Guidance, ideas and examples to support schools in developing their curriculum, pedagogy, enrichment and support for more able learners, within a whole-school context of cognitively challenging learning for all. Includes ideas to support curriculum development, and practical examples, resources and ideas to try in the classroom. Popular topics include: curriculum development, enrichment, independent learning, questioning, oracy, resilience, aspirations, assessment, feedback, metacognition, and critical thinking.
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Posted By James de Winter,
06 October 2025
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James de Winter from The Ogden Trust shares his expertise on how to provide challenge in your physics lessons, regardless of how experienced or confident you are in teaching physics.
The Ogden Trust supports everyone teaching physics, including those who find themselves teaching physics out of field at all levels. Our focus is on helping teachers provide a high-quality physics education for all. Our CPD programmes draw on research, evidence and experience to scaffold and build effective physics teaching practice, by supporting subject and pedagogical knowledge. We work with schools and teachers to improve teacher self-efficacy, confidence and enthusiasm for physics, enabling them to provide stretch and challenge for all students.
The research
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) guidance report on Improving Secondary Physics informs our teacher support. The report made seven recommendations that could be implemented and actioned within the science classroom.
Looking in more detail at two of these recommendations with a physics lens, we ask:
- What are some of the best ways to make practical work purposeful and effective?
- And how can you support students who arrive at your lessons with alternative conceptions in physics?
Here are some suggestions to help teachers adapt their lessons to challenge all students to reach their potential.
Purposeful practical work
Practical work is a common feature of physics lessons but sometimes students do not fully engage, instead perceiving this aspect of their lesson as just following instructions. If teachers can be clear about the ‘why’ this can help them structure the practical, asking the right questions to make it effective in supporting students’ learning – making it ‘minds-on’ as well as ‘hands-on’.
Some of the most common reasons for using practical work are:
- To develop students’ competence in using equipment and carrying out laboratory procedures
- To encourage accurate observation and description of natural objects, materials, phenomena and events
- To develop students’ ability to design and implement a scientific approach to investigating an issue or solving a problem
- To enhance understanding of scientific ideas (theories, models, explanations)
- To develop students’ ability to present, analyse and interpret data.
It would be very difficult for any practical activity to cover all of these! I suggest that when planning and carrying out any practical lesson, ask yourself the following questions to maximise its effectiveness:
- Why am I doing this? Decide on the learning objectives of the practical; this might be from the list above but there may be other reasons.
- What does ‘effective’ look like? What do you want the students to do and talk about whilst they are doing the activity that will support your intended learning objectives?
- How do I help make ‘effective’ happen? There is a ‘doing’ part where you think about the instructions, equipment and organisation of the room, but there is also a ‘thinking’ part and you will need to prepare in advance for the questions you will ask students.
It is in the questioning that you can effectively build opportunities to stretch and challenge students.
This is particularly important in physics where many ideas such as forces, electron flow in a wire and magnetic fields can never be directly observed by students. With good questions and examples, we can help students see beyond the single context demonstrated in the activity and appreciate the underlying ideas and where these occur elsewhere. For example, how the ideas in the resistance of a wire experiment can explain why super-fast electric charging cables are so thick and how the concept of specific heat capacity explains why some microwave meals take longer to heat up than others.
Alternative conceptions and diagnostic questioning
Physics is about observing, describing and explaining the world. Students come to our lessons having already developed some ideas about how the world works and unfortunately these don’t always match the accepted explanations. For example, many think that mass and weight are the same thing because most people use these words interchangeably, and that bigger magnets always have stronger magnetic fields because this matches their previous experiences.
Here are three questions to ask yourself before any lesson so you can be prepared to support all students and provide appropriate challenge.
- What might they think? Identify common alternative conceptions that students may hold. One place to look is the IOP Spark website, which lists common misconceptions by physics topic.
- How will I know what they think? To help you know where to start, consider what questions to ask to find out what students think. The Best Evidence Science Teaching (BEST) project from the University of York has produced a large collection of free diagnostic questions based on common alternate conceptions, available here.
- What will I do about it? Consider what to include in the lesson to help move students from their view to the ‘correct’ one. This might include demonstrations, explanations, examples or additional questions. Many BEST questions include suggested follow-up activities.
Want to know more?
Join me for our webinar in partnership with NACE on Wednesday 5 November, along with Jackie Flaherty, Head of Teaching and Learning at The Ogden Trust. We will also be joined by practising teachers who will share classroom experiences and lessons they have learnt for teaching physics most effectively.
About The Ogden Trust
The Ogden Trust provides a portfolio of programmes supporting schools to deliver high-quality physics education with a positive culture and environment for physics learning and access to purposeful enrichment opportunities showcasing pathways for young people.
- Improve retention of trainee and early career physics specialist teachers.
- Develop confidence and competence of teachers teaching physics out of field.
- Retain expertise of experienced teachers of physics within the profession.
Sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest news and opportunities direct to your inbox. And you can follow us on LinkedIn, BlueSky or Facebook.
About the author
Dr James de Winter is an adviser and consultant with The Ogden Trust. He is part of the Ogden CPD advisory panel and delivers on the Trust’s subject knowledge and early career programmes. James also leads the secondary physics PGCE course at the University of Cambridge.
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Posted By Beth Hawkins,
08 February 2019
Updated: 08 April 2019
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Do the young people in your school feel confident engaging with scientific concepts, terminology, experiences and thinking? Do they believe science is “for them”? In this blog post, Science Museum Group (SMG) Academy Manager Beth Hawkins shares five ways teachers can help learners develop “science capital” – promoting more positive perceptions of, attitudes towards and aspirations within the sciences.
To read more about the research behind these recommendations, click here.
1. Personalise and localise your content
The more we can relate science content to what matters in learners’ lives and local communities, the more we can create “light bulb moments” where they can see the personal relevance and feel closer to the topic. This is more than contextualising science through world events or generic examples; it is about taking some time to find out about the current interests and hobbies of the individual learners in your classroom. This might include discussing how forces link to a local fair or a football match, or how understanding the properties of materials or chemical reactions can help when baking or cooking at home.
2. Show how many doors science can open
Many young people see science as a subject that only leads to jobs “doing science” – working alone in a laboratory or in a medical field. Yet from fashion and beauty to sports and entertainment, business or the military, nearly all industries use science knowledge and skills. Demonstrate that science can open doors to any future career, to help young people see the value and benefit of science to their future.
For ideas and guidance on linking learning to the world of work, log in to the NACE members’ site for the NACE Essentials guide to CEIAG for more able learners.
3. Widen perceptions about who does science
Science seems to have a bit of an image problem. If you search online for images of scientists, your screen will be filled with hundreds of images of weird-looking men with wild hair, wearing white lab coats and holding test tubes or something similar. Scientists are often portrayed similarly in the popular culture that children are exposed to every day – it is no wonder many young people find it hard to relate. Take every opportunity to show the diversity of people who use science in their work or daily lives so that learners can see “people like me” are involved in science and it isn’t such an exclusive (or eccentric) pursuit.
4. Maximise experiences across the whole learning landscape
Young people experience and learn science in many different places – at school, at home and in their everyday life. No single place or experience can build a person’s science capital, but by connecting or extending learning experiences across these different spaces, we can broaden learners’ ideas about what science is and open their eyes to the wonders of STEM. Link out-of-school visits and activities back to content covered in the classroom. You could also set small related challenges or questions for learners to investigate at home or in their local area.
5. Engage families and communities
Our research has found that many families see science as simply a subject learned in school, not recognising where and how it relates to skills and knowledge they use every day. All too often we hear parents saying, “I am not a science-y person”, “I was terrible at science in school” or even “You must be such a boffin if you are good at science.” When young people hear those close to them saying such things, it is not surprising that a negative perception of science can start to grow and the feeling “this is not for me” set in.
Encourage learners to pursue science-related activities that involve members of their family at home or in their local community. Model and encourage discussions which link science to young people’s interests – this will help to show the relevance of science and normalise it. For specific ideas, check out The Science Museum’s free learning resources.
Additional reading and resources:
Beth Hawkins is the Science Museum Group (SMG) Academy Manager. She has been working in formal and informal science education for over 22 years, including roles as head of science in two London schools. Since joining the Science Museum, she has developed and delivered training to teachers and STEM professionals nationally and internationally, and led many of the SMG’s learning research to practice projects. The Science Museum Group Academy offers inspirational research-informed science engagement training and resources for teachers, museum and STEM professionals, and others involved in STEM communication and learning.
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Posted By Beth Hawkins,
08 February 2019
Updated: 08 April 2019
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You’ve probably heard of cultural capital, but what about science capital? In this blog post, Science Museum Group (SMG) Academy Manager Beth Hawkins outlines recent research on young people’s engagement with and attitudes to science – and how understanding this can help schools increase take-up of STEM education and career paths.
At the Science Museum, engaging people from all backgrounds with science, engineering, technology and maths is at the heart of what we do. Over the past six years, we’ve been working with academic researchers on a project called Enterprising Science, using the concept of science capital to better understand how young people from all backgrounds engage with science and how engagement can be increased through different science-related experiences.
Recent research conducted by University College London with over 40,000 young people across the UK found that while many find science interesting, few are choosing to study science post-16, or consider pursuing a career in science. This is because they struggle to see that science is “for them” or relevant to their lives.
Why should we care?
In one way or another, science is continually changing and improving the way we live. It makes and sustains our society and will help us understand and solve the big questions our world faces. It is a creative and imaginative human endeavour, a way of thinking, asking questions and observing the world around us.
As such, science can open doors and can be invaluable in almost any job, across any sector. It is predicted that by 2030 the UK will have over 7 million jobs that need STEM skills, and it has been recognised that science can help broaden young people’s life choices and opportunities by keeping their future options open, especially among lower socioeconomic groups.
What is “science capital”?
Science capital is a measure of your attitude to and relationship with science. It is not just about how much science you “know”; it also considers how much you value science and whether you feel it is “for you” and connected to your life.
Imagine a bag or holdall that carries all the science-related experiences you have had. This includes what you have learned about science; all the different STEM-related activities you have done, such as watching science TV programmes or visiting science museums; all the people you know who use and talk about science; and whether science is something you enjoy and feel confident about.
How can science capital research be used?
At the Science Museum, we’ve been using science capital research to reflect on how we develop and shape our learning programmes and resources for schools and families. The research also underpins the training we deliver for teacher and science professionals through our new Academy.
For schools, the researchers have developed a science capital teaching approach that can be used with any curriculum.
The research suggests a science capital-informed approach can have the following benefits for learners:
- Improved understanding and recall of science content
- Recognising the personal relevance, value and meaning of STEM
- A deeper appreciation of science
- Increased interest in/pursuit of STEM subjects and careers post-16
- Improved behaviour
- Increased participation in out-of-school science activities
Ready to get started? Discover five ways to help young people develop science capital.
Additional reading and resources:
Beth Hawkins is the Science Museum Group (SMG) Academy Manager. She has been working in formal and informal science education for over 22 years, including roles as head of science in two London schools. Since joining the Science Museum, she has developed and delivered training to teachers and STEM professionals nationally and internationally, and led many of the SMG’s learning research to practice projects. The Science Museum Group Academy offers inspirational research-informed science engagement training and resources for teachers, museum and STEM professionals, and others involved in STEM communication and learning.
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Posted By Jess Wade,
05 September 2018
Updated: 08 April 2019
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Physicist Dr Jess Wade made headlines this summer for her campaign to get a copy of Angela Saini’s book Inferior into every UK school. The campaign aims to help schools break down gender stereotypes, challenging and supporting all young people to develop their abilities in all fields and to choose from a full breadth of career options. In this blog post for the NACE community, Dr Wade explains what motivated her to launch the campaign, and suggests six steps all schools can take to reduce gender bias.
This is a big year: 2018 marks 100 years since (some) women got the vote and 70 years since women could graduate from the University of Cambridge. For completeness: it is almost 200 years since the majority of men could vote and 809 years since they could graduate from Cambridge.
In many ways, we have come a long way since Charles Darwin wrote “the average of mental power in a man must be above that of a woman” in The Descent of Man (1881). But gender bias and stereotypes still impact young people’s self-confidence and subject choices, which is limiting their career opportunities and damaging the UK economy.
Despite boys and girls doing equally well at physics GCSE, girls only make up 22% of the physics A-level cohort (and this is the highest it has been for almost 10 years). The Institute of Physics (IOP) has been researching this for decades. In 2012 it found that more half of state-maintained secondary schools had no girls in their physics A-level classes and in 2013 that schools which had the fewest girls in physics A-level also had the fewest boys in psychology.
The Opening Doors report, published in 2015 by the IOP and the Government Equalities Office, offers teachers guidance and support in their efforts toward gender equality. In 2016, the Improving Gender Balance project recommended whole-school interventions to stop gender inequities in A-level choice, recognising that a school-wide approach is needed to make a difference.
The Inferior campaign
Last year Angela Saini published Inferior: The True Power of Women and the Science that Shows It. The book is a powerful collection of evidence that challenges the notion of differences between men and women. From parallel parking to an innate ability in maths, the science behind stereotypes is often dodgy and experiments are rarely reproducible.
Reading Inferior changed my life. It armed me with the facts to take on even the fiercest of naysayers and inspired me to speak up and fight harder. I’ve been taking it with me ever since – to every conference and every new research lab – and when I see someone impressive speak I give them a copy. Inferior has been so well received by the scientific community that last year Saini did a tour of UK universities, filling lecture theatres with passionate students and academics.
In mid-July I realised we should get Inferior into schools, so I set up a crowdfunding campaign with my friend Dr Claire Murray, hoping to get it into every all-girls state school in the country. We reached that goal in less than 24 hours, so raised the bar even higher: every state school in Britain.
Thanks to Saini’s epic publishers (4th Estate), who agreed to match any funds we raised and manage distribution, it took less than 12 days for 800 people to donate enough money. At some stage over the next academic year, Inferior will be finding its way to your school library. Instead of just telling young people about stereotypes, we want them to read about the science, history, individuals and societies behind such stereotypes for themselves. I want them to get as excited as I am about challenging bias, and as motivated as I am for a fairer future.
6 changes all schools can make now
When you receive your copy of Inferior, I hope you use it as the stimulus for discussion with young people, and to plan activities within and beyond the classroom. A bunch of people who donated to the campaign didn’t want to just stop there; together we are creating a set of resources to help teachers make effective use of Inferior (sign up to help out here).
In the meantime, here are six changes you can make straight away:
1. Stop using sexist and gendered language
Whether it is “we need a couple of strong boys” or “you girls will be good at this creative part”, such sentences stick around in young people’s consciousness and affect their perception of themselves and others.
2. Collect data
Compare your school to national averages and identify areas for concern – then act on them.
3. Build careers guidance into lessons
Make sure it is up-to-date and gender neutral. If you’re keen on using “role models”, plan this carefully; try to make their relationship with the school more long-term and invite parents along. A lot of early-career scientists and engineers hang out on Twitter – find us there!
4. Stop saying subjects are “hard”
Some people find art impossible and some can’t add up the tab at a bar – and that’s ok. Teachers are incredibly influential and their biases can have a profound impact on young people’s perceptions. Instead of characterising certain fields as inherently difficult or referring to natural talent, talk about each individual working to the best of his/her ability.
5. Acknowledge unconscious bias
Teachers need to be aware of how they might inadvertently send gendered views to their students. Schools can support this through formal training, by signposting resources such as online tests designed to highlight unconscious bias, and by establishing a norm of acknowledging and discussing these issues.
6. Don’t try and do it all by yourselves
Get students and parents involved too. Discuss gendered aspirations at parents’ evenings. Get students to read Inferior and discuss ways to change school culture so that it is more equal for everyone.
For a more comprehensive list, read the IOP’s Opening Doors report.
Finally, remember you are NOT alone. 800 people raised £22,000 in less than two weeks to get Inferior into your classrooms. Read, share, discuss, and make a difference!
Dr Jess Wade is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics at Imperial College London. She is a member of the WISE Young Women’s Board and the WES Council, founder of Women in Physics at Imperial, and has worked with teachers across the country through the Stimulating Physics Network. Her significant work in public engagement and school outreach has been widely recognised, recently through the Daphne Jackson Medal and Prize. She tweets @jesswade.
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Posted By Alex Pryce, Oxplore,
23 April 2018
Updated: 08 April 2019
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Looking for ideas to challenge your more able learners in maths? In this blog post, Alex Pryce selects four maths-focused “Big Questions” from Oxplore, an initiative developed by the University of Oxford.
Oxplore is an innovative digital outreach portal from the University of Oxford. As the “Home of Big Questions”, it aims to engage 11- to 18-year-olds with debates and ideas that go beyond what is covered in the classroom. Big Questions tackle complex ideas across a wide range of subjects, drawing on the latest research undertaken at Oxford.
In this blog post, I’ve selected four Big Questions which could offer super-curricular enrichment in different areas of mathematical enquiry. Teachers could ask students to use the questions as the starting point for a mini research project, or challenge them to create their own Big Questions to make practical use of mathematical skills. The questions could also be used to introduce more able mathematicians to fields they could study at university.
Delve into the digits with an exploration of two very different careers. Discover the statistics behind the professions, and debate how difficult these job choices are. We all know that nurses do a fantastic job, but what about footballers who devote their time to charity work? Who should earn more? Get involved in debating labour markets, minimum wage, and the supply and demand process.
Perfect for: budding economists and statisticians.
What does truth really mean? Can we separate what we believe to be true from scientific fact? Discuss what philosophers and religious figures have to say on the matter, and ponder which came first: mathematics or humans? Did we give meaning to mathematics? Has maths always existed? Learn about strategies to check the validity of statistics, “truth” as defined in legal terms, and the importance of treating data with care.
Perfect for: mathematicians with an interest in philosophy or law.
Take a tour through the history of money, debate how much cash you really need to be happy, and consider the Buddhist perspective on this provocative Big Question. Discover the science behind why shopping makes us feel good, and explore where our human needs fit within Maslow’s famous hierarchy.
Perfect for: those interested in economics, sociology and numbers.
How can we avoid bad luck? Where does luck even come from, and are we in control of it? Where does probability come into luck? Delve into the mathematics behind chance and the law of averages and risk, taking a journey through the maths behind Monopoly on the way!
Perfect for: those interested in probability, decision-making and of course, board-game fans!
Alex Pryce is Oxplore’s Widening Access and Participation Coordinator (Communications and Engagement), leading on marketing and dissemination activities including stakeholder engagement and social media. She has worked in research communications, public engagement and PR for several years through roles in higher education (HE) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). She holds a DPhil in English from the University of Oxford and is a part-time HE tutor.
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Posted By Alex Pryce, Oxplore,
21 March 2018
Updated: 08 April 2019
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Looking for ideas to challenge your more able learners in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)? In this blog post, Alex Pryce selects four “Big Questions” from the University of Oxford’s Oxplore project – providing rich starting points for debate, investigation and independent learning…
Oxplore is an innovative digital outreach portal from the University of Oxford. As the “Home of Big Questions”, it aims to engage 11- to 18-year-olds with debates and ideas that go beyond what is covered in the classroom. Big Questions tackle complex ideas across a wide range of subjects and draw on the latest research undertaken at Oxford. Oxplore aims to realise aspirations, promote broader thinking and stimulate intellectual curiosity.
Our Big Questions reflect the kind of thinking students undertake at universities like Oxford. Each question is accompanied by supporting resources – including videos; quiz questions; possible answers, explanations and areas for investigation; and suggestions from Oxford faculty members.In the classroom, these four STEM-related Big Questions could offer super-curricular enrichment spanning a diverse range of subject areas. Teachers could ask students to design a mini research project on a particular aspect of the question, or extend their learning by challenging them to create Big Questions of their own.
Provoke debate around the Big Bang, chaos, laws of probability, and where explosions fit into this as examples of order and disorder. Students can learn about the history of explosions, and positive examples of the things that wouldn’t exist without them. Delve deeper into the science behind the nuclear bomb and take a closer look at creatures that could survive one.
Perfect for: a wide-ranging subject discussion.
What does it mean to be a human being? Examine the nature of intelligence, language, creativity and the law with your students. You can debate the role of artificial intelligence within society and explore the boundaries between computers and consciousness – now and in the future.
Perfect for: debating future technological developments.
We all travel forward through time, but what happens if we change how we do this, or the speed in which we travel? Inspire your students to explore special relativity in action – through GPS, electromagnets, and TV and PC screens.
Perfect for: Doctor Who fans!
Is it right to interfere with nature? Introduce your students to the science of stem cell research, therapeutic cloning, and create neuroethics debates. Discuss whether humans should be allowed to “design” new animals, and explore the development of cloning: from Hans Spemann’s original 1902 experiment that split a salamander embryo in two, to the first successful human embryos cloned in 2008.
Perfect for: discussions of the weird and wonderful.
Alex Pryce is Oxplore’s Widening Access and Participation Coordinator (Communications and Engagement), leading on marketing and dissemination activities including stakeholder engagement and social media. She has worked in research communications, public engagement and PR for several years through roles in higher education (HE) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). She holds a DPhil in English from the University of Oxford and is a part-time HE tutor.
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