Creative Teaching and Learning

A Level Science: What Makes For Purposeful Practical Work?

Drawing on research into the importance of hands-on practical work for Key Stage 5 science students, Andri Achilleos and Andy Brunning at OCR share new resources aimed at strengthening practical skills for both students and teachers.
Secondary school Key Stage 5 students doing a practical experiment with microscopes.

Over the past few years, science education has faced significant challenges, both during and following the pandemic. These challenges have disproportionately impacted practical work and exacerbated some of the existing barriers to effective practical science.

As subject advisors at OCR, we regularly engage with schools across the country that offer our qualifications. As ex-teachers, we can draw upon our own past experiences in the classroom and act as a bridge between schools and teachers and our organisation, understanding the challenges they face and identifying what we can do to support them.

Our recent work has focused on our support materials for practical science. Here, we analyse the role of practical work in science, the challenges that often stand in the way of effective practical work and how we hope our efforts to adapt our support resources address the issues highlighted.

The role of practical work in science

The role of practical work in science teaching has been the subject of debate. The Gatsby Foundation has identified the following as objectives of purposeful practical work:

  1. To teach the principles of scientific inquiry
  2. To improve the understanding of theory through practical experience
  3. To teach specific practical skills, such as measurement and observation, that may be useful in future study or employment
  4. To motivate and engage students
  5. To develop higher-level skills and attributes such as communication, teamwork and perseverance.

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