precludes practicals unless
they are directly related to
coursework’
Factors contributing to effective
practical work
•The availability of quality equipment and good laboratory
layout (33%)
•Learner engagement and good behaviour (23%)
•Time to plan and prepare beforehand and time to carry out the
work (21%)
•Support from technicians and teaching assistants (20%)
•Clear purpose for the practical, strong links to theory and
relevance to the topic or curriculum (20%)
What additional support would make
your practical work more effective?
•Smaller class sizes (67%)
•More time for planning (57%)
•A less content-heavy curriculum (43%)
•Easy access to new ideas (43%)
•More technicians and teaching assistants (19%)
‘Can I make a plea for better
pay and conditions for
technicians so we can keep
them?
Teacher Respondent
Professional development in
practical work
•45% of respondents wanted more CPD
•30% specify CPD relating to subject knowledge
•15 % specify CPD relating to classroom management
For a good overview of the purposes
of practical work in school science
Robin Millar, for the US National Academy of Science:
Millar, R. (2004). The role of practical work in the
teaching and learning of science
Available at:
http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Millar_draftp
aper_Jun_04.pdf
Science without practical work
is like literature without books
Science Learning Centres survey on
dissection
•Published Summer 2009
•Responses from 242 institutions
Science Learning Centres survey on
dissection
•95% of institutions do some form of dissection
•
- KS3
79%
•
- KS4
94%
•
- Post 16
91%
•Only 19% of institutions do whole animal dissection
•Two thirds of respondents feel they do not do enough
dissection
How the world’s best-performing school
systems come out on top
McKinsey, September 2007
‘Above all, the top performing systems demonstrate that
the quality of an education system depends ultimately on
the quality of its teachers’
Future challenges
•Trend to shorter lessons and compartmentalised
curricula - militates against longer learning experiences
•Keeping up with developments in modern biology
•Pressures from exams and ‘rarely cover’ on field work
and CPD
•Economic pressures, leading to reductions in
technicians, staffing and equipment budgets and
increase in class sizes.