ENTHUSE Partnership funding enables groups of four to eight schools and colleges to work together, with support from STEM Learning on a two-year intensive programme to raise aspiration and achievement in STEM subjects. Each Partnership can access up to £20,000 worth of support, including face-to-face CPD, in-school...

A Catalyst article about how the study of ancient rocks and sediments can help deduce how the Earth's atmosphere has changed over billions of years. There used to be much less oxygen than there is today. This article describes how the composition of the atmosphere has changed through history; it also explains the...

This report was published by the National Audit Office in 2010 and evaluates progress by the Department for Education in increasing take-up and achievement in maths and science up to age 18. It also reviews the extent to which specific programmes to raise the quality of school science facilities, recruit and retain...

This report evaluates design and technology provision based on a three-year evaluation of design and technology in primary and secondary schools. Evidence was drawn from school inspections during the period 2004–05 as well as from focused surveys by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) from 2004 to 2007. The surveys...

A Catalyst article about careers in educational psychology. For students of psychology there are a range of career options; this article looks at the role of an educational psychologist and a typical working day.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 16, Issue 4.

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Published in 2012, this review focused on examining which  science programmes had been proven to help primary school students to succeed.  To find out, the University of York’s Institute for Effective Education, Johns Hopkins University and Durham University completed a research review on the topic. The review...

A Catalyst article looking at climate change. In particular the science of phenology, the study of the times each year that certain life-cycle events occur, is examined. It involves recording data on when birds migrate, eggs hatch or when leaves change colour. If the climate is changing, the timing of these events...

In 2015 WestEd released a study examining the effects of the Elevate Math summer mathematics programme on seventh-grade (Year 8) students’ algebra readiness, general mathematics achievement, and perceptions of mathematics. Elevate Math is a four-week programme that pupils attend for 19 days in the summer...

A Catalyst article about what causes faults in electrical appliances and the wiring installations in homes, and why people receive electric shocks. How regulations can reduce the risk of electrical faults and electric shocks is also examined together with the use of fuses, fuse wire and modern RCDs (residual...

This resource provides a lesson plan showing how to use analogies to teach about current electricity.

The research summary discusses the common misconceptions of pupils about the flow of current and the inability of pupils to apply their knowledge to solve current electricity problems. Elements of this...

A Catalyst article about the UK's extremely reliable electricity supply system generated in power stations which burn gas or coal, or use nuclear fuel. The article looks at how this is achieved using high voltages and how the demands for power at different times of the day and year are met.

This article is...

This resource provides a lesson plan showing how to use drama to teach about electrolysis. The approach used in the lesson is based on education research which is summarised in a separate research summary document.

The lesson outlines a sequence of activities and key questions to ask to help pupils...

This resource provides a lesson plan showing how to use computer modelling to teach about induced potential. The approach used in the lesson is based on education research which is summarised in a separate research summary document.

The lesson suggests a sequence of activities and key questions to ask to...

Produced by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), this case study looks at the theme of embedding functional skills. It describes how staff within the motor vehicle department of the City of Wolverhampton College were faced with the challenge of embedding functional skills within motor vehicle courses...

Produced by the Learning Skills Improvement Service, these materials help to demonstrate effective practice. This case study looks at the theme of knowledge and technology transfer. It describes how members of staff operating in the STEM area of Huntingdonshire Regional College were encouraged to embed and deliver...