Science and Maths

The struggle to establish school science in England

• Edgar Jenkins

Science for All is a thoroughly researched account of the long battle to establish school science in England, from its introduction to the classroom in the mid-nineteenth century to the launch of the National Curriculum in 1989. It addresses the underlying question of what school science is for and reveals when, how and why the answer has changed.

Implications for teachers’ knowledge and practice

• Alison Clark-Wilson
• Celia Hoyles

This report summarises the outcomes of the Nuffield Foundation funded 2014–17 project ‘Developing teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching and classroom use of technology through engagement with key mathematical concepts using dynamic digital technology’. The Nuffield Foundation is an endowed charitable trust that aims to improve social well-being in the widest sense. It funds research and innovation in education and social policy and also works to build capacity in education, science and social science research.

Implications for teachers’ knowledge and practice

• Alison Clark-Wilson
• Celia Hoyles

This report summarises the outcomes of the Nuffield Foundation funded 2014–17 project ‘Developing teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching and classroom use of technology through engagement with key mathematical concepts using dynamic digital technology’. The Nuffield Foundation is an endowed charitable trust that aims to improve social well-being in the widest sense. It funds research and innovation in education and social policy and also works to build capacity in education, science and social science research. The full Final Report is available as a separate publication, ISBN 9781782772217.

Development and individual differences

• Richard Cowan

Contrary to public perceptions, the differences in number skills between children in the same class taught by the same teacher are greater than differences between schools or countries. This inaugural lecture considers the factors that may be influential, drawing on findings from research projects funded by the ESRC and the Nuffield Foundation.

Student ambassadors and equality in higher education

• Clare Gartland

More skilled young people are urgently needed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the UK. This book indicates how policy can be developed to encourage young people to consider STEM careers. It challenges widely held assumptions about how role models help raise aspirations and support progression to Higher Education.

Taking a scientific approach

• Andy Tolmie

In this lecture, Professor Andy Tolmie explores what lies behind recent research findings in science learning that have shown how pupil discussion during group work plays an important role in promoting conceptual understanding and reasoning in science.

• Dave Pratt

This lecture examines how careful design can ‘phenomenalise’ mathematics and support not only engagement but also focus on key ideas.

• Jennifer Smyth

The early experiences children have of science are crucial in determining later attitudes to learning about it. This work is an introduction for trainee Early Years teachers, and one which helps practising teachers to make science interesting to young children. It provides strategies to help maintain the impetus all through primary school.

• Michael J. Reiss

This lecture examines what the boundaries of science are and how it should be represented in schools.

Demands, deficits and remedies

• Clare Tikly
• Alison Wolf

This book brings together new evidence on the importance of mathematics in the labour market, the growing disparity between school mathematics and the demands of higher education, and the disjunction between the British mathematics curriculum and those of all our major competitors.