A prominent feature of the Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd has been the renewed call for schools to become antiracist. What can be learnt from past unsuccessful attempts to implement antiracist education? Specific critiques of the antiracist movement made by prominent academics such as Paul Gilroy are worth…

Purpose: Students of social research methods in search of a "Haynes manual" type set of instructions are often, if not invariably, thwarted in their ambitions and are either confronted with an abstract description which remains firmly at the level of methodology or, alternatively, an uncritical mechanical template for application. The…

This article will explore the intersection between "literature" and "science" in one key area, the botanical poem with scientific notes. It reveals significant aspects of the way knowledge was gendered in the Enlightenment, which is relevant to the present-day education of girls in science. It aims to illustrate how members of…

Rankings are part and parcel of the neoliberal agenda in science aiming at increasing the competitive allocation of funds among universities. This article focuses on the decreasing power of renewal in science as a result of this agenda particularly because of its increasingly consolidated stratification of the academic system into élite and mass…

The author Salman Rushdie's post-colonial essay, "Midnight's Children," highlights a different perspective on the problems created by the colonial power where place and displacement are central themes and migration is a painful but emancipating process; both are expressed through the life of the writer, Salman Rushdie. The primary aim of…

The paper reports on the findings of a community learning approach to doctoral education involving scholarly writing groups (SWGs) which was developed and implemented in the context of a higher degree research programme within the social sciences in an Australian university. The research evaluated the impact of the teaching intervention on…

Every few years, there is a breakthrough in information technology, introducing a new concept that becomes widely used. This paper deals with the challenges IT (information technology) instructors face due to these rapid developments in the IT industry. More specifically, we are interested in the challenges instructors of the introductory IT…

A 1977-78 questionnaire/survey about biology field work was carried out among a random sample of secondary school biology needs in England and Wales. Results are compared to those from a 1961-62 survey. Issues addressed include opinions about field work, limiting problems, and amount of field work undertaken by teachers. (Author/JN)

This report presents some of the results of two national surveys which assessed the performance of 13-year-old students in science. It includes an outline of the assessment framework; some of the questions which were written to match it; a description of how well, and how differently, students responded to the questions; and suggests how the…

Analyzes the relationship between learning objectives and assessment items for Technical Education Council physics courses. Suggests improvements. (SK)

Describes the influence of declining enrollment on the science department at one sixth form school, focusing on areas such as the science curriculum, scheduling, staffing, facilities, and teacher re-education. (DS)

Presents an evaluation of a 16+ Nuffield physics test. Lists topics covered on the test. Reviews student performance and indicates that the text discriminated at both ends of the ability range. (SK)

It is widely agreed that formal learning can influence people's social attitudes and can encourage them to take part in civic activities. Less investigated, however, has been the question of whether these effects flow from any kind of education, or whether particular subjects of study are more relevant to civic values than others. The 1958 and…

Reported is a survey of the initial training of science teachers through the PGCE route. Areas of concern were the pattern of training offered, in terms of subjects being studied; important teaching skills; and general issues to be covered in the initial training. (SK)

Describes the Open University (OU) Physics for Science Teachers project. Explains how distance-learning packages are to be studied. Identifies the audience that the program will address. Discusses the reasons why this program can be successful. Suggests that their program is part of a wider program to improve science teaching. (CW)