Teaching and learning

This section of the site provides advice on some relevant teaching techniques like 'small group discussion', 'role play' or 'keeping Science in Society topical'. It provides advice on developing specific student skills including argument skills and the ability to analyse and evaluate a media story about science. It introduces and provides links to Learning Skills for Science, LSS, activities.

The A2 schemes of work offer a range of activities that are similar to, or a natural development from, the activities in the AS programme but also include two significant additions that are designed to help students rise to the challenge of the A2 course:

• a structured episode of problem-based learning expected to last for two or three hours of class time.
• one case study in the style of a Unit 4 exam but designed to teach part of the topic and featuring the evaluation of a range of related documents, including a scientific paper, using ideas about how science works.

This is a set of ideas that have been successful with classes. For each there is a brief outline of the suggested method and links to activities which use it.

Student skills	Teaching techniques
Learning Skills for Science Evaluating newspaper articles Directed activities related to text – DART Argument Using Podcasts and videos Graphs and data Mathematics and statistics	Small group discussion Running a class discussion Discussing sensitive or controversial issues Keeping Science in Society topical Role play Simulations and games How to link the three strands of the specification Gaining the attention of a large group Questions to a speaker from a large group Problem based learning Case study Finding research papers