Building Confidence
The University of Glasgow ESESS Project
Excellent STEM Education for a
Successful Scotland
Heather Reid, Kevin Lowden,
Angela Speirs
The ESESS Project
• The 2007 Scottish Survey of Achievement
• TIMMS - Trends in International Maths and
Science Study
• National Evaluation of Science CPD by the
SCRE Centre at University of Glasgow
All highlight the need for primary science
support
The ESESS Project
Developed a suite of science activities
- teachers notes
- experiments & recording sheets
- PowerPoint
- videos
Science activities can be used within commonly
taught Topics such as Knights and Castles, The
Lighthouse and The Victorians.
The ESESS Project
The project also integrates the use of low cost
video recording into the teaching process.
The project aims to demonstrate the value of
creating a ‘video CPD archive’ of re-usable short
videos made by teachers and pupils to
demonstrate their best practice, shared using
the Internet.
The Victorians and Clean Water
An Example – The Victorians
• I have participated in practical activities to separate simple
mixtures of substances and can relate my findings to my everyday
experience. SCN 2-16a
• By investigating common conditions that increase the amount of
substance that will dissolve or the speed of dissolving, I can relate
my findings to the world around me.
• SCN 2-16b
• I have investigated different water samples from the environment
and explored methods that can be used to clean and conserve
water and I am aware of the properties and uses of water. SCN218a
Topics
The Victorians
Natural Disasters
Level 2 SCN 2-16a, 2-16b, 2-18a
The materials can be adapted for use with other
Topics that deal with water or health or human
rights.
Topics
Magic Magnets Level 1, SCN 1-08a
Knights & Castles
The materials can be adapted for use with other
Topics that have fantasy or magic as a theme,
e.g. Fairy tales, The Magic Faraway Tree
Topics
Make a Lighthouse Level 1, SCN 1-09a
Islands
The sea, seashore or coastline.
The materials can be adapted for use with other
Topics like Katie Morag (Stories by Mairi
Hedderwick)
The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch (by David and
Rhonda Armitage)
Topics
Compare the Force Level 2, SCN 2-08a
The Ancient World
The Greeks
The materials can be adapted for use with other
Topics that have a magical theme, especially
books like Harry Potter, Dark Isle.
Evaluation – SCRE Centre
Overall Impact
• ESESS project has helped to improve classroom practice in
science, particularly, practical work and experiments.
• Teachers feel more confident about covering the science
topics addressed by the units.
• The materials have been very enthusiastically received and are
being shared.
• Teachers believe that the relevance of content and design of
the practical components is promoting pupils’ understanding
of science concepts.
• Pupils could understand and use science vocabulary and
confidently understood the Learning Intentions and Success
criteria.
Evaluation – SCRE Centre
Reflection on Professional Practice
• Overall, teachers believe that the guidance materials
provided as part of the units and, to some extent, the
video cameras have allowed them to reflect on how
they teach science.
• Teachers are sharing new ideas on teaching science
with others in their school based on their experience
of the units.
Evaluation – SCRE Centre
Pupil Engagement
• Teachers reported successful engagement with pupils practical components being seen as a key reason for pupils’
enthusiasm.
• Learning Outcomes were achieved by most pupils involved.
• Pupils, regardless of gender and ability, were actively involved
in the activities and practical experiments.
• Pupils enthusiastically using scientific terms and concepts
relevant to the units.
• Experiments also helped develop pupils’ evaluative
understanding, team working and discussion skills.
• Pupils were also able to engage in the wider social and ethical
debates that some of the units stimulated such as the Water
for All topic.
Evaluation – SCRE Centre
Teacher’s Quotes
• My class and I have really enjoyed being part
of this project and I feel it has had a positive
impact on science engagement in and out of
school.
• I believe I have developed my science teaching
skills and will use more of an investigatory
approach during some science teaching. I have
also incorporated the experiments into the
daily life of the classroom
A Teacher’s Perspective
ESESS Project Team
• Vic Lally, Principal Investigator, University of
Glasgow
• Andrew Gallacher, University of Glasgow
• Heather Reid, Consultant
• Kevin Lowden, University of Glasgow
• Stephen Boyle, University of Glasgow
• Susan Kelly, University of Glasgow
Acknowledgements
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Angela Speirs, St Ninians Primary School
Paul Manley, St Angela’s Primary School
Teresa McErlean, Fox Covert Primary School
Joanne Dayer, Clober Primary School
Gregor Steele & Hayley Sherrard, SSERC
Paul Chambers, University of Strathclyde
Nicky Souter, University of Strathclyde