PGCE Secondary Science Handbook 2009-2010 Final Draft

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
PGCE SECONDARY SCIENCE HANDBOOK

Academic Year 2009-2010
Illustration from Concept Cartoons in Science Education by Stuart Naylor and Brenda Keogh
(2000) Millgate House Publishers.
Modules Aims and Intended Outcomes

ESCM001 Secondary Biology
ESCM002 Secondary Chemistry
ESCM003 Secondary Physics
ESCM005 Secondary Science with Psychology
Aims
The principal aims of the Secondary Science modules are to equip students with a
comprehensive understanding of the background issues and practice of the current teaching
of Science in the secondary school and to enable them to meet the Standards for the Award
of Qualified Teacher Status. In addition, the module seeks to nurture reflective and
autonomous professional practitioners who are able to identify strengths and areas for
development in their subject knowledge and pedagogy, through evaluating current
professional practice in relationship to developments in research and curriculum theory.
Intended Outcomes
Discipline specific skills
In the context of the whole range of Science relevant to KS3, and Biology, Chemistry,
Physics or Psychology relevant to KS4 and post-16 level, students will be able to:
identify and evaluate educational concepts and issues related to Science education
and to engage in critical debate about current educational issues in Science,
drawing on evidence from theory, research and practice;
recognise pupils learning needs in Science and interpret them in order to plan,
teach, assess and evaluate lessons and schemes of work in Science;
demonstrate confident academic and pedagogic subject knowledge to teach Science
in the secondary phase of education;
demonstrate secure understanding of the statutory requirements of Science in the
National Curriculum;
demonstrate professional competence as specified by the Standards for the Award
of Qualified Teacher Status.
Core academic skills
Students will be able to:
critically evaluate the relevance of learning theory to practice;
synthesise relevant literature in support of an argument;
use appropriate technologies for data handling and writing;
present data and findings in an appropriate form;
use research data in support of an argument.
Personal and key skills
Students will be able to:
manage their own learning development, learn effectively and be aware of their
own learning strategies;
express ideas and opinions, with confidence and clarity, to a variety of audiences
for a variety of purposes;
work productively in different kinds of team (formal, informal, project based,
committee based etc);
identify the main features of a given problem and to develop strategies for its
resolution;
interpret and use data effectively in learning and skills processes.
Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
Some general principles.................................................................................................................2
PGCE Secondary Science Course Objectives................................................................................3
Personnel on the PGCE Science Course........................................................................................4
School/University Partnership.......................................................................................................5
Course Documentation..................................................................................................................6
Individual Development Portfolio (IDP)....................................................................................6
Course structure.............................................................................................................................7
University Sessions: Autumn term......................................................................................9

Autumn Term Timetable................................................................................................................9
Timetable for weeks 2 6............................................................................................................10
Science Lecture Programme Weeks 2 -6......................................................................................15
Lecture notes and associated materials available on the web.......................................................16
National Curriculum Courses (NCC)...........................................................................................16
Main subject sessions...................................................................................................................16
Subject Support Groups...............................................................................................................17
Subject Support Groups and Rooms.........................................................................................17
Planning your Subject Support Session....................................................................................18
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)..................................................................20
Directed Tasks.............................................................................................................................21
Professional Studies Activity: Cross-curriculum dimensions at Key Stage 3...............................23
Peer-Teaching..............................................................................................................................24
Tutorials.......................................................................................................................................26
Summary of Generic Preparatory Tasks.......................................................................................26
Summary of Science Specific Pre-course tasks............................................................................26
Arrangements for meetings with your Personal Tutor during the Autumn Term..........................27
School Based Work.............................................................................................................28

University Tutor Visits.................................................................................................................28
Episode and Lesson Planning......................................................................................................29
Agendas.......................................................................................................................................30
Episode and Lesson Evaluations..................................................................................................30
Supervisory Conferences.............................................................................................................31
Reflective Practice.......................................................................................................................32
Guidance for Writing Your Learning Journal...............................................................................34
Procedures to follow if you are in difficulty during School-based Work.....................................35
English as an Additional Language..............................................................................................36
Post-16 teaching experience........................................................................................................37
Books to support school-based work...........................................................................................38
Main Subject Assignments for Secondary Science..........................................................40

Submission Dates.........................................................................................................................40
Handing in assignments...............................................................................................................40
Autumn Term Assignment...........................................................................................................41
Spring Term Assignment..............................................................................................................44
Summer Term Assignment...........................................................................................................49
Further Information..........................................................................................................51
Applying for a Teaching Post.......................................................................................................51
Useful References........................................................................................................................52
Professional organisations for science teachers............................................................................59
Association for Science Education (ASE)................................................................................59
The Institute of Biology (IoB)..................................................................................................60
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)...................................................................................61
The Institute of Physics (IoP)...................................................................................................62
Introduction
Some general principles
The PGCE secondary science course at Exeter is designed to help you to understand how pupils learn
science and how you can teach it effectively, safely and in an interesting way to secondary school
pupils of all ages and abilities. Both of the major course components, university-based work and
school-based work, are essential to your development as a science teacher. We do a great deal to
ensure that the components are inter-related. You have a major role to play in being analytical, creative
and critical, using what you learn in one component to raise questions and generate possible answers
about the things you see and do in the other.
You will not always find a cosy unanimity between school-based work and university-based work.
This is not about one being right and the other wrong; it is about people with different roles and
perspectives bringing their different expertise to bear on the same set of issues and coming up with
(sometimes) different insights into teaching and learning.
Similarly, you will not always find cosy unanimity within each component e.g. amongst all lecturers in
the university, or all the teachers in a school. This reflects the richness of the theoretical foundations
and personal experiences that teachers and lecturers bring to their professional activities.
We hope you will be thoughtful about the diversity and examine the whole range of views including
(perhaps especially) those that you bring with you to the course. We expect that you will leave the
course thinking differently about science education, acting effectively in the provision of science
education for pupils, and reflecting on what you do so that you can continue to develop as a science
teacher throughout your career. We hope you enjoy this course as the start of your professional
journey.
The PGCE science course introduces you to the following elements of science teaching:
planning, preparing, resourcing, assessing and evaluating science lessons for children of
different ages and abilities.
school laboratory management including safety issues.
subject knowledge across the whole range of National Curriculum science, with specialist
knowledge for teaching in your subject specialism.
the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to support science teaching
and learning.
Your science subject course is complemented by a Professional Studies programme which considers
issues of concern to all trainees, whatever their subject discipline.
The course is designed to promote your progressive development throughout the year. In the Autumn
term we work predominantly in the University, with one week in your first placement school. During
the Spring and Summer terms you will work in two schools, changing over at the end of the Spring
term. While you are working in schools, contact with the university is maintained with three visits
from your University Visiting Tutor and by university based Seminar Days at roughly monthly
intervals.
PGCE Secondary Science Course Objectives

By the end of the course, you should:
have further developed your understanding of the underlying principles of science;
have an appreciation of the place of science in the secondary curriculum;
have further developed a breadth and depth of science knowledge beyond school syllabuses;
be able to plan sequences of lessons in science for pupils in the secondary phase of education;
be able to teach and assess to the levels appropriate to all of the age ranges in the secondary
phase;
be able to provide advice on content and approaches to teaching biology, physics or chemistry
to colleagues who have specialised in other disciplines;
be aware of links and common ground between subjects and be able to incorporate into your
teaching a range of cross-curricular dimensions, themes and skills;
have developed an understanding of the ways in which pupils develop and learn, and the ways
in which pupils' work can be planned to secure clear progression;
have developed the ability to set appropriate learning objectives;
have developed the capacity to use a range of teaching strategies in appropriate ways;
have developed the capacity to identify gifted pupils and pupils with other special educational
needs;
have developed skills of lesson recording and evaluation;
be able to teach controversial issues in a balanced way;
be able to guard against preconceptions based on race, gender, religion or class;
have developed skills in effective management of pupil behaviour;
be able to select and make appropriate use of a range of equipment and resources;
be able to make confident and appropriate use of ICT to support teaching and learning;
be able to evaluate the ways in which ICT changes the nature of teaching and learning;
be able to pay due regard to the health and safety of pupils in the school science laboratory;
have developed skills of critical reflection that will underpin your continued professional
development throughout your teaching career.
Personnel on the PGCE Science Course

The key university members of staff who contribute to the science course are:
Name
Ms Lindsay Hetherington
Specialism
Chemistry
Room
NC139
Phone *
4826
Professor Keith
Postlethwaite
Physics
NC125
4840
Dr Nasser Mansour
Physical
sciences
Psychology
Biology
BC216
4787
N.Mansour@exeter.ac.uk
NC138
4932
D.Moore@exeter.ac.uk
N.C.Skinner@exeter.ac.uk
Science
Technician
NC06D
4933
C.S.Smith@exeter.ac.uk
Mr Darren Moore
Dr Nigel Skinner
PGCE Science
Co-ordinator
Mr Chris Smith
E-mail
L.Hetherington
@exeter.ac.uk
K.C.Postlethwaite
@exeter.ac.uk
* add 01392 - 26 to university extension numbers if calling from outside the university
Personal Tutors
You will be assigned a personal tutor who will take an overview of your professional development and
provide academic and personal support. Responsibilities of personal science tutors include:
Arranging tutorial meetings with you.

Taking responsibility for marking your work and monitoring and recording your progress.
Liaison with your university visiting tutor (UVT) during school based work.
Taking responsibility for writing professional references for teaching posts.
University Visiting Tutors (UVTs)

UVTs are responsible for the supervision of school-based work. In some cases, your UVT will also be
your personal tutor but it is not possible for the team of lecturers to cover all school placements so we
are joined by colleagues with extensive experience of secondary science education. Usually you will
be assigned to one UVT for the whole training year. He or she will observe your peer teaching session
in the autumn term and then visit you during both your school placements.
School/University Partnership
Your course involves a partnership between the university and a group of schools. In this partnership,
the university is best placed to help you to:
understand some of the theoretical ideas which can inform teaching e.g. ideas about pupils
learning, motivation or class management.
examine a range of possible ways of doing key things as a teacher e.g. ways of assessing
pupils work or of using practical work to support pupils learning.
introduce you to the broad national context of education e.g. the National Curriculum, the
legal aspects of teaching.
explore broad educational issues such as special educational needs or personal, social and
health education, and relate these to the task of teaching science.
examine and address what you bring to the task of teaching e.g. particular strengths and
weaknesses with respect to subject knowledge and ICT, particular values related to teaching,
personal theories of teaching based on your experiences of being taught.
The university will also:
introduce you to ways in which you can inform your own teaching through small scale
research that you carry out on your own practice or your own teaching context.
contribute to the support which you will receive while you are learning to teach in school and
to the assessments which will be made of your practical teaching.
moderate the assessments which teachers make about your practical teaching ability.
support the teachers who will work with you in school.
Your two placement schools are best placed to help you to:
understand how they do key things in their teaching;

understand why they do these things in these ways - in terms of the theories, the alternative
ways of doing these things, and the circumstances of that school.
understand the specific context of that school e.g. its policies, resources, ethos; the nature of
its pupils; the expectations and attitudes of parents, pupils, colleagues and governors.
understand experienced teachers thinking about aspects of teaching.
The schools will also:
support you as you plan to teach elements of lessons, whole lessons and sequences of lessons
as the course progresses.
observe your teaching and provide you with feedback on its strengths and its weaknesses.
help you to develop your teaching skills through this process of planning, doing and
discussing your teaching.
help you to learn to think differently about teaching from this process of planning, doing and
discussing your teaching.
help you to become reflective about your own teaching so that you can identify the strengths
and weaknesses in your own work and plan next steps accordingly.
assess your teaching.
The school/university partnership will help you to develop the understanding and the skills needed to
teach well in a given context, and to be flexible to manage changes of context. In this way we intend
to provide a course that not only helps you to thrive during the PGCE year, but also to move with
confidence into your first post.
Course Documentation
Please refer to the PGCE Programme handbook for further information about documentation.
Handouts and digitised materials will be provided as the course progresses. Much of the science
specific documentation will be made available on the student documents site:
http://www.education.ex.ac.uk/students/index.php?id=126
Important documents include:
The Secondary PGCE Programme Handbook
This sets out the overall PGCE secondary framework including crucial assessment deadlines.
PGCE Science Course Handbook (i.e. this booklet)
This includes an outline of how the secondary science PGCE course is organised together with
important dates, assessment procedures and criteria together with other information specific to the
Secondary Science course.
Individual Development Portfolio (IDP)
This is an important file that you will build up through the year to show both your progress and your
attainment. It is a key document of the Exeter Secondary PGCE Programme and is central to
identifying and meeting your individual training needs, and in assessing your progress against the
Standards for the Award of QTS. At the start of the course, you will be given an index to use for your
IDP.
Career Entry and Development Profile (CEDP)
This document is provided by the Training and Development Agency (TDA) towards the end of your
training year. You will use it to provide a summary of your strengths as a teacher of secondary science
and suggest areas for further development during your induction year in your first teaching post.
Advice on paperwork
It is essential that you develop effective strategies for collecting and organising the evidence of your
progress. It is your responsibility to maintain logically-organised and up-to-date files. Your tutors will
advise you on how you might approach this if you feel unsure about this organisational aspect of your
training.
THE KEY THING IS TO KEEP EVERYTHING UP-TO-DATE, CAREFULLY FILED AND
INDEXED FROM DAY 1.
If you do this, the university requirements will be met more easily and you will be able to find things
for your own purposes during this and subsequent years. If you dont organise your paperwork you
are then faced with a huge amount of assorted papers to organise your task will be horrendous - and
probably impossible!
Electronic copies of key documents can be accessed on the Web at:

www.ex.ac.uk/education/partnership_with_schools
click on Handbooks, Reports and Documents in the left-hand column.
Course structure
The PGCE secondary science course has several distinct but related elements:
1. Preliminary School Experience.
This takes place in the two weeks before the start of the university-based part of the course. You will
normally have spent one week in a primary school and one week in a secondary school.
2. Professional Studies Programme.
The PGCE Programme handbook provides details of this course. It includes both university and
school-based work. Many of the issues are taken up in the Science Programme, when the particular
implications for science teaching will be explored. There are two Professional Studies Activities to be
done during your school-based work.
3. Secondary Science Programme.
The lectures and workshops in science are designed to help you to teach broad and balanced science in
Key Stage 3, your specialist subject and preferably at least one other science in Key Stage 4, and your
specialist subject at post-16 level. It has the following elements:
i) Science Lecture Programme
The lecture programme during the Autumn Term includes sessions on general issues in science
teaching.
ii) National Curriculum Courses
You will follow National Curriculum courses in your non-specialist science subjects.
iii) Main Subject Sessions
Taught sessions in your specialist science subject.
iv) Subject Support Groups
Subject support groups will be arranged to consolidate and extend your specialist science subject
knowledge through being taught about some post 16 topics by your peers.
v) Peer Teaching
You will begin to familiarise yourself with the Exeter model of Initial Teacher Education through
teaching two 10 minute episodes to a group of your peers in which you focus on a particular aspect of
teaching using an Agenda.
v) Information & Communications Technology for Science Teaching
ICT workshops will provide an opportunity for you to learn about the use of ICT for effective science
teaching and learning, and you will be able to develop and extend your computer skills.
4. Tutorials
You will meet your personal tutor to discuss your progress on a number of occasions through the year.
5. Directed Study.
This occupies those periods between Monday and Friday (9.00am - 5.00pm) during the autumn term
that are not specifically timetabled. We have tried to keep Friday free of taught sessions but there will
be some Fridays when you need to come in for tutorials or a taught session.
10
6. School-Based Work
Preliminary school experience
At the start of the course all PGCE secondary trainees spend a week in a primary and a week in a
secondary school.
Induction in School 1 (Autumn term).
You will spend week 7 (16th 20th November) in your first placement school. Further details are given
in the PGCE programme handbook.
School-based work in the spring and summer terms
First placement: 4th January 26th March
Second placement: 29th March 31st March, 19th April 1st July.
You will be supported in your school-based work by teachers in school who are specifically trained for
this purpose and by visits from a University Visiting Tutor (normally two visits in the spring term and
one in the summer term).
7. Seminar Days
At intervals during your main blocks of school-based work, you will return to the university for an
intensive training day when you will reflect upon your progress and consider developments in your
practice as a teacher. It is also a chance for you to share experiences with other members of the
secondary science group. Further details about the seminar day programme can be found in the PGCE
programme handbook.
The five seminar days run from 10.00 a.m. until 3.30 p.m. and will be on the following dates in 2010:
SD1
SD2
SD3
SD4
SD5
Friday 22nd January

Friday 19th February
Thursday 1st April
Friday 4th June
Friday 2nd July
11
University Sessions: Autumn term

After two weeks of preliminary observation you will spend most of the rest of the autumn term
participating in a variety of activities at the School of Education. You will also spend one week in your
first placement school, when a programme of induction activities will be arranged and you will
observe and assist with teaching in science lessons.
Autumn Term Timetable

Timetable for first teaching week
Monday
5th October
Tuesday
6th October
Wednesday
7th October
Thursday
8th October
Friday
9th October
12
9.00 13.00
Introduction to the course and each other.
Tour of Campus.
Venue: Labs
9.15-10.45
11.15 -12.45
Lecture:
Knowledge for Lecture / Workshop: The
teaching
Nature of Science
KCP
NCS
BC114
Labs
9.15-10.45
11.15 -13.00
Lecture:
Introduction to Joint tutorials
planning
science lessons
Q22
NCS
14.00-16.00
Feedback on preliminary
experience with Personal Tutors
Venue: Labs
14.00-15.00
10.00 -12.00
Lecture / workshop: Planning for Active
Learning
Labs
13.00-14.00
Professional
Studies
NC12
Independent study reading course

documentation, preparing course files,
writing Learning Journal.
Independent study
Seminar / workshop
How Science Works
NM and NCS Labs
14.00 15.00
The electronic library using electronic
journals and databases
Aeronwen Allison (Academic Support
Consultant for Education)
Labs
14.30 16.30
Planning engaging
science lessons
10
Timetable for weeks 2 6

Mon
Room
NC07
09.00
10.00
11.00
ICT workshop
10.00-11.00
BC218
Main Subject Physics

11.00 13.00
Main Subject Chemistry
11.00 13.00
Biology and Psychology Support
Groups
11.00 13.00
National Curriculum Physics
Gp1 11.00 13.00
National Curriculum Chemistry
Gp1 11.00 13.00
NC08
Other
Tue
NC07
NC08
Other
Wed
Thu
NC07
NC08
Other
13.00
Week Number
Begins
15.00
Science Lecture and seminar

Room BC114
14.00-16.00
National Curriculum Physics Gp2 14.00 16.00
National Curriculum Chemistry Gp2 14.00 16.00
National Curriculum Biology 14.00 16.00
Science Lecture
9.15-10.30 Room G18
Peer teaching weeks 2 - 5
Main Subject Biology

(+ psychologists)
11.00 13.00
Physics and Chemistry Support Groups
11.00 13.00
Classroom presence workshops weeks

2 and 3
Optional first aid workshops week 4
and 5
Classroom presence workshops weeks

2 and 3
Optional first aid workshops week 4
and 5
Classroom presence workshops weeks 2 and 3
Optional first aid workshops week 4 and 5

Professional Studies
Room NC12
14.00-15.00
Other
Fri
14.00
Science Lecture and seminar

9.15-10.30 Room BC114
NC07
NC08
Other
12.00
Directed Study
1
5th Oct
2
12th Oct
3
19th Oct
4
26th Oct
5
2nd Nov
6
9th Nov
7
16th Nov
8
23rd Nov
9
30th Nov
10
7th Dec
13
Important: Exceptions or complexities in the week 2 6 timetable

Weeks
2 and 3
Day
Thursday
Date
15 October
22nd October
Monday
19th October
4 and 5
Thursday
29th October
5th November
Monday
Tuesday
9th November
10th November
Wednesday
11th November
Thursday
12th November
th
Change/complexity
You are required to attend only one Peer Teaching 1 session.
This will be on either 15th or 22nd October
On the same day that you attend the peer teaching session you are required to attend
one Classroom Presence session
Field trip to Ladram Bay
Main subject chemistry and physics sessions 9.30 11.30
Biology and psychology subject support groups 9.30 11.30
Leave Exeter for Ladram Bay around 11.45
Arrive Ladram Bay around 12.15
Depart Ladram Bay around 16.00
You are required to attend only one Peer Teaching 2 session.
This will be on either 29th October or 5th November
You may choose to attend the optional First Aid sessions
Details to be announced
Keith is not able to run the Main Subject Physics session on Monday November 9th or
the National Curriculum Physics sessions on Tuesday 10th November.
These will now take place on Friday 13th November as follows:
Main subject 9.00 11.00 ; NC session 1 11.30 13.00 ; NC session 2 14.00 -15.30
Principal Subject Tutor (PST)Meeting 14.00
This is a chance to meet you PST time and location to be announced.
National Curriculum Biology session moved to Thursday 12th November 10 12.00
National Curriculum Biology 10 12.00
Professional Studies cross-curricular afternoon starting at 13.00 or 14.00.
12
11
Provisional Timetable for Week 8 (23/11/09 27/11/09)

14
Theme for week: Science and society cultural and ethical issues
9 9.15
10
Mon
11
12
13
14
15
Teaching Controversial
Issues.
NCS
BC114
16
Biology Support Groups

Main Subject Psychology
Tues
09.15 10.30
Science and Literacy
KCP
BC114
Workshops on Science and

Culture including teaching
science to EAL pupils
NM
Labs
Wed
09.15 10.30
Research Methods for Action
Research and Case Studies.
DM
G18
Physics and Chemistry Support

Groups
Thu
Workshops on Science and Culture

including teaching science to EAL
pupils
NM
Labs
10.00 12.30
Visiting Speaker: Sarah Moss (past student,
now an AST in Hampshire)
Labs
13.00 14.00
Professional
Studies
NC12
14.00 15.00
Professional
Studies
NC12
Fri
15

Theme for week: Practical and Investigative Science
9
Mon
10
11
12
13
14
15
Science Lecture:
Practical Science and
Science Investigations
(LH)
NC12
16

Tues
09.30 13.00
Investigations and Assessment Practice (KP/LH/NS/NM)
Labs
Wed
09.30 13.00
Teaching Energy
KCP
G17
Thur
14.00 17.00 Investigations and

Assessment Practice
(KP/LH/NS/NM)
Labs

Physics and Chemistry

Support Groups
Data Logging: Timings to be announced.
Data Logging: Timings to be announced.

14.00 15.00
Professional
Studies
NC12
Fri
13
16
14
Theme for week: Environment, Earth and Universe
9 9.15
10
Mon
11
12
13
14
15
16
14.00 17.00
Teaching Earth Science at KS3: Presenters from the
Earth Sciences Education Unit

Tues
10.00 13.00
Teaching Earth Science at KS4.
Presenters from the Earth Sciences Education Unit
Wed
10.00 11.00
Space Odyssey Planetarium
Lower Sports Hall (Biologists)
11.15 13.00
11.15 13.00
09.00 -11.00
Physics Support Group
Chemistry Support Group
Labs
Thu
11.15 12.15 Space Odyssey

Planetarium
Lower Sports Hall (P/C)
12.30- 13.30
Space
Odyssey
Planetarium
Lower Sports
Hall
(Psychologists
Biologists +
Primary
Science)
14.00 15.00
Professional
Studies
Room NC12
Fri
17
Science Lecture Programme Weeks 2 -6

WEEK
NO.
LECTURE 1
Monday 14:00
BC114 except week 1
1
Begins
Mon 5
Oct
LECTURE 2
Tuesday 09:15
BC114
SL1: Knowledge for teaching
Q10
KCP
SL4 : Misconceptions
Q14
LECTURE 3
Wednesday 09:15
G18
SL2: Introduction to planning
science lessons
Q22
NCS
2
Begins
Mon 12
Oct
SL3: Science in the National

Curriculum and the Science
Strategy
NCS G18
3
Begins
Mon 19
Oct
Field Trip
Ladram Bay (low tide 14.00)
Q10, Q14
NCS/LEJH
SL6: Constructivism,
Social Constructivism &
Situated Learning
Q10
KCP
4
Begins
Mon 26
Oct
SL8: Learning outside the

classroom
Q10, Q14
NCS
SL9: Motivation
Q10, Q19
KCP
SL10: Class Management

Q10
LEJH
5
Begins
Mon 2
Nov
6
Begins
Mon 9
Nov
SL11: Differentiation (Less

able)
Q18, Q19
LEJH
SL14: Primary Science
Q15
Rob Bowker
SL12: Differentiation (More

able/Gifted and talented)
Q18, Q19
KCP
SL15 : Assessment
Q11, Q12
LEJH
SL13: Cross-curricular issues

and science teaching
Q15
LEJH
SL16: Numeracy
Q17
KCP
KCP
Numbers in bold are references to the QTS Standards.
18
SL5: Evaluating lessons and

the development of
reflective practice
Q7a, Q8
NCS
SL7: Health, Safety and
Wellbeing
Q21a, Q30
NCS
Lecture notes and associated materials available on the web

Most of the Science Lectures together with many of the National Curriculum Course and main
Subject teaching notes and associated resources will be made available on the Hive (a VLE) and on
the student documents website shortly before (sometimes shortly after) the date on which the
sessions take place. You are encouraged to refer to these before the sessions and, when appropriate,
to print out the notes so that you can bring them to the session.
National Curriculum Courses (NCC)

QTS Standards Q14, Q15, Q17, Q32
You will follow a National Curriculum course in your non-specialist science subjects. For example,
a chemistry specialist will study biology and physics. Groups will be announced at the beginning of
the course. The courses address issues in the areas of the National Curriculum outside your own
specialist subject. In these courses, you will have the opportunity to review and refresh your
science subject knowledge as well as developing ideas for teaching science to pupils.
At the beginning the PGCE programme you will complete a self-audit of your knowledge and
understanding of the content of the science National Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4. Using this
audit, you will be able to draw up individual action plans to improve your knowledge and
understanding of areas of the science curriculum as necessary. The Action Plans that you begin in
the autumn term will focus on biology, chemistry and physics. In the autumn term the National
Curriculum and Main Subject courses will clearly contribute to developing your science subject
knowledge and personal tutors will support this process. Subject knowledge development will
obviously continue whilst you are on school placements.
Main subject sessions

QTS Standards Q14, Q15, Q17, Q32
A series of laboratory-based workshops will address issues connected with teaching topics within
your own science specialism. At the beginning of the PGCE programme you will complete a selfaudit for your specialist science subject knowledge and understanding up to degree level which you
will use to draw up an individual action plan for specialist subject knowledge development. In
addition to developing your subject knowledge, you will learn about a range of teaching
approaches and strategies to use in the classroom to promote effective learning.
19
Subject Support Groups

QTS Standards Q14, Q32
These groups are set up to provide:
a focus on post-16 subject knowledge in your specialist subject area, as highlighted by
your needs analysis audit in relation to A/S and A2 specifications (syllabuses) and degree
level knowledge.
mutual support for each other using strengths within the group to explore those areas that
you and your colleagues feel need some attention.
an opportunity to formulate specific learning objectives.
a forum to try out teaching strategies appropriate for a post-16 group.
an opportunity for the learners to reflect on the teaching of each topic and to give feedback
to the person teaching via a session evaluation.
an opportunity for personal reflection on your own teaching performance, informed by
evaluation by your peers. Some of you may want to use Agendas to focus on a particular
aspect of your teaching.
Subject Support Groups and Rooms.
The sessions will start in Week 2 (no sessions in Weeks 1 and 7).
Subject
Biology
Psychology
Chemistry
Physics
Day
Monday
Monday
Wednesday
Wednesday
Time
11:00-13:00
11.00-13.00
11:00-13:00
11:00-13:00
Week 2 session
For this meeting, you will need to bring:
Your own specialist subject knowledge audit and needs analysis.
A specification for an A/S and A2 course (one per group; copies in the labs).
An A level textbook or revision guide.
Your PGCE Science Handbook.
The aims for the session are:
To become familiar with A/S and A2 specifications

To match your subject knowledge strengths with A/S and A2 specifications.
To plan to address your subject knowledge needs with support from the group.
To allocate teaching sessions (at least one session per person) to take into account
individual strengths and the needs of the group.
To elect a group representative who will keep the relevant subject tutor informed about the
subject support group arrangements.
To complete the timetable proforma, scheduling your sessions over the term and send an
electronic copy of this to Nigel Skinner (N.C.Skinner@ex.ac.uk).
Everyone should prepare and teach at least one session of 30 minutes during the term. Some of you
will provide a second session on a different day. For each session, start by telling the group your
specific learning objectives (what you hope the group will learn). Use teaching strategies
appropriate for a post-16 group - methods of delivery are likely to vary with different presenters.
Keep your teaching resources simple. The rooms that you use should have an OHP available.
Please let Nigel Skinner know if this is not the case.
20
21
Subject Support Group meeting organisation

While you are free to organise the sessions in the way that best suits the group, please bear the
following factors in mind:
There are 7 sessions to plan (after and not including Week 2).
The rooms are booked for two hours.
A suggested format is for two topics to be addressed per meeting, each lasting 30 minutes,
with a 10-minute question and answer session after each presentation. You should also plan
for the group to give feedback to the teacher in a session evaluation. For example:
Activity
Teaching session 1
Question and answer session
Feedback to presenter
Break
Teaching session 2
Question and answer session
Feedback to presenter
Duration (minutes)
30
10
5
30
30
10
5
Time from
start
(minutes)
0:00
0:30
0:40
0:45
1:15
1:45
1:55
2:00
Complete the planning sheet during the first session in week 4. The Subject Support group
representative should then send a copy to Nigel Skinner.
Planning your Subject Support Session
Use a template to help you plan the session further guidance will be provided in a lecture on
planning.
Decide on your learning objectives (the things the group will know/be able to do after you have
taught the session).
Review your own subject knowledge to ensure you are confident with the material you will teach.
Decide how to present the material (including timings).
Decide how you will assess whether learning has taken place.
Design resources to use during the session (handouts, OHTs, etc) Check that you have ordered any
equipment you need (Keep it simple!)
Feedback from peers
After the session each group member will give brief feedback to the presenter on a sheet of paper.
Useful feedback identifies areas of strength and possible areas for development, so you could note
down:
what was done well (always start with a positive note).
what you feel helped you to learn.
a comment on the quality of any teaching resources and how well they were used.
anything that hindered your learning and might be done differently next time.
If you want to have an Agenda annotated then please arrange for one of your peers to do this!
After the session
The teacher should reflect on the session:
Did you achieve your learning objectives?
How do you know that learning has occurred?
What parts of the session were you pleased with and why?
What might you do differently next time?
Write some brief notes to summarise this reflection. Use relevant aspects of the Framework for
Dialogue about Teaching to help you. Keep these notes in your Directed Tasks file.
22
Subject Support Group Planning Sheet

Group contact (responsible for communicating with subject tutor)
Name.. e-mail ..
Group:
Bio A Bio B
Term
week
Presenters name
Bio C
Psychol
Chem
Phys [please circle]
Topic
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
SBW IN WEEK 7
8
8
9
9
10
10
23
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
The ICT workshops running as part of the PGCE Science focus on ICT for teaching and learning in
Science and are designed to help you achieve the QTS standards for ICT (Q16, Q17 and Q23). You
will bring a range of ICT experience and expertise to the start of the science PGCE course and will
be identifying different needs in your Action Plans.
You are expected to be in charge of your own learning and to use appropriate resources to develop
your knowledge, skills and understanding. Interactive whiteboards are becoming increasingly
common in schools and we have two of these in the science laboratories. When the labs are not in
use they are available for you to practice on. Please liaise over access to the labs and use of this
facility with Chris Smith.
ICT workshops will be held on Mondays from 10.00 11.00 in BC218 weeks in 2, 3 and 4 and in
the labs on weeks 5, 6 and 8. Attendance at the ICT induction session, one of the Using Interactive
Whiteboards sessions and one of the data-logging sessions is compulsory. There is not enough
space in BC218 for all of you to attend sessions 2, 3 and 4. In the first week, please look at the
session outlines given below and sign up for the sessions you would like to attend. The sign-up
sheet can be found on the notice-board as you go in to the Science Labs and signing up will be on a
first-come, first-served basis.
WEEK
FOCUS
1
(2.00 pm
Labs)
2
(BC218)
3
(BC218)
4
(BC218)
5
(Labs)
6
(Labs)
7
Weds 7th October

The electronic library using electronic journals and databases.
Session lasts around 1 hour. (Aeronwen Allison)
Using the ICT to support teaching and learning (NM)
8
(Labs)
Thursday 3rd December: Datalogging in science (Iain Davison)

Sessions start at 10.00 and 14.00 and last around 3 hours
Using PowerPoint to support teaching and learning (NM)

Spreadsheets as worksheets and for record keeping (LH)
Using Interactive Whiteboards (LH)
Using Interactive Whiteboards (LH)
SCHOOL BASED WORK WEEK
You will have the opportunity to observe and use ICT in a school context during school-based work
in the spring and summer terms. By the end of the PGCE course, you should be able to make sound
decisions about when, when not, and how to use ICT effectively in teaching secondary science and
to know how ICT may be used more generally to support your professional activities.
24
Directed Tasks
These tasks are designed to help you put into practice some of the material presented to you in the
Professional Studies and Science lectures. The products of each of the tasks should be kept in a
Directed Task file and you should bring this file to each of your tutorial sessions. You should be
prepared to do other activities related to your national curriculum and main subject sessions, but
these do not need to be kept in your directed task file.
Task
1
Week
1/2
2/3
4/5
Requirements
Reflecting on the Nature of Science and the National Curriculum (NC)
i) Complete the Nature of Science (NoS) profile (5/10)
ii) Group discussion of your NoS profiles and how these relate to the How
Science Works component of the NC (6/10)
iii) Read Beyond 2000 and Philosophy of Science: An Overview for
Educators by Machamer (1998). Both of these are available on the
Student Documents site. Revisit your NoS profile make notes on any
changes in your views.
iv) Group discussion in seminar ( 12/10)
v) Write around 200 words explaining your views on each of the NoS
dimensions.
Planning and reflecting: Peer Teaching 1
i) Plan a 10 minute teaching episode and write an associated Agenda for
your first peer teaching session. See p45 of the PGCE handbook for
guidance on writing Agendas. Choose a focus from the
Communication and Interaction section (p 76 of the PGCE handbook).
ii) Teach this episode to a group of your peers. One of your peers will
annotate your Agenda for you.
iii) Write some critically reflective notes using the annotated Agenda to
help you.
iv) Discuss your reflections with the person who annotated the Agenda and
add further notes if appropriate.
Learning objectives and their assessment
For your main subject session in week 3 write learning objectives and ways
in which they could be assessed for a sequence of three KS4 lessons. These
should be related to the topic that was addressed in the main subject session
in week 2.
Planning and reflecting: Peer Teaching 2
i) Plan a 10 minute teaching episode and write an associated Agenda for
your second peer teaching session. Choose another focus from the
Communication and Interaction section (p 76 of the PGCE handbook).
ii) Teach this episode to a group of your peers. Your University Visiting
Tutor (UVT) will annotate your Agenda for you and will discuss this
with you.
iii) Write some critically reflective notes using the annotated Agenda to
help you.
Differentiation
For your main subject session in week 6 prepare a differentiated resource
designed for a KS3 lesson on a topic that was addressed in the main subject
session in week 5.
Cross-curricular task for Professional Studies see page 23 in this
handbook for details
25
3-8
26
Induction week tasks

Read the notes on p51 and p52 of the PGCE handbook. Your task is to
ensure that:
i) You have (as far as is possible) collected all the information listed in the
checklist.
ii) Kept records of any lesson observations that you make.
iii) Keep records of the episode plan and associated Agenda and evaluation
for the teaching that you do. (NB This should be kept in your IDP not
in your Directed Tasks file)
Reflection on Subject Support Group Teaching
By week 8 you should have completed one of your subject support group
teaching sessions. Your task relating to this is to write reflective notes on the
session that you taught. Use the guidelines on page 16 of this handbook
together with appropriate aspects of the Framework for Dialogue about
Teaching (see p8 of the PGCE handbook) to help you frame these notes.
Professional Studies Activity: Cross-curriculum dimensions at Key Stage 3

identity and cultural diversity; healthy lifestyles; community participation; enterprise; global
development and sustainable development; technology and the media; creativity and critical
thinking
Pre-session Directed Task
1) Go to the national curriculum website at http://curriculum.qca.org.uk.and find the information
about the cross-curriculum dimensions. Read about each one, thinking carefully about what your
subject could contribute to each dimension. Make notes using the worksheet to guide you. Bring
your notes to the science lecture on Wednesday 4th November
2) Keeping with the NC website, click on the tab for Key Stages 3 and 4, then look at each of the
individual subjects and read through the introductory statements The importance of This
should give you some information about subjects outside your specialism. Bring your notes to the
cross-curricular afternoon.
Cross-Curricular Afternoon November 12th
Professional Studies Lecture all must attend.
The professional studies lecture will run twice (13.00-13.55, 14.00-14.55), and you will be
allocated which one to attend. Even if you usually do these lectures online, you must attend faceto-face this time.
15.00 -16.30 Working in mixed subject groups
You will be allocated a mixed subject group and room early in the term and may want to meet
informally as a cross-curricular study group before this date.
Objectives: All students should be aware of the different opportunities other subjects provide for
teaching and learning in the cross-curricular dimensions, and how these opportunities relate to
their own subject and be able to work collaboratively with others
During this session you will take part in an activity to plan for one of the cross-curricular
dimensions in a mixed-subject team. Details of the task will be circulated at least two week
prior to the session, along with the groups and rooms.
27
Peer-Teaching
Peer teaching is the term we use for a 10-minute episode of instruction given by you to others in
the PGCE science group. This is an opportunity to practice some science teaching strategies in
front of a sympathetic and supportive group before you try them out in school. The group will act
as your class for any interactive teaching such as a question-and-answer session but problems
with management of order are not anticipated! Aim to present your episode at a level suitable for a
KS3 or KS4 class. The second of your peer teaching episodes will be recorded onto DVD. This
always proves to be a very valuable, if challenging, exercise much resisted at the outset and much
appreciated at the end! The second sessions are attended by your university visiting tutors. They
will give you feedback on your teaching and on the learning that took place. Peer teaching is a
requirement of the science course, but your efforts are not graded.
Prepare an episode plan and an Agenda for each peer teaching session. Guidance for how to do
this will be given in the science lecture programme. There is additional guidance about
constructing Agendas in both the Programme Handbook and later in this handbook. State on your
episode plan and Agenda whether the episode is intended for KS3 or KS4, and whether your target
group is a top set, bottom set or a mixed ability class.
Please remember that you are not attempting to give a whole lesson, or a lesson abstract. The idea
is to teach a short episode with a focus chosen on Communication and Interaction see page 76
in the PGCE handbook for a list of these . The Agenda for your 10-minute episode should be
written down in as much detail as possible. Note what you intend to say, ask, or demonstrate, and
estimate the time needed for different components of your episode. Although you will be teaching
for only 10 minutes, you should aim for changes of approach and pace during your delivery. It is
most important to avoid long monologues, so do not learn from a pre-written script or read from
notes. It is not appropriate to use a Powerpoint presentation for this short teaching episode.
The interactive whiteboards can be used to write on but do not try to do anything too sophisticated
with these just use them as something to write on and make sure you use the correct pens!
If you need any equipment to support your teaching, please talk to Chris Smith the science
technician. He will do his best to supply any reasonable requests, but do let him know at least three
days in advance of your session.
It is essential to work to a 10-minute limit for the peer-teaching episode. Include estimated timings
for the various activities of your episode, but remember that these estimates are to give you
practice in developing an awareness of pace in a lesson, not a straightjacket to worry about. You
will have to stop you after 10 minutes whether or not you have completed your planned delivery.
It is best to choose a science topic that you know thoroughly to avoid any anxieties about the
adequacy of your subject knowledge. Scripting essential questions is helpful and clear notes of any
board work will help the episode to run smoothly. A visualiser (a sophisticated OHP!) will be
available in the lab. If you would like to practice board notes or to try out the visualiser before your
peer teaching session, feel free to do so whenever the laboratories are not in use for teaching
please liaise with Chris Smith over this.
Make two copies of you episode plan and Agenda. At the beginning of your session give one copy
of your episode plan and Agenda to the person (your UVT in session 2) who will annotate the
Agenda. Please also bring a blank recordable DVD to the session so that your teaching can be
recorded.
When you reflect on your teaching after the episode, you should think about any differences
between what you planned to do and what actually happened. The annotated Agenda will be
helpful here. When thinking about the differences between what your intentions were and the
episode as it occurred you might ask yourself the following questions:
28
Did I say and do exactly as I had planned?

Did I keep to my planned timings?
What were the reasons for any differences?
Did the introduction to the topic hold the attention of the class?
What parts of the episode seemed to be effective teaching? How do I know this?
Have I got any particular mannerisms or ways of expressing myself? Do they help or
hinder my teaching?
What changes would I make if I did it again?
Other questions or issues may occur to you. When you have finished your thorough critical
reflection on the episode, you should complete a written evaluation.
29
Tutorials
During the autumn term you will meet with your personal tutor on three occasions. You will also
have the opportunity to discuss any issues or questions with your tutor when you come in for the
Seminar Days during the spring and summer terms. The focus for each of the meetings is set out in
the table on the following page. Please make sure that you carry out all that is asked of you before
the tutorials and bring along those things which will be needed. The first tutorial will focus on the
pre-course tasks (summarised below) your Initial Needs Analyses (INAs) and the associated Action
Plans (APs).
Summary of Generic Preparatory Tasks

Task
Preparatory task 1
Preparatory task 2
Primary School Activity 1
Secondary School Activity 1
Final summary task
Focus
Every Child Matters
Community Cohesion
The Primary Curriculum
The use of ICT in the Primary School
Classroom Frameworks and Behaviour Management
Individual Needs Diversity and Inclusion
The Secondary Curriculum
The use of ICT in your specialist subject
Classroom Frameworks and Behaviour Management
Individual Needs Diversity and Inclusion
Conclusion and Target Setting
500 1000 words drawing together your experiences in each
of the schools you visited with targets for further
investigation and development.
Summary of Science Specific Pre-course tasks

Task
1
2
3
Focus
Reflecting on your personal
starting point
Matching expectation and
experience
Initial needs analysis and
beginning the process of
science subject knowledge
4
5
Pre-course reading
Beginning a Learning Journal
Compiling an up to date CV
30
Products
Notes for your eyes only.
Notes to be handed in.
Completed self-audits, record of how you have
begun to develop your understanding of selfselected topics, record of your previous
experience.
Some ideas to inform discussions!
The start of your reflective record of learning
about science teaching.
Electronic and hard copy of your CV.
Arrangements for meetings with your Personal Tutor during the Autumn Term
Week
Focus
1-3
4-6
8 - 10
Joint meeting to discuss:

Pre-course tasks.
Initial Needs Analysis and
associated action planning.
Requirements of the IDP and
Directed Tasks file.
Requirements of assignment 1 and
the Learning Journal.
Individual tutorial to:
Monitor progress with Action Plan
1 and complete AP2.
Monitor developing evidence base
in IDP and Directed Task file.
Discuss progress with assignment
1 and your Learning Journal.
Individual tutorial to:
Monitor progress with Action Plan
2, IDP and Directed Task file.
Discuss progress with assignment
1 and your Learning Journal.
Complete Formative Report 1.
Things to do before the tutorial and to bring

to the tutorial
Bring:
Reports on pre-course tasks.
Your Individual Development Portfolio
(IDP) containing the index, an up to date CV
(with spare copy for tutor) and part
completed Action Plan 1.
Bring:
Directed Tasks File
IDP with completed AP1 and AP2
Learning Journal
At least 3 days before the tutorial email

your tutor your first Reflection on
Achievement and Progress (RAP1). Details
of how to complete RAP1 are given on page
10 of the PGCE handbook.
Bring:
IDP with AP2, Directed Tasks file and your
Learning Journal.
31
School Based Work

In the autumn term, you will spend a full week in your first placement school. In the spring and
summer terms you will be in school all the time, except for three seminar days each term when you
return to the university. Please refer to the PGCE programme handbook for further information
about school-based work.
During your time in school, you will be supported by a Principal School-based Tutor (PST) who
will manage and supervise your work in the science department, and by a Mentor who will be
responsible for your overall professional development. Your University Visiting Tutor will visit
you twice in the spring term and once in the summer term.
Please note: When you are in school you should not be used as cover for an absent teacher unless
another teacher is present. If that teacher is not a science specialist, you must not do practical work
with the class. This applies at all stages of your PGCE course.
University Tutor Visits

Because the PGCE secondary science group is large it is not possible for all science trainees to be
attached to a full-time member of the PGCE science team for supervision of school-based work.
The science team includes several part-time university visiting tutors (UVTs) who bring a wealth of
additional expertise to the course. They have had much experience as science teachers, many of
them have been Heads of Department, and they are thoroughly familiar with the Exeter Model of
Initial Teacher Education.
Under normal circumstances there will be one visit by your university visiting tutor during each of
the three phases of your training. Each visit to you in schools will include the following elements,
although the emphasis will vary between visits:
discussions with school-based tutors.

observation of your teaching and follow-up feedback.
looking at your Teaching File and your PGCE Individual Development Portfolio.
consultation on matters beyond the immediate lesson.
During the visit the UVT will gain an impression of your overall professional development. Their
role is not to make a summative assessment, as they will at best see only a snapshot of your
classroom practice. They will offer constructive advice to you and leave you with a record of the
notes taken during your lesson, so that you may reflect on them at your leisure.
You will always have prior notice of a visit.
32
Episode and Lesson Planning

Throughout your training, it is essential that you plan explicitly and in detail on paper for every
episode or lesson that you teach.
Lesson plans are the foundation for developing pupils learning. Many experienced teachers appear
to have a minimalist approach to their own written lesson plans. Do not be deceived; in this case,
their planning has developed over years of practice, with much information held implicitly in their
heads. We may say that the preparation time for their lesson is 10 minutes and 10 years: ten
minutes to assemble thoughts/materials for the lesson, as well as ten years of accumulated
experience of how to best to teach the topic to a particular group.
There is no fixed way to construct a lesson plan. The detail will depend on your teaching context
and personal preferences and is likely to be influenced by the practice you see around you in
school. You should prepare a template, preferably using ICT (e.g. a table in Word) that you can fill
in for each lesson either on a computer or by hand. Examples of different lesson plan templates will
be available during the autumn term.
Elements to include in your episode/lesson plans are:
learning objectives (i.e. the outcomes that you expect pupils to achieve)
background information: date; class; number of pupils; supervising teacher; length of
lesson
topic, with reference to National Curriculum/exam board specifications/school scheme of
work
previous learning and how to build on it (for both continuity and progression)
an outline of each phase of the lesson, including
o how to introduce the phase to catch attention, generate interest, clarify objectives
o teachers actions
o pupils activities
for practical activities, management of equipment and pupils; safety reminders
key points to be made, with any board notes written out in full
key questions to be asked
summary points
links to the next phase of the lesson
homework tasks, if needed
health and safety points (risk assessment for practical activities if applicable)
monitoring and assessment (how will you know what your pupils have learned ?)
as appropriate, opportunities to develop pupils skills in literacy (including new
vocabulary), numeracy and ICT
support materials for less able/special educational needs pupils and/or extension materials
for more able pupils (for differentiation)
approximate timings for different phases of the lesson (remember to allow for settling the
class at the beginning and clearing up at the end of the lesson)
resources list (e.g. worksheets, books, video, OHTs, apparatus, ICT.) with equipment list
for technician (order early!)
33
In planning for an episode or full lesson, you will also need to consider:
your own subject knowledge and understanding (write any subject knowledge notes you
need on a separate sheet. If included in the lesson plan, they make it too long and too
difficult to use. If you need to, take your subject knowledge notes with you into the lesson
you can then refer to them if you get stuck.)
childrens learning, including any scientific misconceptions that they may bring to the
lesson
relevant research and theory
teachers craft knowledge (the traditional lore of teaching)
the context in which you are working (constraints or opportunities)
Agendas
A lesson or episode plan provides the framework for pupils learning. Your own learning about the
skills of teaching is formalised in an Agenda linked to an episode or lesson.
An Agenda is used to expose specific elements of your teaching to detailed, explicit analysis. The
relationship between a lesson plan and an Agenda is explained in more detail in the PGCE
programme handbook. Examples of suggested Agenda statements are also given in the programme
handbook. Please note that this is a generic list and you will certainly need to write other Agenda
statements related to your work as a science teacher. Your Principal School-based Tutor (PST) will
advise you on the choice of an appropriate statement when you write an Agenda.
You should not write an Agenda for every episode or lesson that you teach, but you should aim to
complete two annotated Agendas per week to develop your skills of critical reflection and to collect
a range of evidence for your individual development portfolio.
A form is provided for you to write down a detailed plan of your intentions for an episode of
teaching in respect of a particular teaching skill. Include estimated timings if appropriate. There is
space on the form for an observer (usually the class teacher) to record where you follow your plan
and where you deviate from it (flexibility is an important skill to develop in teaching!). We ask the
observer to annotate your Agenda as factually and non-judgementally as possible, so that you have
a record of what actually happened during that episode of teaching. The annotations may appear to
be rather sparse, but the observer may later give you a separate sheet of more detailed comments
and suggestions. The Agenda, with observers notes and your evaluation, is an annotated Agenda.
See the PGCE handbook for further guidance on the use of Agendas to help you learn about how to
teach.
Episode and Lesson Evaluations

When an Agenda has been annotated, you should reflect on the outcomes of the episode or lesson
using the Agenda as the basis for a detailed written evaluation. The section on Reflective Practice
in this handbook and the Framework for Dialogue about Teaching in the PGCE programme
handbook offer frameworks for your reflective evaluation. Use either or both to support your
analysis of your teaching, as appropriate.
Please try to avoid using general statements such as this episode went well. If things went well,
try to analyse why (e.g. your excellent subject knowledge, meticulous planning, good awareness of
pupils previous learning or misconceptions, etc, etc). If things became difficult during the
episode/lesson, think carefully about the underlying reasons for this. It may be uncomfortable, but
any problems you have in class will provide valuable learning experiences for you to improve your
teaching performance if you use them as a basis for effective critical reflection.
34
Detailed written evaluation is required for your annotated Agendas with a focus on your own
progression in teaching skills. At other times, your evaluative record of episodes or lessons should
emphasise the quality of pupils learning and may be in shorter note form.
When evaluating your teaching, have the following questions in mind:
Why am I focussing on this piece of practice?

How does examining the episode or lesson in terms of theories, context and values help me
to understand what happened?
What are the significant issues or patterns?
so
How will I think differently?
and therefore
What will I do differently?
After evaluation of any of your lessons, you should always think about the implications for your
teaching in terms of things you want to find out, or practice, or avoid. We recognise that this
reflective practice is a complex process, not least in that it requires you to try to make detailed links
between the university-based part of your course and your work in school. The regular annotated
Agendas, and the six formal supervisory conferences outlined below, will help you to develop
skills to work as a reflective practitioner throughout your teaching career.
We recognise that this process is time-consuming and that you cannot document all your thinking
and associated follow up action for all the teaching that you do in the same explicit fashion. The
annotated Agendas linked with the supervisory conferences are therefore the tip of the iceberg of
your personal approach to reflective professional practice, an approach which will enable you both
to learn to teach during your PGCE year and then to continue to develop as a teacher once you are
in a teaching post.
Supervisory Conferences
Annotated Agendas form an important part of the evidence that you present during meetings (called
supervisory conferences) with your Mentor in school. These meetings are arranged three times per
term in each of your placement schools. The supervisory conference gives you the opportunity to
discuss with an experienced teacher how you can progress in particular aspects of your classroom
practice. You choose the focus of the conference to give the best match with your developmental
needs at that time. Before the conference, you should send to your Mentor the paperwork needed to
support the discussion:
annotated Agenda(s) with corresponding detailed written evaluation

related episode/lesson plan
any other relevant documentation that relates to the issue you wish to discuss.
This paperwork should be submitted to your Mentor at least 24 hours before the supervisory
conference.
At the conference, you discuss your chosen issue and agree on an action plan with specific targets
for the next stage of your professional development. Subsequent discussion of the action plans and
the steps you take to address them forms part of the evidence that the Mentor will use to assess
35
your work in school. You can find further information about supervisory conferences in the PGCE
programme handbook.
Reflective Practice
The complex skills of reflective practice are a lynchpin of the Exeter approach to Initial Teacher
Education (ITE). Please take some time to familiarise yourself with the Exeter Model of ITE which
is described in the PGCE programme handbook. This includes a Framework for Dialogue about
Teaching which is designed to help structure conversations about teaching that you will have with
teachers, university tutors, pupils and fellow students and your reflections on these. The things that
will influence your reflections can be conceptualised as a framework of theory, context and values
that feed into every stage of your training and can be summed up by the following diagram:
Theory, Context, Values
PLAN
Theory
Reconsider Theory
Determination to change context
RECONCEPTUALISE
ACT
Context
Values
Reconsider Values
EVALUATE
Theory, Context, Values
This Model of Reflective Practice draws on the work of several theorists and researchers in the
field of teacher education.
By theory, we mean:
subject knowledge - including knowledge of the nature of the subject

pedagogical knowledge - knowledge of formal theories about teaching and learning
informal personal theories of teaching and learning (traditional lore of teaching, or craft
knowledge)
By context, we mean characteristics of the school and the class that will affect the way you teach
and the impact of your teaching. Elements include:
the resources available (physical resources and staffing)

the nature of the teaching space (how it is equipped; its size etc.)
the nature of the pupils (e.g. their age, ability, gender, ethnic background etc.)
the expectations of pupils, parents, colleagues, governors
the formal policies of the school (e.g. with respect to discipline, or homework)
the national context (e.g. the influences of OfSTED Inspection, the National Curriculum,
the broader legal context;)
By values we mean:
36
broadly-accepted, national values related to education and the conduct of teachers and
learners.
your personal values related to teaching.
Your university course supports you in learning about theory and encourages you to make your
values explicit to yourself; it also helps you to understand and apply the model of reflective
practice. Your school-based work enables you to explore the context of each of your schools; it
also helps you to put the model into practice. It gives you opportunities to find out about
experienced teachers thoughts on and models of science teaching. As well as providing a powerful
framework for your thinking and your actions in school, the reflective practice model can help you
to tie your university-based work and your school-based work together.
So, in planning a lesson you will draw on theory, context and values. Your plan will be influenced
by your understanding of the science and by what you have heard and read about, for example, the
purpose of practical work or the characteristics of pupils learning. It will be influenced by your
personal theories say, that copying notes from the board is boring. It may be influenced by the
fact that the school has a limited photocopying budget or that the lesson will be in a lab with the
support of an imaginative and helpful technician. It will be influenced by your values: for
example, that children should have a say in their own education.
When you act in the lesson, you will put your plan into practice. As unexpected things happen, you
will respond. Although, as a beginning teacher, it is extremely difficult for you to base your
response on explicit consideration of theory, context or values, an experienced teacher may take
(some of) these factors into account.
As you evaluate your lesson afterwards, and even more as you think back in detail over several
days teaching, you will match up what has happened to theory, context and values. Perhaps the
lesson failed to interest the pupils because you did not know the science adequately; perhaps they
learned a lot because you were careful to base the lesson on explicit theories of learning. Perhaps
the lesson was problematic because you spent too much time on the theoretical background to the
work, or used too much of a particular chemical, or had the chairs arranged in such a way that
many pupils could not see the board. Perhaps you were really happy with the lesson because the
way in which you gave pupils a say in their learning really engaged them in their work.
As you consider whether you need to think differently about teaching, you may wish to revise your
personal theories, or your values. Of course, as a PGCE student, you are unlikely to assemble
evidence that enables you to change the formal theories in the literature, but as an experienced
teacher you might aspire to this, perhaps by writing for the School Science Review, or by
undertaking a Masters degree or PhD. Again, as a PGCE student, you cannot expect to do anything
about the context of your placement school, but your work may help you to be clear that a given
resource constraint is so significant in hampering pupils learning that you become determined to
change that constraint if you should meet it again in a situation in which you do have the power to
change it.
Reflective practice is therefore a powerful tool for initial teacher learning, and an approach which
can serve you well throughout your career. As you will see, it relates closely to the reflective
elements in annotated Agendas and supervisory conferences that are described elsewhere. To
support your development as reflective teachers and learners and to assist you in the assessment of
the PGCE Course, we ask you to keep a Learning Journal throughout the course. Your Learning
Journal will help you write and provide evidence for the critical reflections you will write at each
formative reporting stage and for all three Secondary Science Assignments.
See the titles on Reflective Practice in the Useful References section towards the end of this
handbook for some references that will help you become a reflective practitioner. The website
http://www.rtweb.info/ provides access to many very helpful resources about reflective teaching.
37
Guidance for Writing Your Learning Journal

The Learning Journal is designed to develop a critical reflectivity, and to capture feelings,
reactions, ideas, moments of inspiration before the rational, academic editor in the head rejects
them. The course itself and experience in school often provoke feelings of surprise, doubt, tension
or pleasure which should be articulated and considered. You will not be asked to submit your
Learning Journal but you will be expected to bring it to tutorials and discuss it with your tutor.
Through reflection in your journal we hope you will make real the connections between theory and
practice, between your own experiences and those of pupils, and that you will explore your
reactions to the course. The Framework for Dialogue about Teaching will support your exploration
of these influences. The weakest journals are heavily narrative, describing experiences without
reflective analysis. The best journals analyse why events happened, consider the value of theory as
it applies to practice, may derive theory from practice and perhaps challenge accepted theory.
Levels of reflection
To develop the quality of written reflection in your journal, you will need to consider different
levels of reflection that may be identified:
descriptive essentially non-reflective writing e.g. giving an account which relies mainly on
a description of events and actions e.g. recounting the content of a workshop by giving
details of the activities without reflecting on their significance.
descriptive reflection seeking what is seen as best possible practice e.g. by analysing your
own performance in the professional role (probably alone) and justifying any actions taken.
dialogic reflection which involves examining competing claims and viewpoints and
exploring alternative solutions e.g. exploring alternative ways to solve problems in a
professional situation.
critical reflection which involves problematising the goals and practice of teaching and
education e.g. thinking about the effects upon others of your actions, taking account of
social, political and/or cultural forces.
The varied nature of reflection should be recognised and addressed in your writing and very helpful
guidance on reflective writing is available at:
http://www.services.ex.ac.uk/cas/employability/students/reflective.htm
Your journal will reflect the range of influences on your thinking that will doubtless include formal
aspects of university and school-based work, but also conversations with colleagues, friends or
family or stories you have heard in the media. You may wish to record some ideas in your journal in
diagrammatic form as well as in writing.
38
Procedures to follow if you are in difficulty during School-based Work

The first few weeks in school can be very difficult, not only because of the sheer hard work, but
also because you will inevitably have some failures, and may have to accept more criticism than
perhaps has come your way in life recently. Try to remember that this is the norm rather than the
exception, and no professional teacher or tutor expects you to get everything right from the start.
Obviously the rate of development varies considerably, but most PGCE students in school can
expect to have a lot to learn in a very short time, so it makes sense to use this time to get the
maximum advice from established teachers for developing your teaching skills and confidence in
the classroom.
We have a structure which aims to help and support you if you experience difficulties during your
SBW. If you find yourself with a problem related to your training you should follow this procedure:
First, remember that science departments vary in the amount of support and supervision they give,
but do be prepared to ask for help and advice if you need it. This can often resolve problems very
easily. However, if problems persist:
Stage 1 Consultation and advice
(a)
Contact your Mentor and ask to see him or her to discuss the issues in confidence. Your
Mentor is the first and obvious point of call, detached as s/he is from your every day supervision
and involvement with a subject department.
(b)
Then discuss issues with your Principle School-based Tutor and other involved parties.
(c)
Contact your university visiting tutor, outlining in as much detail as possible the difficulties
you have experienced or are encountering. UVTs can normally be telephoned at home in the
evening, but please do this only if the matter is very urgent.
Stage 2 Formal Conference
If the situation continues to give you cause for concern then you should immediately contact your
university visiting tutor again. At this stage it would be helpful if you would send in a letter which
details the situation and circumstances.
The university visiting tutor will contact your Mentor, to arrange a formal conference involving
your university visiting tutor, Mentor, Principle School-based Tutor and any other involved parties.
The conference will review the situation, carefully evaluating the evidence. It is therefore in your
own interests to ensure that your Individual Development Portfolio is complete and up to date.
The conference will result in an action plan for you to implement to resolve the situation.
Stage 3 Action Plan - implementation, monitoring and review
Implementation of the action plan, monitoring of the situation and review of its relative success
will involve you and all the school and university staff who are working with you.
39
English as an Additional Language

Standard Q19 makes reference to making effective personalised provision for pupils for whom
English is an additional language. This section is intended to provide you with some help in
addressing this particular standard. Your science lecture programme in the Autumn Term includes
sessions that will help you to work with pupils for whom English is an Additional Language. Of
particular relevance are the sessions on Literacy, Differentiation and Assessment.
Scientific language is, in a sense, an additional language for all pupils. Scientific terms (such as
'power', or 'pure', or 'animal') have technical meanings which are not identical to everyday
meanings. Everyday usage can help to make these terms meaningful, but can also lead to
confusion. For example, the everyday use of the word 'power' is consistent with the technical use
(energy transfer per second), but pupils can also be confused by the ways in which 'force', 'energy'
and 'power' are often taken to be interchangeable in everyday language (see for example sports
reports in the newspapers). The literacy session helps you to understand ways in which technical
language can be presented to pupils to overcome these difficulties. These same techniques will
help EAL pupils. Remember, too, that EAL pupils may need similar kinds of help with nontechnical language (as will some of the pupils for whom English is a first language!).
The differentiation sessions will give you an understanding of how the needs of different can be
addressed in the complex setting of a classroom and will consider ways of using help from
Learning Support Assistants (LSAs). It also highlights the importance of giving pupils time to
construct their answers (e.g. arranging individual or paired work - perhaps with a LSA - on the key
points in a topic before a class question and answer session).
The assessment sessions will help you to understand ways in which you can explore what pupils
know and what they find difficult. This is crucial as pupils with EAL span all abilities. You need
to avoid the assumption that a pupil with language difficulties is necessarily less able (and also to
avoid the trap of letting the language difficulty mask a learning difficulty).
Some ideas for teaching EAL pupils together with some nice examples can be found in KS3
National Strategy Access and Engagement in Science which can be accessed at the following
website:
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/keystage3/respub/sc_eal
These techniques matter. However, since language and culture are intimately related, support for
pupils with EAL goes beyond such techniques. It is therefore important to show that you value the
pupil's language and culture (e.g. by asking questions about how an idea would be expressed in that
language; by referring to scientific work in that culture). While you are in school use these
techniques to support pupils with EAL in your class. If, as is sometimes the case in the South West,
there are no pupils with EAL in your classes you can:
40
talk to science teachers or LSAs who work with pupils with EAL in other classes
and/or talk to teachers or LSAs who have worked with pupils with EAL in other schools,
or in other subjects
and/or talk to the special needs staff about the overlaps and differences between support for
pupils with special needs and support for those with EAL
and/or, after teaching a topic, plan some additional resources that you think would be
helpful for pupils with EAL
and/or, after teaching a topic, plan some assessment materials that would help you to map
pupils' scientific understanding without extensive use of written English
As with all school-based work you should ensure that you keep records of your work. You might,
for example, write a brief note about how your resources relate to the ideas from the autumn term
sessions, or to the KS3 National Strategy materials.
41
Post-16 teaching experience

It is important that you gain a coherent and useful experience of post-16 teaching. Your subject
support groups in the Autumn Term will have given you opportunities to look closely at A-level
subject specifications, to teach A-level material to your peers, and to review aspects of A-level
subject knowledge. Some of your main subject sessions will allow you to explore aspects of
teaching A-level with your tutor. You will follow up this University experience with post-16
experience in school. If you are in a school with a Sixth Form, then your timetable should include
some year 12 or year 13 classes. If neither of your placement schools has a Sixth Form, then one
of your placement schools should arrange some post 16 experience in a nearby post-sixteen school
or college .
Schools can find it difficult to give you secure post-16 experience, not because they dont want you
near their A level classes, but because years 12 and 13 are now very packed and quite a substantial
chunk of time is taken in preparation for and taking of the AS and A2 examinations. However,
even accepting these constraints, there are multiple rich opportunities for teaching post-16. Below
are some different ways of gaining relevant teaching experience in a post-16 context. You will
notice that common to all of them is that you plan, teach and assess a unit of work.
Teach specified classes on the normal post-16 timetable throughout a placement but take
specific responsibility for planning, teaching and assessing one unit of work. This may involve
team teaching or working alongside the class teacher in the early stages, but must include
independent teaching in the later stages.
Plan, teach, and assess some revision classes to support AS or A2 students in preparation for
their summer exam. Useful revision focuses might include going through examination
questions with the pupils to discuss the science and examination technique; helping students to
consolidate their learning through helping them to construct concept maps.
Negotiate with the class teacher ways that you can help to support A-level students in their
practical classes by planning, teaching and assessing specific interventions that you can make.
The issue here is to think in advance about the practical skills and conceptual issues that are
relevant and to design questions and input that will enable you to determine students' needs, to
help them to move forward, and to assess their achievements. This is much more than simply
'being in the practical sessions to help out'.
Plan, teach, and assess a unit of work that would operate outside the normal timetable as an
extra-curricular class or activity. This might include:
An extra-curricular tutorial class that addresses areas that are problematic for individual
students
An extra-curricular class that gives additional support for very able students
A class focussed on a particular enthusiasm of your own, or a broad issue such as the social
impact of science.
Remember that post-16 education is not just about A-levels. Gaining experience and
understanding of the Key Skills, especially literacy, and of vocational qualifications, is also
important.
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Books to support school-based work

The titles listed below are books that you may find useful for supporting and developing your
subject knowledge, planning lessons, monitoring and assessment of pupils work and for support
with generic teaching skills and class management.
Teaching and Learning
Cohen, L., Manion L and Morrison K (2004) A Guide to Teaching Practice. (5 th Edition) (London:
Routledge/Falmer)
Sotto E (1994) When teaching becomes learning. (London: Cassell Education)
This book provides a very useful and thought provoking discussion of the relationship between
teaching and learning and is highly recommended.
Science lessons in general
Bishop, K. & Denley, P. (2007) Learning Science Teaching: Developing a professional knowledge
base (Maidenhead, Open University Press).
DfEE (1996) Safety in Science Education. (London: The Stationery Office)
Kind V and Taber K (2005) Science: Teaching School Subjects 11-19. (London: Routledge)
Mannion, K. et al (2003) Teaching and learning in Key Stage 3 Science. (Exeter: Learning Matters)
Parkinson, J. (1994) The Effective Teaching of Secondary Science. (London: Longman)
Ratcliffe, M. (ed) (1998) ASE Guide to Secondary Science Education. (Hatfield: ASE/Stanley
Thornes)
Ross K, Lakin L and Callaghan P (2004) Teaching Secondary Science. (London: David Fulton
Publishers)
Turner, T. and Dimarco, W. (1998) Learning to Teach Science in the Secondary School. (London:
Routledge)
Wood-Robinson V (2006) ASE Guide to Secondary Science (Hatfield, ASE)
Biology
Reiss, M. (ed) (1999) Teaching Secondary Biology. (London: ASE/John Murray)
Winterbottom, M. (1999) Teaching Biology to Key Stage 4. (London: Hodder & Stoughton)
Chemistry
McDuell, B. (ed) (1999) Teaching Secondary Chemistry. (London: ASE/John Murray)
Wilson E (1999) Teaching Chemistry to Key Stage 4 (London: Hodder & Stoughton)
Farley R (2001) School Chemistry Experiments (Hatfield: ASE)
Physics
Jerram, A. (1999) Teaching Physics to Key Stage 4. (London: Hodder & Stoughton)
Sang, D.(ed) (1999) Teaching Secondary Physics. (London: ASE/John Murray)
Farley R (2005) School Physics Experiments. (Hatfield: ASE)
Use of ICT in science lessons
Frost R (2000) The IT in Secondary Science Book. (Hatfield: ASE)
Frost R (2000) The IT in Science Book of Datalogging and Control. (Hatfield: ASE)
Frost R (2001) Datalogging in Practice. (Hatfield: ASE)
Newton L and Rogers L (2001) Teaching Science with ICT. (London: Continuum)
Sang D and Frost R (eds) Teaching Secondary Science using ICT. (London: ASE/John Murray)
Scaife, J., and Wellington, J. (1993) Information Technology in Science and Technology
Education. (Buckingham : Open University Press)
Practical Work in Science
Bentley, D. and Watts, M. (1989) Learning and Teaching in School Science: Practical Activities,
(Buckingham : Open University Press)
Sang, D. and Wood-Robinson, V. (2002) Teaching Secondary Scientific Enquiry. (London:
ASE/John Murray)
Class Management
Blum P (1998) Surviving and succeeding in Difficult Classrooms. (London: RoutledgeFalmer)
Gray J & Richer J (1988) Classroom responses to disruptive behaviour (Basingstoke: Macmillan
Education)
Kyriacou, C (1995) Essential teaching skills (Cheltenham: Stanley Thorne)
Wragg E (2001) Class Management in the Secondary School. (London: RoutledgeFalmer)
43
Websites to support school-based work

There are hundreds of websites that are potentially useful to support your school-based work.
Rather than listing lots of them, here are a selection that will provide links to valuable resources
and ideas.
www.becta.org.uk - this is the British Educational Communication and Technology Agency website
and it is well worth spending some time investigating what it offers. It provides links to many other
websites that offer practical suggestions for using ICT in science teaching.
www.ase.org.uk - the Association for Science Education (ASE) site that provides details of the
services that the ASE offers together with useful ideas for teaching science.
www.tda.gov.uk - this is the Training and Development Agency website where you can find the
Handbook of Guidance for the Qualifying to Teach standards. This offers valuable information
about the scope of each of the Standards together with advice about the kind of evidence that you
can provide to show that you meet the Standards.
www.standards.dcfs.gov.uk - this is a website that provides a route to many useful resources linked
to the National Curriculum and Standards.
http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/ - this site links every National Curriculum programme of study
requirement to resources on the Curriculum Online.
44
Main Subject Assignments for Secondary Science

Please refer to the PGCE Handbook for information about assessment and moderation, issues such
as late submission and about the role of the external examiner.
Important points relating to all science assignments
Each of the assignments should:
have the teaching and learning of science as a key focus;

relate theory to practice see pages 30 and 31 for an introduction to the skills of reflective
practice. Use the framework for dialogue about teaching and refer to the framework of
theory, context and values to help you to develop a critical approach to writing about
the relationship between theory and practice.
Refer to your learning journal to support your discussion.
Handing in assignments
Submission Dates
Assignments must be submitted to the Student Information Office (NC18-20) by 4.45pm on the
following dates:
Assignment 1: 11th December 2009 (end of term)
Assignment 2: 1st April 2010 (Seminar Day 3)
Assignment 3: 4th June 2010 (Seminar Day 4)
Handing in assignments
All assignments must be handed in to the Student Information Office (SC01), however before you
submit your assignment there are important processes for you to follow. Failure to do this will
result in the office being unable to accept your submission and could lead to your work being
recorded as a late submission. For information on what you have to do to successfully submit
your coursework please go to the following webpage: www.education.exeter.ac.uk/SIO
Any assignment handed in after the submission date is recorded as a LATE assignment and must be
accompanied by a letter of explanation to the Programme Director with a medical certificate where
relevant. Late assignments will be considered before the final examination board, and will be
restricted to a pass grade.
Presentation requirements
Please do not present your assignment in a binder in which individual pages are in plastic pockets.
Preferably use an arrangement in which the pages are easily turned, and can be annotated with
comments. Margins should be generous; font size should be no less than 12 and line spacing should
be 1.5. Layout should be clear, with use of sections and subheadings to organise your text.
Remember that each tutor will have to mark 20 or more assignments in a short time scale, so clear
presentation is very important!
All bibliographic referencing should use the Harvard Method as detailed

in the PGCE programme handbook.
45
Autumn Term Assignment

Science Education: Personal learning and the UK context.
5000 words
(QTS Standards Q7a, Q7b, Q14, Q15)
Submission date:
No later than 4.00 p.m. on 11th December 2009
This assignment is in sections to ease you in to writing longer pieces, and we suggest you pace
your writing over the term.
Part 1: The Nature and Place of Science in the School Curriculum (1000 words)
Formative Deadline: Friday 30th October
In this section, we would like you to review some of the literature about the nature of science and
how this relates to science education and the national curriculum. You should refer to the rationale
behind its place as a core subject, arguments from educationalists in the field and your own
perceptions. What are the challenges of this subject for secondary schools and how might it be
implemented effectively?
You should seek to demonstrate your ability to identify key pieces of literature and write about
them critically, highlighting your perception of their strengths and weaknesses.
Try to illustrate how the ideas presented in the literature relate to your own developing thinking and
use examples from your preliminary school experience and your experiences on the course so far to
illustrate your discussion.
If you would like to receive short formative feedback on your work, particularly in relation to
appropriate referencing and writing at Masters level, you must submit your work to your tutor, by
email, by 4pm on Friday 30th October. We will not promise to provide formative feedback if you
send us your work after this date.
Part 2: Reflection the teaching and learning of science (3500 words)
In this section you should reflect in detail on:
1) Your rationale for teaching science why should science be taught in schools? Do you
think science deserves its place as a core subject alongside mathematics and English?
2) One aspect of what you have learned on the course so far about the teaching and learning
of science. Focus your reflections on one of the following areas:
Misconceptions
Motivation
Assessment for Learning
Rationale for Practical and Investigative Science
Pupils with Special Educational Needs
Gifted and Talented Pupils
Learning outside the Classroom
If you would like to focus on a different area please discuss this with your personal tutor.
In your reflections you should aim to:
explain your thinking at the start of the course, showing what this was based upon
describe how your thinking has changed during the course
make explicit the factors that have brought about these changes, including references to the
literature, to sessions on the university-based course, and to your school-based experiences
as appropriate. The latter could include your own experiences as a pupil, experiences
whilst on your preliminary experience visits and any teaching experience you may already
have.
46
Part 3: Synthesis and implications for practice (500 words)

In this section you should aim to draw together your discussion of the nature of science in science
education, the rationale for teaching science and your chosen focus of reflection, and discuss any
consequences that the development in your knowledge and understanding is likely to have on your
practice as a science teacher. For example, actions you will now take to extend, or deepen, or
reinforce your thinking, or things that you now expect to do in the classroom that you might not
have otherwise expected to do.
Autumn term assignment marking criteria:
Distinction: 70% and above
Part 1: Discussion of a range of highly relevant current issues in science education illustrating very
clearly how these are shaped by the socio-political context in the UK. High quality critical analysis
of theoretical arguments relating to the nature of science and the purposes of science education.
High quality critical reflection which relates your own beliefs, values and experience to these
issues.
Part 2: Very clear description of your thinking with respect to your chosen focus at the start of the
course. A very clear analysis of how and why your personal thinking about this focus has changed
supported by high-quality critical reflection that relates this change to a variety of experiences and
contexts.
Part 3: Very clear discussion of the anticipated consequences of the change in your knowledge and
understanding, explicitly based on the preceding description and explanation, and showing
imaginative creativity in thinking.
All the above supported by wide and analytical reading, with reference made to both science
education literature and wider theoretical approaches to teaching and learning. Excellent, accurate
literacy with fluent and lucid writing. Work presented clearly and logically with all assignment
requirements met.
Merit: 60-69%
Part 1: Discussion of a range of relevant current issues in science education illustrating clearly how
these are shaped by the socio-political context in the UK. Critical analysis of theoretical arguments
relating to the nature of science and the purposes of science education. Critical reflection which
relates your own beliefs, values and experience to these issues.
Part 2: Clear description of your thinking with respect to your chosen focus at the start of the
course. A clear analysis of how and why your personal thinking about this focus has changed
supported by critical reflection that relates this change to a variety of experiences and contexts.
Part 3: Clear discussion of the anticipated consequences of the change in your knowledge and
understanding, soundly based on the preceding description and explanation, and showing creativity
in thinking.
All the above supported by wide reading, with reference made to both science education literature
and wider theoretical approaches to teaching and learning. Good, accurate literacy with fluent
writing. Work presented clearly and logically with most assignment requirements met.
50-59%: Pass
Part 1: Discussion of a range of current issues in science education illustrating how these are
influenced by the socio-political context in the UK. Some critical analysis of theoretical arguments
relating to the nature of science and the purposes of science education. Some critical reflection
which relates your own beliefs, values and experience to these issues.
Part 2: Description of your thinking with respect to your chosen focus at the start of the course.
Some analysis of how and why your personal thinking about this focus has changed supported by
critical reflection that relates this change to experiences and contexts.
47
Part 3: Some discussion of the anticipated consequences of the change in your knowledge and
understanding linked to the preceding description and explanation.
All the above supported by appropriate reading, with reference made to both science education
literature and wider theoretical approaches to teaching and learning. Adequate standard of literacy
with generally competent writing. Satisfactory presentation of work with few assignment
requirements missing.
49% and below: Fail
Part 1: Discussion of a very limited range of current issues in science education with little reference
to the way is which these are shaped by the socio-political context in the UK. Little analysis of
theoretical arguments relating to the nature of science and the purposes of science education. Little
reflection relating your own beliefs, values and experience to these issues.
Part 2: Limited description of your thinking with respect to your chosen focus at the start of the
course. Little analysis of how and why your personal thinking about this focus has changed with
limited reference to experiences and contexts.
Part 3: Limited discussion of the anticipated consequences of the change in your knowledge and
understanding linked to the preceding description and explanation.
Limited reference to either the science education literature or to wider theoretical approaches to
teaching and learning. Poor standard of literacy and presentation with many assignment
48
Spring Term Assignment

Research-based Assignment: Action Research or Case Study
5000 words
QTS Standards: these will depend on the type of study and the focus of the study.
Submission date: To be handed in no later than 4.00 p.m. 1st April 2010
The research-based assignment may be either a piece of action research or a case study.
It clearly makes sense to choose a focus that interests you and is appropriate to your own needs.
However, please ensure that the focus is related to your development as a science teacher and to
pupils learning of science. Please discuss your ideas for this assignment with the teachers you are
working with, in particular your PST. Begin this discussion early in the term so that you have
plenty of time to develop your ideas and carry out the data collection that will be needed. We
would also like you to report the findings of your study back to the school. Please make suitable
arrangements with your PST to do this. It could be done simply in a weekly meeting with your PST
or it could be a 10 minute presentation to the science department during a science meeting.
Doing an Action Research based assignment will help you to consider in depth the relationship
between theory and practice in the development of your own teaching. Case study can deepen your
understanding of an aspect of science teaching. Either can contribute to your professional
development. If the context of your placement school is conducive to carrying out an Action
research assignment we recommend that you choose this option. However, we recognise that in
some situations Action Research might be difficult to carry out. If this the case in your context then
carry out a Case Study.
Your assignment should include the following:
An Abstract of no more than 300 words summarising the focus of the study, the context in
which it was carried out, the findings, conclusions and implications
An Introduction in which you explain the reasons for selecting your particular focus and the
context in which the study was carried out. For Action Research projects you should include a
clear research question that you are seeking to answer.
A Literature Review where you discuss a range of literature (use a combination of books,
journals and the internet for source material) relevant to your focus.
Methodology in which you explain how you selected and implemented particular methods of
data collection taking into account ethical issues (see below for guidance on ethics).
Findings in which you report on the data you have collected.
Discussion in which you discuss your findings and how these relate to the literature that you
discussed in the literature review.
Conclusions in which you summarise the main findings and discuss their implications with
particular reference to your own practice.
Appendices should be numbered and include:
A short (no more than 6 slides) powerpoint presentation that you used to report your finding to
the teachers you worked with.
Any raw data and other material that you consider worth including to help the reader
understand the study.
49
Action Research
Action research is a way to answer questions such as How can I do X better? or How can I
continue to do X in spite of Y? It is research with a focus on your own practice. A useful model
for action research is as follows:
Action Research Stage
1. Choose an initial focus based on your own
classroom practice
2. Supported by reading and discussion, reconsider
the ways that you have been thinking about this
problem and formulate a precise question that you
will try to answer.
3. On the basis of your reading, your understanding
of the school context, and your own values, design
a possible solution to your problem which it is
within your power to implement.
4. Take the action and monitor whether you are

actually doing what you intend to do
5. Evaluate the outcomes
6. Identify your successes; look for reasons for

these and identify possible generalisations.
Discuss this with other colleagues/tutors to provide
alternative perspectives.
7. Identify the things which did not work: look for
reasons for these and identify possible
generalisations. Discuss this with other
colleagues/tutors to provide alternative
perspectives.
8. Re-enter the loop at 2, if possible, to develop
new understanding and plan new action to address
the problems identified in 7
50
Example of how this might work in a school

context during your PGCE course
My year 9 pupils are so disengaged in my science
lessons - how can I convince them that it is
important to work hard in science?
How can I change the way I structure my teaching
so that my pupils feel safe enough to take risks in
my lessons - including the risk of being more
interested in science than is the norm in their peer
group?
I will discuss with the class what should happen if
a pupil makes fun of another for working hard or
answering questions and will implement their ideas
within the limits of the schools policies.
I will, anyway:
create a safe atmosphere by having clear
routines for the starts and finishes of
lessons
make the purpose of each part of my lesson
clear
clarify what pupils are to do if they have
not finished before we move on
mark work in ways that reward effort not
just achievement.
Video the lessons and summarise the
implementation of the elements defined above.
Get pupils to fill in a simple questionnaire before
and after the initiative;
Interview pupils of differing abilities after the
initiative;
Repeat if possible with a parallel group with which
I have not changed my practice.
Consider the data against criteria of theory, context
and values.
Discuss results and interpretation with Principal
School-based Tutor.
As above
Given constraints of the PGCE I may only be able

to do one Action Research cycle but will suggest
what I could have done next.
This approach has a lot in common with reflective practice. For example theory, context and
values come in when you are clarifying the problem, defining proposed actions, choosing how to
evaluate those actions, and interpreting the results. However, it goes beyond reflective practice in
the following ways:
there is a more explicit concern about evidence (e.g. how can you show that you did what
you planned to do?)
the effects of your actions are assessed through appropriate research instruments
(questionnaires, interviews, test results etc.)
there is an appropriate research design (e.g. using a control group if appropriate and
possible).
Action Research is about particular practice in a particular classroom (hence the term Action). It
is also about a theoretical basis for the action (Stages 2 &3) and appropriate design for the data
collection and analysis (Stage 5) (hence the term Research). It is this concern with theory and
quality in data collection which gives a basis for some cautious generalisation from the single case.
If your work is based on a theory and it works, that gives weight to the theory. If your actions are
clearly documented in terms of how they were influenced not only by the theory but also by your
context and values, that enables others to re-interpret the theory to generate actions suitable for
their context and sensitive to their values.
An action research assignment for your PGCE science course might, for example, be based on one
of your earlier sequences of detailed planning, evaluation and discussion. It should certainly be
quite limited in its focus. A suitable problem might be, How can I help a small group of pupils
cope with their numeracy problems in my physics lessons? or How can I teach photosynthesis
effectively in Year 9? It would be too ambitious and too unfocussed to tackle something like, How
can I help Yr11 do better in their GCSE Double Award Science exam?
Some examples of titles of action research-based assignments from previous years are:
Can the boys in my year 10 biology class do better?
How can I teach reactions and equations effectively to a top set year 9 group?
Case Study Research
While action research is focussed on a problem in your own practice with the intention of testing
proposed actions designed to address that problem, case study research is focussed on some aspect
of the school with the intention of understanding that aspect in detail. Case study research can be
focussed on something about the schools practice that is very successful; it doesnt have to be
concerned with problem areas. It can be about any aspect of the school and does not have to be
(indeed, is unlikely to be) focussed on your own practice. Case study research can deal with quite
broad issues such as pastoral care, or special needs provision.
For the purposes of your PGCE spring term assignment, if you choose to do a case study, make
sure that you consider how the issue you have chosen relates to, and is influenced by, the science
subject context in which you are working e.g. How does my school develop literacy through
science teaching? What provisions and monitoring systems are used in the science department for
pupils with special educational needs?
Since the main aim of case study research is to understand the chosen aspect of the schools
practice in depth, it involves providing rich contextual information within which the particular
aspect of practice can be understood. It involves collecting data in a range of ways (e.g.
questionnaires, interview, observation), partly so that you can be sure of the validity of your
evidence by checking that different ways of gathering evidence agree, and partly to show up
51
disagreements as stimulus for further investigation. It involves collecting information from a range
of people so that you can understand different perspectives on the same issue. It usually involves
offering your description and interpretation to participants so that they can validate or challenge
what you have said. It does not involve comparison with a control group, though in some
instances, case studies may be concerned with contrasting the ways in which different schools
tackle a single issue.
While research designs like experimental methodology are good at testing theory, case study is
often used as a means of generating possible theory.
Some examples of titles of case study assignments from previous years are:
School Astronomy: teaching approaches; pupils learning; challenging misconceptions
Pupil misconceptions of the particle theory of matter and particle motion
Exploring pupil misconceptions of matter and forces
Ethics Policy for Research-based Studies
It has been said (CARE, 1994, Coming to Terms with Research, Norwich: University of East
Anglia) that case study does violence to peoples privacy and complexity, to their meanings and
to their jobs. It has to be tackled sensitively. If you choose to undertake a case study for the
assignment in the Spring Term, it must be negotiated carefully with your Principle School-based
Tutor and/or Mentor.
Information about the ethics policy in the Graduate School of Education is given in the PGCE
programme handbook. You will be required to complete an ethical approval form if any part of
your main subject assignment is not part of or closely related to normal classroom teaching. Copies
of ethical approval forms and further advice about this will be given out before you start your
research-based assignment.
52
Spring term assignment marking criteria:

70% and above: Distinction
Work of an excellent standard. Introduction with clearly defined and well thought out focus for the
study. Selection and application of appropriate methodology with awareness of any limitations.
Ethical issues of data collection addressed as necessary. Full analysis of empirical data. Thorough
discussion of findings with high-quality critical reflection relating findings to future professional
practice and the teaching and learning of science. Evidence of wide and analytical reading.
Excellent literacy supporting fluent and lucid writing. Work presented clearly and logically with all
assignment requirements met.
60-69%: Merit
Good introduction outlining the study. Selection and application of appropriate methodology.
Ethical issues of data collection addressed as necessary. Data analysed well with discussion of
findings and links made to future personal professional practice and the teaching and learning of
science. Evidence of reading in support of the study. Good standard of literacy with fluent writing.
Clear presentation of work with few if any assignment requirements missing.
50-59%: Pass
Sensible introduction to study. Acceptable methodology used. Reasonable standard of discussion
with some evidence of reading and reference to future professional practice and the teaching and
learning of science. Adequate standard of literacy with generally competent writing. Satisfactory
presentation of work with few assignment requirements missing.
49% and below: Fail
Inadequate introduction to study. Little evidence of thought in selecting suitable methodology with
relatively limited data collection. Rudimentary discussion of findings but little evidence of reading
or reference to future professional practice and the teaching and learning of science. Inaccuracies in
literacy and a poor standard of writing. Presentation of work lacks care with some assignment
53
Summer Term Assignment

Reflective Paper: Learning to Teach Science
5000 words
QTS Standard Q7a, Q7b, Q8, Q9, Q29
Submission date: To be handed in no later than 4.00 p.m. 4th June 2010
This assignment provides an opportunity for holistic reflection on your learning throughout the
PGCE course and draws together your ideas about teaching and learning in preparation for your
future career. In this assignment, you will be expected to draw heavily on your Learning Journal to
illustrate the development of your ideas in four areas. You should support your discussion with
reference to the literature, University and School-based Work.
Your assignment should focus on the following 4 areas, remembering the need to focus particularly
on teaching and learning in Science:
how you learn about learning to teach;

how you learn about your teaching;
what you learn about childrens learning (including physical, intellectual, linguistic, social,
cultural and emotional development)
how all the above relate to your own reading about teaching and learning.
While it is preferable for the assignment to be word-processed, we realise that in certain

circumstances this may not be possible. If you are able to word process the assignment please
follow the presentation guidelines given for assignment 1. If handwritten, care should be taken to
produce legible work, clearly presented, with effective use of subsections.
54
Summer term assignment marking criteria:

70% and above: Distinction
Lucid writing and well-developed argument. Work achieves all that could reasonably be expected.
Evidence of critical reflection in addition to dialogic and descriptive reflection. Critical reflection
is evidenced by an awareness that decisions and events can be examined from multiple
perspectives. Close and analytical links between school-based work, university workshops and
background reading will be apparent. There will be a strong sense of a developing personal
philosophy of Science teaching, and there may well be creative or imaginative inclusions.
60-69%: Merit
Clear writing, well-organised argument. In addition to dialogic reflection, evidence of critical
reflection. That is, of stepping back and of exploring events and actions through discourse with
self and/or with others. The reflection is analytical or integrative, linking school based work,
university workshops and background reading. There will be a clear sense of a developing
personal philosophy of Science teaching and may include some creative or imaginative writing.
50-59%: Pass
Acceptable levels of self-expression and generally ideas follow each other in a logical manner.
Evidence of dialogic and descriptive reflection. This takes the form of description of events with
some justification, conclusions may be broad and generalised. There will be some sense of a
developing philosophy of Science teaching, and some evidence of background reading.
49% and below: Fail
Some deficiencies in the quality of writing. The paper is poorly organised and there is no clear link
between the evidence provided and the content. Very limited evidence of reflection, insufficient
background reading, and little or no consideration of a personal philosophy of Science teaching.
55
Further Information
Applying for a Teaching Post
Please refer to the PGCE programme handbook for further information about applying for a
teaching job.
Normally an application will ask for two references. During school-based work, you should give
the name of the head teacher in your placement school, checking first that this is the expectation of
the school. In practice, it is your Mentor/Principle School-based Tutor who will write the reference
that will go out in the name of the head teacher. The second referee should be your university
personal tutor at the address below.
Your university personal tutor will take responsibility for writing your reference. As soon as you
start applying for jobs, please make sure that your personal tutor has up-to-date information to help
us to write a reference for you. This is especially important if your personal tutor is not also your
UVT. We are often asked to respond to reference requests on a very short time-scale (sometimes as
short as one day!) so there is little chance to contact you to find out if things have moved on. It is
your responsibility to keep your personal tutor up to date with your progress and achievements.
If you need a teaching reference after you have left Exeter, please provide information about your
progress since finishing your science PGCE. It is particularly difficult to write references out of
the blue for Headships of Department for people who left Exeter some years ago!
Please note that the correct address for correspondence is:
Graduate School of Education,
University of Exeter,
St Lukes Campus,
Heavitree Road,
Exeter,
EX1 2LU.
56
Useful References
This is not a reading list! Titles are given under a range of headings to provide you with an entry
into the literature for topics that you may want to follow up. In many of the sessions you will also
be provided with references to appropriate journal articles. These provide access to the large
amount of education research and specifically science education research that is available. Whne
you are writing assignments it is important to read these journals because they provide details of
recent ideas and developments which will not yet be found in books. Some of the journals contain
mainly research based reports (e.g. International Journal of Science Education, Research in Science
Education) whereas others are more professionally orientated with ideas for use in classroom
settings (e.g. School Science Review). One particular journal article will be identified each week
for everybody to read and discuss.
Two recent titles that are aimed specifically at beginning science teachers that you may find helpful
are:
A title that you will find very useful when writing assignments (especially assignment 2) is:
Wilson, E. (2009) School-based Research: A Guide for Education Students. London, Sage
Finding relevant websites
A very useful search engine is provided by http://scholar.google.co.uk/ use this to search for
academic references.
A useful website linked to the Andrew Pollard references about Reflective Teaching (listed below)
is http://www.rtweb.info/
This site links to the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) site. The TLRP is the
UK's largest ever programme of educational research and is directed by Andrew Pollard. Part of the
TLRP which is specifically concerned with science education is the Evidence-based practice in
Science Education project (EPSE). See http://www.tlrp.org/proj/phase1/phase1bsept.html for
details of their findings.
57
Action Research
Carr W & Kemmis S (1986) Becoming Critical (London: Falmer Press)
Cohen L & Manion L (1994) Research methods in education 4th Edition (London: Cassell)
Hopkins D (1985) A teacher's guide to classroom research (Buckingham: Open University Press).
Assessment
Black P et al (2003) Assessment for Learning: Putting it into practice. (Buckingham: Open
University Press)
Broadfoot P (1996) Educational assessment: the myth of measurement in Woods P (Ed)
Contemporary issues in teaching and learning (London: Routledge)
Gipps C & Stobart G (1993) Assessment - a teachers guide to the issues (2nd Edition) (London:
Hodder & Stoughton)
Goldsworthy A, Watson R and Wood-Robinson V (2001) AKSIS Investigations Targeted
Learning. (Hatfield: ASE)
Gunstone R & White, R (1992) Probing understanding (London: Falmer Press)
Naylor S, Keogh B and Goldsworthy A (2004) Active Assessment. (London: David Fulton
Publishing / Millgate House Publishing)
SEAC (1989) Assessment matters - No 1 Graph work in school science (London: HMSO)
SEAC (1989) Assessment matters - No 2 Measurement in school science (London: HMSO)
Woolnough B (1991) Practical science (Buckingham: Open University Press) (Chapters 14 & 15)
Class management
Kounin J (1970) Discipline and group management in classrooms (New York: Holt Rinehart &
Winston)
Neill S & Caswell C (1993) Body language for competent teachers (London: Routledge)
Measor L & Woods P (1988) Initial Fronts in Dale R et al (Eds) Frameworks for Teaching
(London: Hodder & Stoughton)
Tattum D & Herbert G (1997) Bullying: Home, school and community (London: Fulton Press)
Differentiation
Bloom B (1976) Human characteristics and school learning (New York: McGraw Hill)
Cronbach L & Snow R (1977) Aptitudes and instructional methods - a handbook of interactions
(New York: Irvington)
Entwistle N (1981) Styles of learning and teaching: an integrated outline of educational psychology
for students, teachers and lecturers (Chichester: Wiley)
Fontana D (1977) Personality and education (London: Open Books)
Postlethwaite K (1993) Differentiated science teaching (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Postlethwaite K (1996) Current Thinking on Gifted Children, Oxford Review of Education, 22, 1,
pp 97-111
Postlethwaite K & Haggarty L (1998) Towards effective and transferable learning in secondary
school: the development of an approach based on Mastery Learning British Educational Research
Journal, 24,3 pp 333-353.
Sears J et al (2001) Non-judgemental Differentiation. (Hatfield: ASE) Waterhouse P (1983)
Managing the learning process (London: McGraw Hill)
58
Equal opportunities
Hull R (Ed) (1993) ASE Science teachers handbook - secondary (London: Simon & Schuster)
Kelly A (Ed) (1987) Science for Girls? (Buckingham: Open University Press)
King A & Reiss M (Eds) (1993) The multicultural dimension of the national curriculum (London:
Falmer)
Myers K (1992) Genderwatch! (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Thorpe S, Desphpande P and Edwards C (1991) Race, Equality and Science Teaching A
Teachers Handbook. (Hatfield: ASE)
General
Alsop S, Bencze L and Pedretti E (eds) (2004) Analysing Exemplary Science Teaching.
(Maidenhead: Open University Press)
Amos S and Boohan R (2002) Teaching Science in Secondary Schools: A reader (Buckingham:
Open University Press)
Amos S and Boohan R (2002) Aspects of Teaching Secondary Science: Perspectives on practice
(Buckingham: Open University Press)
Bennett J (2003) Teaching and Learning Science: A guide to recent research and its applications.
(London: Continuum)
Black P & Aitkin J (1996) Changing the subject - innovations in science, mathematics and
technology education (London: Routledge)
Dale R, Fergusson R & Robinson A (1988) Frameworks for Teaching (London: Hodder &
Stoughton)
Donnelly J and Jenkins E (2001) Science Education: Policy, professionalism and change. (London:
Paul Chapman Publishing)
Fensham P et al (1994) The Content of Science. (London: Falmer Press)
Hull R (Ed) (1993) ASE Science Teachers Handbook (Secondary) (London: Simon & Schuster
Education)
Ratcliffe M (1998) ASE Guide to Secondary Science Education (Hatfield, ASE)
Wellington, J (1994) Secondary science: contemporary issues and practical approaches (London:
Routledge)
Reiss M (2000) Understanding Science Lessons. (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Ross K, Lakin L and Callaghan P (2004) Teaching Secondary Science. (London: David Fulton
Publishers)
Wallace, J. & Louden, W. (Eds.) (2002) Dilemmas of science teaching: perspectives on problems of
practice (London, RoutledgeFalmer).
Woods P (1996) Contemporary issues in teaching and learning (London: Routledge)
Wood-Robinson V (2006) ASE Guide to Secondary Science (Hatfield, ASE)
Information and Communications Technology [ICT]
Barton R (2005) Teaching Secondary Science with ICT. (Maidenhead: Open University Press)
Collins J et al (1997) Teaching and learning with multimedia (London: Routledge)
Forsyth I (1996) Teaching and learning materials and the internet (London: Kogan Page)
Newton L and Rogers L (2001) Teaching Science with ICT. (London: Continuum)
Sang D and Frost R (eds) Teaching Secondary Science using ICT. (London: ASE/John Murray)
Scaife J and Wellington J (1993) Information Technology in Science and Technology Education.
(Buckingham : Open University Press)
Stein S (1999) Learning, teaching and researching on the internet (London: Longman)
Underwood J & Underwood G (1990) Computers and learning (Oxford: Blackwells)
Knowledge for teaching
Amos S & Postlethwaite K (1996) Reflective Practice in Initial Teacher Education - some
successes and points for growth, Journal of Teacher Development, 5, 3.
59
Berliner D (1994) Teacher Expertise in Moon B & Mayes A (Eds) Teaching and learning in the
secondary school (London: Routledge)
Brown S & McIntyre D (1993) Making sense of teaching (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Claxton G (1991) Educating the enquiring mind - the challenge for school science (London:
Harvester Wheatsheaf)
Cooper P & McIntyre D (1996) Effective teaching and learning (Buckingham: Open University
Press)
Shulman L (1987) Knowledge and teaching - foundations of the new reforms Harvard Educational
Review 57 pp1-22
Sotto E (1994) When teaching becomes learning (London: Cassell Education)
Learning
ASE (1993) Models and modelling in science education (Hatfield: Association for Science
Education)
Ausubel D (1968) Educational psychology - a cognitive view (New York: Holt, Rinehart &
Winston)
Bennett N & Dunne E (1994) How children learn - implications for practice in Moon B & Mayes
A (Eds) (1994) Teaching and learning in the secondary school (London: Routledge)
Brophy J (1986) Motivating students to learn mathematics Journal for Research in Mathematics
Education 17,5 pp341-6
Claxton G (1988) Teaching and learning in Dale R et al (Eds) Frameworks for Teaching (London:
Hodder & Stoughton)
Driver R et al (1985) Childrens ideas in science (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Driver R et al (1994) Making sense of secondary science (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Gagn R & Briggs L (1974) Principles of instructional design (New York: Holt, Rinehart &
Winston)
Galloway D et al (1998) Motivating the difficult to teach (London: Longman)
Gardner H (1993) Multiple Intelligences (New York: Basic Books)
Hodson D (1998) Teaching and Learning Science: Towards a personalised approach. (Buckingham:
Mortimer E and Scott P (2003) Meaning Making in Secondary Science. (Maidenhead: Open
University Press)
Osborne R & Freyberg P (1985) Learning in science (London: Heinemann)
Shayer M & Adey P (1981) Towards a science of science teaching (London: Heinemann)
Woods D (1997) Pupils learning in Unit 4 of Block 3 of EU208 Exploring Educational Issues
Weiner B (1985) Human motivation (New York: Springer Verlag)
White R (1988) Learning in science (Oxford: Blackwell)
Learning to teach
Calderhead J (1984) Teachers classroom decision making (London: Holt, Rinehart & Winston)
Capel S et al (1995) Learning to teach in the secondary school (London: Routledge)
Kyriacou, C (1995) Essential teaching skills (Cheltenham: Stanley Thorne)
Levinson R (Ed) (1994) Teaching Science (London: Routledge)
Moon B & Mayes A (Eds) (1994) Teaching and learning in the secondary school (London:
Routledge)
Ogborn J et al (1996) Explaining science in the classroom (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Osborne J & Freeman J (1989) Teaching physics - a guide for the non-specialist (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press)
Troman G (1996) Models of the good teacher, in Woods P (Ed), Contemporary Issues in Teaching
and Learning (London: Routledge)
Turner T and DiMarco W (1998) Learning to Teach Science in the Secondary School. (London,
Routledge)
60
Lesson planning
Capel S et al (1995) Learning to teach in the secondary school (London: Routledge)
Heywood J (1982) Pitfalls and planning in student teaching (London: Kogan Page)
John P (1993) Effective planning for teachers (London: Cassell)
Literacy, language and readability
Bulman L (1985) Teaching language and study skills in secondary science (London: Heinemann)
Carr C (1981) Language, teaching and learning No4 - Science
Davies F & Greene T (1984) Reading for learning in the sciences (London: Oliver & Boyd)
Gillham B (Ed) (1986) The language of school subjects (London: Heinemann)
Harrison C (1980) Readability in the classroom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Lunzer E & Gardner K (1984) Learning from the written word (London: Schools Council,
Heinemann)
Ogborn J et al (1996) Explaining Science in the Classroom, (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Scrimshaw P (1993) Language, classrooms and computers (London: Routledge)
Sutton C (1992) Words, science, and learning (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Wellington J and Osborne J (2001) Language and Literacy in Science Education. (Buckingham:
National Curriculum
Chitty C (1997) Generating a National Curriculum (pp29-38 of Unit 2 in Block 4 of EU208
Exploring Educational Issues (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Crombie White R, (1998) Curriculum Innovation, a celebration of classroom practice (Oxford:
Oxford University Press)
DfEE (1999) Science in the National Curriculum (London: DfEE/QCA)
NCC (1989) Science, Non-statutory guidelines (London: National Curriculum Council)
Woolnough B (1994) Effective science teaching (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Nature of Science
Barrow J (1998) The world within the world (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
Chalmers A (1976) What is this thing called science? (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Driver, R. (1983) The Pupil as Scientist? (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Fensham P, Gunstone R & White R (1994) The content of science (London: Falmer Press)
Hirst P & Peters R (1970) The logic of education (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul)
Millar R (Ed) (1989) Doing science: images of science in science education (London: Falmer
Press)
NCC (1989) Science: non-statutory guidance (London: National Curriculum Council)
Numeracy
DES (1982) Report of the committee of enquiry into the teaching of mathematics in schools
(Cockcroft Report) (London: HMSO)
Goldsworthy A, Watson R and Wood-Robinson V (1999) Getting to Grips with Graphs. (Hatfield:
ASE)
Hart K et al (1981) Childrens mathematical frameworks 8-13 (London: John Murray)
Harvey R et al (Eds) (1982) Language, teaching and learning - mathematics (London: Ward Lock
Educational)
Practical assessment
Fairbrother R (1986) Perspectives on the assessment of practical work Physics Education 21,4
Gott R et al (1988) The assessment of practical work (Oxford: Blackwells)
Hodson D (1992) Assessment of practical work - some considerations in philosophy of science
Science and Education 1(2) pp115-44
NIAS (1996) The New Science 1 Book (Northamptonshire: Northants LEA)
61
Practical science
Dunne E & Bennett N (1990) Talking and learning in groups (Basingstoke: Macmillan Education)
Gott R & Duggan S (1995) Investigative work in the science curriculum (Buckingham: Open
University Press)
NIAS (1996) The New Science 1 Book (Northamptonshire: Northants LEA)
Slavin R (1990) Cooperative learning (theory, research and practice) (New York: Allyn & Bacon)
Wellington J (Ed) (1998) Practical work in school science - which way now? (London: Routledge)
Woolnough B & Allsop T (1985) Practical work in science (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press)
Woolnough B (1991) Practical science - the role and reality of practical work in school science
Progression
Bloom B (1956) Taxonomy of educational objectives - Handbook 1 - Cognitive domain (London:
Longman)
Donaldson M (1978) Childrens minds (London: Fontana)
Winston)
NCC (1989) Science, Non-statutory guidelines (London: National Curriculum Council)
Pupil misconceptions
Driver R et al (1985) Childrens ideas in science (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Driver R et al (1994) Making sense of secondary science (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Osborne R & Freyberg P (1985) Learning in science (London: Heinemann)
Naylor S and Keogh B (2000) Concept Cartoons in Science Education. (Millgate House
Publishers)
Reflective Practice
Pollard A (2008) Reflective Teaching 3rd Edition: Evidence-informed Professional Practice
(London: Continuum)
Pollard A (ed) (2002) Readings for reflective teaching (London: Continuum)
Safety & first aid
ASE (2001) Topics in Safety 3rd Edition (Hatfield: ASE)
ASE (1996) Safeguards in the School Laboratory (10th edition). (Hatfield: ASE)
ASE website: http://www.ase.org.uk/
CLEAPSS (1989) Hazcards (CLEAPSS)
CLEAPSS (1991 and later) Laboratory handbook (CLEAPSS)
DfEE (1996) Safety in science education (London: The Stationery Office)
HSE (1989) COSHH - Guidance for schools (London: HMSO)
School Science Review - ongoing safety notes
SSSERC (1979) Hazardous chemicals a manual for schools and colle.g.es (London: Oliver &
Boyd)
School based work
Barlex D & Carr C (1985) Visual communication in science (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press)
Brown S & McIntyre D (1993) Making sense of teaching (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Ellington H (1993) Producing teaching materials - a handbook for teachers and trainers (London:
Kogan Page)
Greenstreet D (1985) Ways to display - a practical guide for teachers (London: Ward Lock
Educational)
Sotto E (1994) When teaching becomes learning (London: Cassell Education)
62
Science, Technology and Society

Cartwright J (2000) From Phlogiston to Oxygen. (Hatfield: ASE)
Fullick P and Ratcliffe M (1999) Teaching Ethical Aspects of Science. (Bassett Press)
Levinson R and Reiss M (2002) Understanding Bioethics (London: RoutledgeFalmer)
Levinson R and Turner S (2001) Valuable lessons. Engaging with the social context of science in
schools. (The Wellcome Trust) www.wellcome.ac.uk
Solomon J (1992) Teaching Science, Technology and Society. (Buckingham: Open University
Press)
Special educational needs
Adey P et al (1989) Thinking Science - the curriculum materials of the CASE project (London:
Macmillan)
DFEE (1988) Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs
(London: HMSO)
Feuerstein R et al (1980) Instrumental enrichment - an intervention programme for cognitive
modifiability (Baltimore: University Park Press)
Howard R (1987) Concepts and schemata - an introduction (London: Cassell Education)
Raban B & Postlethwaite K (1988) Special needs in mainstream schools - classroom responses to
learning difficulties (Basingstoke: Macmillan Education)
Postlethwaite K (1993) Differentiated science teaching - responding to individual differences and
special educational needs (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Teaching sensitive and controversial issues
Carrington B & Troyna B (Eds) (1988) Children and controversial issues - strategies for the early
and middle years of schooling (London: Falmer Press)
Harrison J (2000) Sex Education in Secondary Schools (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Plant M & Firth R (Eds) (1994) Teaching through controversial issues
Ratcliffe M and Grace M (2003) Science Education for Citizenship. (Buckingham: Open
University Press)
Reiss M (1993) Science education in a pluralist society - Chapter 5 Teaching Controversial Issues
in Science. (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Stradling R (1984) Teaching controversial issues
Wellington J (Ed) (1986) Controversial issues in the curriculum (Oxford: Blackwells)
The science of science teaching
Adey P and Shayer M (1994) Really Raising Standards: Cognitive Intervention and Academic
Achievement. (London: Routledge)
Winston)
Shayer M & Adey P (1981) Towards a science of science teaching (London: Heinemann)
Woolnough B. (1994) Effective Science Teaching, (Buckingham: Open University Press)
Why teach science?
ASE (1992) Change in our Future in ASE policy, present and future (Hatfield: ASE)
Hirst P & Peters R (1970) The logic of education (London: RKP)
Hull R (Ed) (1993) ASE Science teachers handbook (London: Simon & Schuster Education)
Levinson R and Thomas T (eds) (1997) Science Today: Problem or Crisis? (London: Routledge)
63
Professional organisations for science teachers

Association for Science Education (ASE)
Teachers helping teachers to teach science
http://www.ase.org.uk/
What ASE offers ...
ASE is for teachers, advisers, technicians,
industrialists and others contributing to science
education. It has a membership of over 24,000.
ASE offers support, advice and information for

individual teachers, schools and local colleges.
ASE promotes, supports and develops science

education from primary through to tertiary levels.
ASE offers support, advice and information to

those involved in industry and commerce.
ASE is independent in its thinking and in its

finance. It is a registered charity, financed by
members' contributions and receives no
government funding.
ASE offers support, advice and information to

other societies and associations with similar aims.
ASE provides a forum for the views of members

on science education issues through its regional
and national committee structures.
ASE provides many links with industry and

arranges teacher secondments, visits to industrial
sites, and it supports relevant curriculum support
materials.
ASE is frequently and regularly consulted by

those in authority and in government, industry
and LEAs.
ASE provides its members with free journals,

discount on books, and indemnity insurance.
ASE offer a special discounted membership scheme for trainee teachers. You will be given details
and application forms early in the term. You are strongly advised to take advantage of this scheme.
64
The Institute of Biology (IoB)

http://www.iob.org/
The Professional Body for Biologists - acting as the 'Voice of British Biology'
The Institute of Biology is the professional body for UK biologists. It was founded in 1950,
obtained a Royal Charter in 1979, and is a registered charity. Its 16,000 members work in industry,
research, education and healthcare, amongst other areas.
The principal professional title awarded by the IOB is Chartered Biologist (CBiol), which is
recognised throughout the European Communities, and can be held at either the Member or the
Fellow grade.
The IOB is frequently consulted on biological issues by Government, industry and many other
organisations, and also produces pro-active Policy Studies. Drawing on the breadth of its
membership and the expertise of its 70 Affiliated Societies, the IOB is able to produce a balanced
response which reflects the views of the biological profession as a whole.
The IoB:
speaks for the biology profession to Government and other bodies using the expertise of its
16,000 members and its 70+ Affiliated Societies
entitles Fellows, Members and Graduates to use the designatory letters CBiol FIBiol
MIBiol and GIBiol, respectively
publishes journals, books and information sheets all members receive the full-colour IOB
journal Biologist free five times a year (February, April, June, September, November)
organises meetings and symposia
provides the opportunity to meet fellow biologists through its Branches and Divisions
entitles members to privileged rates from BUPA, Commercial Union, Hertz cars,
Environmental Transport Association
has negotiated discounts for members for biology books, e.g. a 25% discount on the New
Studies in Biology Series published by Cambridge University Press
For further details, visit the website or contact the IOB at:
Institute of Biology
20-22 Queensberry Place,
London, SW7 2ZY, UK
Tel: 0207-581-8333
Fax: 0207-823-9409
65
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

http://www.rsc.org/
The Society has over 45,000 members (mostly in the UK with about 15% overseas) and about 320
full-time staff.
As a learned society, the Society provides a forum of chemists and chemistry for the exchange of
ideas and results and to provide a network to encourage collaboration on new ventures. The Society
recognises achievement through awards and endowed lectureships and assists young chemists by
bursaries for various purposes.
The Society is a major world publisher of journals and books and provides information services
through its extensive library and database system.
As the professional body for chemistry in the UK the Society is responsible for maintaining high
standards of quality in the training of chemists. The Society assesses and accredits degree courses
in chemistry and awards its own qualifications, including Chartered Chemist. Other assistance in
the form of careers advice and employment counselling is provided to members.
The Society has a large education department which is very active on working with government
departments on schools curricula in chemistry, GNVQ standards and on many other issues.
Training courses and works study tours are provided to teachers and students to maintain awareness
of developments in chemistry.
The Society is required by its charter to serve the public good in chemistry. One way it does this is
to maintain a flow of information to members of Parliament so that they are fully aware of the facts
behind many issues and make informed decisions.
The Society has a large benevolent fund, the interest from which is used to assist its members in
times of hardship.
The Society is increasingly active in European affairs and holds the secretariat for the Federation of
European Chemical Societies and of the European Communities Chemistry Council.
For further details on joining:
Membership, Royal Society of Chemistry, Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road,
Cambridge CB4 0WF, tel 01223 420066, fax 01223 432133,
email memapp@rsc.org
66
The Institute of Physics (IoP)

http://www.iop.org/
The Institute of Physics is a learned society and the professional body for physicists in Great
Britain and Ireland. It is charged by Royal Charter to "promote the advancement and dissemination
of a knowledge of and education in the science of physics, pure and applied".
Membership of the Institute exceeds 20,000 throughout the world and its members benefit from
professional recognition of their education and professional experience, a range of services and the
ability to take an active part in the work of the physics community.
The Institute works for Physics and Physicists by:
representing and promoting the physics community to government and other legislative or
policy-making bodies;
organising meetings and conferences on research and professional topics;
promoting and supporting physics teaching and education in schools, colleges and
universities;
setting and supporting professional standards and qualifications in physics; increasing
public awareness and understanding of physics and the role of physicists;
identifying and supporting the needs of physicists in all sectors of employment;
recognising distinguished contributions to physics.
Education & Development
The Institute is actively involved in school and college education, degree accreditation, higher
education and research, and in professional development.
Public Affairs
As the professional body for physics in Great Britain and Ireland, the Institute continually seeks to
promote physics by raising public awareness and understanding.
Publishing Activities
The Institute is also active in the publication of journals, magazines, books and references works in
physics and other closely-related fields through its subsidiary company, Institute of Physics
Publishing.
Benefits for Members
More and more physicists are joining the Institute of Physics (IOP) as they realise the wide range
of benefits IOP membership offers to them and their companies.
As the learned society and professional body for physics and physicists in the UK and Ireland, the
IOP plays a pivotal role at all levels, from influencing government policy to helping you with your
personal career development.
As an individual, membership of the Institute offers you international recognition of your
professional abilities plus the opportunity to develop your expertise through conferences on a wide
range of technical and professional topics.
Professional Recognition and Qualifications
As job mobility between countries increases, professional qualifications are becoming important as
recognition of career achievement and competence. Joining the Institute of Physics offers you
routes to two chartered designations recognised by the European Union (EU):Chartered Physicist
(Cphys); Chartered Engineer (CEng)
67
Information
IoP Publishing in Bristol publishes a wide range of scientific and technical journals and books.
Members are entitled to a generous discount on the retail price of publications.
Physics World is an international monthly published by the IOP and supplied to members.
Colourful, lively and authoritative, it covers new developments and applications in physics, news
of science policy, funding opportunities and industrial activities.
Physics in Business is a free newsletter published three times per year for members only. It
contains articles or technical and professional matters written by practising industrialists, news of
DTI and EU initiatives and details of IOP activities for industry.
Nexus Newsletter is a free newsletter published termly for students of physics. It contains careers
articles, IOP news, letters from students and a popular humour section.
Further benefits and enquiries
All members receive the monthly magazine Physics World, a free diary containing useful
information for physicists, and discounts on IOP Publishing titles. In addition, members enjoy
reduced rates for attendance of IOP conferences and qualify for a comprehensive range of
discounts on insurances, loans, travel, cars, mortgages and financial planning. Further information
is available on the numerous other benefits available to members of the Institute.
If you are interested in joining the Institute, and would like to receive a brochure, please contact the
address below.
Membership Department, Institute of Physics
76 Portland Place
London W1N 3DH
Tel: 0171 470 4800
Fax: 0171 470 4848
E-mail: membership@iop.org
68

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GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

PGCE SECONDARY SCIENCE HANDBOOK

Modules Aims and Intended Outcomes

University Sessions: Autumn term......................................................................................9

School Based Work.............................................................................................................28

Main Subject Assignments for Secondary Science..........................................................40

PGCE Secondary Science Course Objectives

have further developed your understanding of the underlying principles of science;

have an appreciation of the place of science in the secondary curriculum;

have developed the ability to set appropriate learning objectives;

have developed skills of lesson recording and evaluation;

be able to teach controversial issues in a balanced way;

be able to guard against preconceptions based on race, gender, religion or class;

have developed skills in effective management of pupil behaviour;

Personnel on the PGCE Science Course

Arranging tutorial meetings with you.

University Visiting Tutors (UVTs)

The university will also:

understand how they do key things in their teaching;

The schools will also:

Electronic copies of key documents can be accessed on the Web at:

Friday 22nd January

University Sessions: Autumn term

Autumn Term Timetable

Independent study reading course

Timetable for weeks 2 6

Main Subject Physics

Science Lecture and seminar

National Curriculum Biology 14.00 16.00

Main Subject Biology

Classroom presence workshops weeks

Classroom presence workshops weeks

Classroom presence workshops weeks 2 and 3

Peer teaching weeks 2 - 5

Optional first aid workshops week 4 and 5

Science Lecture and seminar

Important: Exceptions or complexities in the week 2 6 timetable

Provisional Timetable for Week 8 (23/11/09 27/11/09)

Biology Support Groups

Workshops on Science and

Physics and Chemistry Support

Workshops on Science and Culture

Main Subject Psychology

Provisional Timetable for Week 9 (30/11/09 04/12/09)

Main Subject Psychology

14.00 17.00 Investigations and

Main Subject Biology

Physics and Chemistry

Data Logging: Timings to be announced.

Biology Support Groups

11.15 12.15 Space Odyssey

Science Lecture Programme Weeks 2 -6

SL3: Science in the National

SL8: Learning outside the

SL10: Class Management

SL11: Differentiation (Less

SL12: Differentiation (More

SL13: Cross-curricular issues

Numbers in bold are references to the QTS Standards.

SL5: Evaluating lessons and

Lecture notes and associated materials available on the web

National Curriculum Courses (NCC)

Main subject sessions

Subject Support Groups