ATSE/NAIGS Joint Summer Conference 2014
‘Supporting Professional Learning’:
the Conference for Expert Science Educators
Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th July 2014
at the Fielder Centre, University of Hertfordshire,
Hatfield, Herts.
Sessions will include a varied programme of presentations, seminars, and
workshops, and will bring together leading researchers, tutors, education
advisers and strategists from key institutions and organisations to offer
ATSE and NAIGS members a stimulating update on the main
developments, issues and research in science education.
1
Physics Tutor Update:
Practical work and the
new curriculum
Tuesday 22nd April 2014
Ofsted, 21 Nov 2013:
Maintaining curiosity: a survey into
science education in schools
Recommendations
• The Department for Education (DfE) and The Office of
Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual)
should:
– ensure that qualifications include assessment of the
skills needed for scientific enquiry.
3
Ofsted recommendations (cont.)
• …….opportunities for illustrative and investigative scientific enquiry
were limited, and so was the achievement of students. [Students]
achieved their GCSE grades but not the science practical
skills they needed at the next stage. Sixth-form teachers told
inspectors that this lack of practical skill is revealed starkly for many
students at A level, as they try to catch up with the demands of accurate,
individual practical and experimental work.
• A small but important minority of secondary schools had limited
laboratory space, forcing science lessons into ordinary classrooms. This
was the case in two brand-new schools that had been built
without regard for the needs of investigative science. This
limited the amount of practical work that could be planned and also
eliminated opportunities for teachers and students to illustrate new
ideas that emerged spontaneously through class discussion
4
GCSE and A level science reform timeline
• New science GCSEs to be introduced (for 1st teaching) in
2016, and 1st examined in 2018
• New AS and A levels to be introduced (for 1st teaching) in
2015, and 1st examined in 2017
– Maths and Further maths not until 2016
6
Who has been doing what regarding A level?
•
http://ofqual.gov.uk/qualifications-and-assessments/qualification-reform/a-level-reform/
• Prof Smith report to Ofqual July 2013
Physics, category 2 (minor changes)
– Resolve issues about assessment of practical skills
– Exemplify mathematical skills and agree on assessment
weighting
– Work with other sciences to agree assessment objective
weightings
– Resolve tensions with emerging physics GCSE
• The A Level Content Advisory Board (ALCAB)
• Subject panels in Maths, MFL, Geography
7
What we’ve [Ofqual] decided about assessing
sciences at A level
• Students will carry out practical work (it will be a content
requirement for the qualification).
• They will get a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ grade for this practical work,
which will be separate from their grade for the written
exam.
– Exam boards will set out requirements for practical
skills. Each student will need to carry out a minimum of
12 practical activities. The written exams will include
questions in the context of these, and other, practical
activities. To get good marks, students will need to show
knowledge and understanding of the experiments that
they have gained through doing them.
– http://ofqual.gov.uk/news/gcse-a-level-as-qualification-updates-ofqual/
9
Leading scientists attack end of link between
A-level grades and practical skills
• Ofqual says it has worked with higher education to identify
12 practical activities for each of the three separate sciences
that pupils will be required to carry out during their two
year A-level courses.
• But of the six universities that responded to the regulator’s
consultation, only one agreed with the plan.
• Ms Stacey said that schools would have to keep a log of all
practical activities completed and that exam boards would
carry out “live checks” on schools to moderate the work.
•
http://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/04/09/leading-scientists-oppose-a-level-lab-work-change.aspx
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Responses:
•
http://www.score-education.org/media/14546/score%20response%20to%20alevel%20announcement%20final.pdf ASE, IoP, RS, RSC, SoB
•
http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/british-scienceassociation/news/keep-science-science-levels
•
http://sciencecampaign.org.uk/?p=13927 CaSE
•
http://www.sciencecouncil.org/content/essential-uk-economy-practical-skillsare-heart-levels CEO Diana Garman – driving test analogy
•
http://www.icheme.org/media_centre/news/2014/skills-undermined-byscience-a-level-changes.aspx
•
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/2014/WTP056222.htm
•
http://www.gatsby.org.uk/~/media/Files/Education/Practical%20Science%20
Policy%20Note%20Addendum.ashx Suggestions for practical assessment
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10 April 2014: Ofqual letter to Prof. Lord Robert Winston
• The content for the new A levels…….require students for the new
syllabuses to carry out experimental and investigative activities…...
• Some of the practical skills ………will then be assessed indirectly in
written examinations. To get good marks in their A level examination,
students will have to show knowledge and understanding of the
experiments that they have gained through doing them.
• Skills that require direct assessment, such as making and recording
observations, and safely using instruments to dissect an animal organ,
will be assessed directly by teachers. These assessments will be made
during the minimum of 12 practical activities that each student will
have to carry out during their A level course. Exam boards are presently
developing the assessment criteria for these skills. Those students who
show that they have developed these practical skills to a suitable level
will receive a separate grade for them on their certificate.
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Ofqual, 9 April 2014
In a package of announcements today, Ofqual:
• Confirms assessment arrangements for new A levels in: the
sciences (biology, chemistry, physics)………– to be
introduced for first teaching in 2015
• Confirms the regulatory arrangements for new AS levels
• Confirms assessment arrangements and structure of GCSEs
in geography, and history and confirms intention to reconsult on assessment arrangements for GCSEs in
the science subjects
•
http://ofqual.gov.uk/news/gcse-a-level-as-qualification-updates-ofqual/
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[GCSE] Sciences (biology, chemistry, physics and
double award science) – to be taught from 2016
• In response to the consultation, a number of people said that if
only 10 per cent of the marks were allocated to practical
assessments the importance of practical skills would be
devalued……
• In light of the concerns about our initial proposal for GCSE
science skills and the developments in A level science, we have
decided to do further work and consult again before
deciding how practical science skills should be assessed
in GCSEs. As new science GCSEs will not be taught until
September 2016 there is time for this. Once we have decided on
the approach to assessing practical skills DfE will finalise the
content on which the qualifications will be based.
•
http://ofqual.gov.uk/news/gcse-a-level-as-qualification-updates-ofqual/
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ATSE/NAIGS Joint Summer Conference 2014
‘Supporting Professional Learning’:
the Conference for Expert Science Educators
Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th July 2014
at the Fielder Centre, University of Hertfordshire,
Hatfield, Herts.
Sessions will include a varied programme of presentations, seminars, and
workshops, and will bring together leading researchers, tutors, education
advisers and strategists from key institutions and organisations to offer
ATSE and NAIGS members a stimulating update on the main
developments, issues and research in science education.
17
Use of apparatus and techniques - physics
Specifications for physics must give students opportunities to use relevant apparatus to develop and demonstrate these
techniques.
All of the techniques listed below will be assessed through a minimum of 12 identified practical activities within each
specification. These ‘core’ practicals must allow students to demonstrate all of the practical skills given in appendix 5b.
Practical techniques to be gained by candidate
1.
use appropriate analogue apparatus to record a range of measurements (to include length/distance, temperature, pressure,
force, angles, volume) and to interpolate between scale markings
2.
use appropriate digital instruments, including electrical multimeters, to obtain a range of measurements (to include time,
current, voltage, resistance, mass)
3.
use methods to increase accuracy of measurements, such as timing over multiple oscillations, or use of fiduciary marker, set
square or plumb line
4.
use stopwatch or light gates for timing
5.
use calipers and micrometers for small distances, using digital or vernier scales
6.
correctly construct circuits from circuit diagrams using DC power supplies, cells, and a range of circuit components,
including those where polarity is important
7.
design, construct and check circuits using DC power supplies, cells, and a range of circuit components
8.
use signal generator and oscilloscope, including volts/division and time-base
9.
generate and measure waves, using microphone and loudspeaker, or ripple tank, or vibration transducer, or microwave /
radio wave source
10. use laser or light source to investigate characteristics of light, including interference and diffraction
11.
use ICT such as computer modelling, or data logger with a variety of sensors to collect data, or use of software to process
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data
12. use ionising radiation, including detectors
Working scientifically
Examples from physics
1. Development of scientific thinking
 structure of the atom, the Periodic Table
 expanding universe and the Big Bang
 uses of fission and fusion
 risks with the uses of radioactive material.
2. Experimental skills and strategies
 test whether resistance is independent of current, or whether spring constant is independent of
extension
 design a domestic mains circuit based on a single fuse plug to maximise lighting intensity
 measure the range and distribution of the walking and running speeds of students in a school class
3. Analysis and evaluation
 estimate rates of deceleration of a range of vehicles on urban roads and use these to calculate the
forces needed to produce these changes
 explore how the current in a d.c. circuit varies with the potential difference across the battery
terminals
 write a report on an investigation for their parents or for students in another class
4. Units, symbols and nomenclature
 convert kilowatt hours to energy in joules
 compare the power used to heat a room with that used to carry a heavy box upstairs.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211219/GCSE_Sciences_final_updated.pdf
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• Question 4 − To
what extent do
you agree that
practical skills in
biology, chemistry
and physics
should continue to
be assessed?
•
http://comment.ofqual.gov
.uk/a-level-regulatoryrequirements-october2013/
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• Question 5 − To
what extent do you
agree that the
results of practical
skills assessments
in biology,
chemistry and
physics should be
reported separately
on the certificate
and not count
towards the final
grade?
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