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:

1. 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.
2. 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?
3. 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

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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. 

Walton Priory Middle School’s James Croxton-Cayzer shares his top tips for ensuring practical science lessons get students thinking as well as doing.

"Sir, are we doing a practical today?"

If you teach science, you probably hear this question at least once a lesson. Pupils love practical work, but how often do we stop and ask ourselves: are they really learning from it? Are practicals just a fun way to prove a theory, or can they be something deeper – something that engages students intellectually as well as physically?

I was recently asked to speak at a NACE member meetup about how we at Walton Priory Middle School ensure that practicals are not just hands-on, but minds-on as well. Here’s how we approach it.

1. Don’t just do a practical: know why

Before anything else, ask yourself: What do I want my pupils to learn? Every practical should have a clear learning goal, whether that’s substantive knowledge (e.g. learning about the planets) or disciplinary knowledge (e.g. “How are we going to find out the RPM of a propeller?”).

I used to assume that if pupils were engaged, they were learning. But engagement isn’t the same as deep thinking. By clearly defining why we are doing a practical and keeping cognitive overload in check, pupils can focus on the right aspects of the lesson.

2. Give them a puzzle to solve

Rather than handing over all the information at once, I break lessons into two parts:

• Knowledge I am going to give them
• Knowledge I want them to discover for themselves

Children love discovery. Instead of telling them everything, create opportunities for them to piece it together themselves. If you’re like I was, you might worry about withholding information in case they never figure it out. But I’ve found that knowledge earned is usually better retained and understood than knowledge simply given.

For example, when teaching voltage in Year 6, I might tell them that increasing voltage will increase the speed of a motor (since there’s little mystery there). But I won’t tell them how to measure the speed of the motor. Instead, I challenge them: “What methods could we use to measure the speed of a fan?” This immediately shifts their thinking from passive reception to active problem-solving.

3. Hook them with a story

While linking science to real-world applications is common practice, storytelling as a teaching tool is often overlooked. A compelling story can make abstract scientific concepts feel personal and meaningful.

For example, in our Year 5 Solar System topic, I frame the lessons as a journey where alien explorers (who conveniently share my students' names – weird that…) must learn all they can about our planet and surroundings. In our Properties of Materials topic, I create audiologs for each lesson of a ship’s journey – except there’s a saboteur on board! Each lesson, the rogue does something that requires students to investigate different properties to solve the problem. Will they ever find out who did it? Who knows! But they are certainly engaged and thinking about the science.

4. Use partial information to encourage scientific thinking

One of the most powerful ways to keep students engaged is to avoid giving them everything upfront. Instead, drip-feed key information and let them work out the missing pieces.

For example, instead of just listing the planets, I provide partial information – snippets of data they must organise themselves to determine planetary order. This encourages effortful retrieval and intellectual engagement, rather than passive memorisation.

Returning to our Year 6 voltage lesson, I ask: “How can we prove that?” Some students count propeller rotations manually. Others try using a strobe light or a slow-motion camera. One of my class recently attached a lollipop stick to the fan and tried to count the clicks on a piece of paper – a great idea, but the clicks were too fast! So I turned it back on them: “How do we solve this?”

• Record the sound? Great!
• Slow it down? Super!
• Put the sound file in Audacity and count the visualised sound wave for two seconds, then multiply by thirty? Amazing!

The key is that they think like scientists – testing, adapting, and refining their approach.

5. Keep everyone engaged

Minds-on practicals require careful structuring. Not all students will approach a task in the same way, so scaffolding and adaptive teaching are key:

• Structured worksheets help those who struggle with open-ended tasks.
• Flexible questioning allows you to stretch more able learners without overwhelming others.
• Pre-discussion before practicals ensures students understand the why as well as the how.

All students, including those with additional needs, should feel part of the investigation. Clear step-by-step instructions, visual aids, and breaking down the task into smaller chunks make a big difference.

Even with the best planning, some students will struggle. Here’s what I do:

• Encourage peer teaching. Can a more confident pupil explain the method?
• Break it down even further. Can we isolate just one variable to focus on?
• Provide alternative ways to engage. If a pupil is overwhelmed, can they observe and record data instead? Once they feel comfortable, they may ask to take on a more active role.
• Reframe the challenge. Instead of “You’re wrong,” or “That won’t work,” ask, “What made you think that?” This builds resilience and scientific thinking.

Key takeaways

• Make sure every practical has a clear learning goal.
• Give pupils a reason to investigate, not just instructions to follow.
• Use partial information to make them think like scientists.
• Ensure adaptive teaching so all pupils can access the learning.
• If pupils struggle, break it down further or reframe the challenge.

Final thought: hands-on, minds-on science

Science should be a subject of curiosity, not compliance. When we shift practicals from tick-box activities to genuine investigations, students become scientists – not just science learners.

By ensuring every practical is intellectually engaging as well as physically interactive, we help pupils develop not just knowledge, but scientific thinking. And that’s the ultimate goal: to create independent, curious learners who don’t just ask, “Are we doing a practical?”, but “Can we investigate this further?”

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Related reading and resources:

• NACE subject-specific resources: primary science
• NACE subject-specific resources: secondary science

Alongside his workshop on this topic, NACE Associate Ed Walsh shares five ways to refresh your approach to GCSE science for high-attaining students...

1. Think BEYOND the exams 

First, let me make clear that I’m not arguing for a dilution of effort with students being prepared for examination. Good GCSE grades are important, providing passports to the next phase. There’s also a risk that if highly able students don’t get top grades in science, they may assume this field is not for them and pursue other avenues.

However, focusing your attention beyond the exams – and encouraging learners to do the same – has two immediately obvious benefits. For many students, seeing the subject in a wider context is in fact exactly what they need to engage them whilst working towards exams. Second, if students see science as more than a “hard slog” driven by GCSE exam preparation, it is more likely they will look favourably on science and other STEM subjects when considering options post-16. 

2. Don’t rely on the assertion that “science is everywhere” to convince students they should study it

I often hear words to this effect when interviewing teacher training candidates, and I’m never very impressed. Whilst obviously true, it may not carry much weight with an unconvinced 15-year-old. As the EEF report Improving Secondary Science suggests, there is a difference between students seeing science as generally significant and powerful (which many of them do), and seeing it as personally relevant or “for them”.

There’s scope here for us to rethink the way we “sell” science. While pointing out its prevalence can be useful, we also need to highlight the wide range of skills and ideas it develops – thinking logically, analysing evidence, identifying causal links – which have currency far beyond any narrowly defined scientific context.  Being good at science opens far more doors than just the ones that lead to research labs.

3. Provide opportunities for meaningful science experiences…

Recent research suggests that higher rates of science capital correlate with a stronger likelihood of learners pursuing continuing education, training and employment in STEM subjects. Of the four components of science capital – what you know, how you think, what you do and who you know – the formal science curriculum is generally pretty good at developing the first two. However, it’s in everyone’s best interests for science departments to expand their focus on the latter two – what you do and who you know – particularly where learners have few opportunities to develop these outside school.

To address the “what you do” component, seek out and promote opportunities for learners to engage with science and to see science in action – such as science-related news stories and documentaries, local visits and events, and extracurricular hobbies and interests. Where possible, build on learners’ existing interests and activities.

4. … and inspiring encounters

“Who you know” is also key. It can be incredibly powerful for a young person to have someone say to them, as an individual, that they’d be good at being a scientist, studying engineering, going into technology or taking maths to a higher level. Lots of STEM professionals had this experience – a key encounter with someone from their extended family, local community or through an organised activity. 

For many young scientists these experiences and encounters don’t necessarily happen through school – but for some if they don’t happen through school they probably won’t at all. Examples I’ve seen recently paying dividends in this area are the Greenpower Challenge and, for A-level students, Nuffield Research Placements. The services of a good STEM Ambassador are a real asset too.

5. Reframe the goals of KS3

During secondary science CPD events, I often ask: “Is your KS3 course doing its job?” This starts as a discussion about the role of key ideas and developing enquiry skills in preparation for GCSE. However, we could also make the case for KS3 being judged on its capacity to inspire and engage. Do learners get to see how science not only changes lives but can be engaging, intriguing and rewarding? Do activities make students not just “GCSE ready”, but confident and capable? As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.”

With experience as a secondary head of science, county science adviser and a regional and senior adviser for the Secondary National Strategy, Ed Walsh is an independent consultant in science education. With a proven track record in helping schools improve their science provision, he has published widely in the field, and developed and delivered training for teachers and heads of science, including on behalf of organisations such as ASE and AQA. As a NACE associate, Ed designs and delivers training and resources to support effective teaching and learning for the more able in science.

This blog post was originally published in a longer form at SchoolsImprovement.net

Additional reading and resources 

• NACE Essentials: Realising the potential of more able learners in GCSE science
  
• NACE Essentials: CEIAG for more able learners
  
• Webinar: Science capital – putting the research into practice
  
• Webinar: Effective questioning in science

To access these resources, log in to the NACE members’ site.

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:

• https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/country-sites/en_gb/united-kingdom/home/pdf/BP-UCL-Teachers-science-pack-INTERACTIVE.pdf

• Science Museum Group Academy – training and resources for teachers
  

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.

In this excerpt from the NACE Essentials guide “Realising the potential of more able learners in GCSE science”, NACE Associate Ed Walsh explores the components of a challenging GCSE science exam question – and how teachers can best help learners prepare. 

There is sometimes an assumption that it is the complexity of the content that is the key determinant in how challenging an exam question is; this isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, there are a variety of ways in which questions can be made more challenging, and in order to support learners with high target grades this needs to be understood.

When preparing your learners for the most challenging GCSE science exam questions, here are six aspects to consider:

1. Reduced scaffolding and multiple steps

Whereas some questions continue to be structured and are specific about what understanding or application should be demonstrated, there will be other questions where learners need to work out the sequence of stages to be undertaken. This might, for example, involve using one equation to calculate a value which is then substituted into another. As well as being able to (in some cases) recall the equations and use them, learners also need to work out the overall strategy.

Encourage learners to get into this habit by asking: “What’s a good way of approaching this question?”

2. Extended response questions

Extended responses are frequently marked using a level of response mark scheme. If there are six marks allocated, the mark scheme will commonly have three levels. If more able learners are to score five or six marks, they need to be meeting the level 3 descriptor as often as possible.

Help learners prepare by modelling extended responses and providing opportunities to practise this – considering a structure, selecting key words, using connectives and checking against the exam specifications.

3. Use of higher-order maths skills

Learners need to be able to apply maths skills in a variety of ways. This could be a multistep response in which learners, for example, plot points on a graph, sketch the (curved) line of best fit, draw the tangent and calculate its gradient. This requires both the necessary command of these skills, and the understanding of which to use.

To ensure learners have access to the necessary maths skills, develop dialogue with your maths department. Invite colleagues to jointly consider the maths skills involved in sample science questions, and how best to prepare learners for these challenges. As well as nurturing specific skills, focus on developing learners’ ability to identify effective strategies and sequencing.

4. Linking ideas from different areas

As part of the changes to GCSE science specifications, learners are expected to show they can work and think flexibly, linking ideas from different areas of the subject. Help them prepare by providing regular opportunities to practise this. Check out the specification and the guidance it gives about key ideas and linkage.

5. Applying ideas to novel contexts

Telling learners “If it’s not on the spec you don’t need to learn it” is dangerous – and untrue! Challenging them to apply their understanding to other contexts is part of the function of the exams and will continue to be so. Again, help them prepare through regular practise so they become accustomed to applying concepts to new contexts.

6. Varied command words

Each awarding organisation uses a particular set of command words in GCSE science exams. Some of these will already be in common parlance in your science lessons, others less so. Familiarising learners with the full range of these terms will prepare them to answer a wider range of questions. 

For example, a trawl through a selection of stretch and challenge questions from one suite of exam papers indicated the following usage: explain (x7), suggest (x6), compare, calculate (x12), give (x6), estimate, justify (x2), describe (x5), write (x2), use (x9), work out, draw, predict, complete (x3), show (x2), state.

Note that while these numbers show the frequency of each stem in one random selection, they don’t reflect the numbers of marks associated. It is useful, however, to reflect on the extent to which these form part of the discourse in science lessons – not just featuring in practice exam questions, but in all written and oral activities.