This document was designed to help school leaders and teachers explore key aspects of personalised teaching and learning and to consider their priorities for further development. For each aspect, there is a section on “How to do this well”, and the guidance was firmly based on practice consistently demonstrated in...

This report, from the Wellcome Trust, defines inquiry-based science learning and explains the importance of developing learning scientific enquiry skills through discussion, questioning, reasoning, gathering data and reviewing evidence. The report stresses the importance of not limiting students' experiences and...

This Catalyst article looks at the process of photosynthesis, by which plants make a range of biochemical compounds. The article explains how photosynthesis actually ties in with growth. Respiration is happening all the time in all cells in all living organisms. Taken on its own, photosynthesis adds materials to...

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

The lesson starts with an activity to establish pupils'...

A Catalyst article about the International Year of Physics, in 2005, also known as Einstein Year. In the century since Einstein’s “annus mirabilis”, when he developed his theory of relativity there has been a revolution in the study of physics. This article explores the links between some of the architects of this...

This report, produced by the Centre for Education and Employment Research (CEER), looks at the decline in students taking physics at A level. Between 1982 and 2006, A level physics entries halved from 55,728 to 27,466. The number of students aged 18 fell and there were more A levels to choose from, but the decline...

A Catalyst article about the video or computer games industry which is now the biggest entertainment-based industry on the planet. Often it is physicists developing new concepts, hardware and games. To beat the competition they need to make physical aspects of the game be more realistic or at least appear to be...

Produced by the Centre for Education and Employment Research (CEER), this report sets out to identify how some schools are increasing participation in post-16 physics whilst the general trend is for a seemingly inexorable decline in physics education. Authors Alan Smithers and Pamela Robinson, looked at A level...

This report, produced by the Centre for Education and Emplyment Research (CEER), looks at specialist physics teacher supply and retention in English schools. Physics is at the sharp end of teacher recruitment. It is the subject that schools find most difficult to staff. Some schools do not teach it, and others that...

This report is provided by the Centre for Education and Employment Research (CEER) at the University of Buckingham is based on a survey of 432 schools and colleges. The report looks at the deployment of teachers and its impact on student outcomes. One finding is that teachers' qualification in physics was the most...

This report, produced by the Centre for Education and Employment Research (CEER), brings together specially commissioned analyses from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and the Higher Education and Statistics Agency (HESA), CEER own database, and data collected by various agencies between 1985...

A Catalyst article about phytoplasmas which are micro-organisms that affect crop plants modifying their growth. The article looks at the damage that they can inflict on crops which in turn can cause famine. Botanists are seeking to counter the effects of phytoplasma disease and the article looks at laboratory...

Produced by the Learning Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), this case study looks at the themes of knowledge and technology transfer and STEM skills for the future. The case study looks at a lecturer in construction and building who engaged in an industrial secondment through the New Engineering Foundation.

Produced by the Learning Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), this case study looks at the themes of knowledge and technology transfer and employer engagement. This case study describes the placement of a lecturer in material sciences who engaged in an industrial secondment through the New Engineering Foundation (NEF...

Produced by the Learning Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), this case study looks at the theme of knowledge and technology transfer. This case study looks at the experiences of three lecturers from Carlisle College’s Technology Department who engaged in a programme of industrial secondments through the New...