Helen Wilson
Principal Lecturer in Science Education at Oxford Brookes

The findings from research into the teaching of science in Oxfordshire primary schools have just been published by the Education Endowment Foundation.

Bridget Holligan, Director of Education and Engagement at Science Oxford, and I have just completed this exciting project.

The results show a win-win scenario, with improved attainment in pupils’ knowledge and understanding of science and also in their enthusiasm towards the subject.

Thinking, Doing, Talking Science is a programme that aims to make science lessons in primary schools more practical, creative and challenging.

The key features of our training were focused on these three main elements: thinking, doing and talking.

This included the development of a dedicated discussion slot, called the bright ideas time, with specific prompts to stimulate pupil talk.

For example, the pupils select the odd one out from three objects, such as chocolate, water and paper, and explain their reasoning.

Pupils are also posed big questions, such as ‘how do you know that the Earth is a sphere?’ or ‘how do you know the person next to you is alive?’ There is no one right answer, so the pupils are encouraged to think deeply and creatively.

Another strategy was the use of practical prompts for thinking – short teacher demonstrations that are designed to intrigue pupils and again act as discussion starters.

An example is holding a balloon filled with water over a person’s head and then putting a flame to the balloon.

There was also an emphasis on pupils undertaking a variety of different types of practical science activities, including problem solving and fair testing.

The project involved 42 Oxfordshire primary schools and two teachers from each school.

A Randomised Controlled Trial approach was used and the schools were divided into the intervention and control groups.

We worked with the teachers in the intervention group during 2013-14 and the impact on their pupils was measured and compared with the pupils in the control group.

More than 1,200 Oxfordshire Year 5 pupils aged nine and 10 were tested. The control schools received the training in 2014–2015, after all the comparisons had been made.

The independent evaluation of our trial, undertaken by the Institute for Effective Education at the University of York, found that this approach improved pupils’ science scores by as much as an additional term over a school year. It also had a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes to the subject. One teacher said: “There was a buzz about science”. Interestingly, the programme had a particularly positive effect on girls and on pupils with low prior attainment.

All the participating teachers felt that they had changed the way they taught science and were more positive about their pupils’ science ability and engagement than teachers in comparison schools. In the words of one of the participating teachers: “My class loves science, the pupils have become much more adept at thinking beyond the obvious.”