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The University of Southampton
Southampton Education School

School science practical work in a COVID-19 world: are demonstrations, videos and textbooks effective replacements for hands-on practical activities? Seminar

Date:
20 April 2021
Venue:
Online

For more information regarding this seminar, please email EducationFOS@soton.ac.uk .

Event details

Education Seminars

What is your talk about? Practical work is a required element of GCSE science courses in England, but in 2020 opportunities for students to undertake hands-on practical work have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers must make difficult decisions about how to develop students' understanding of practical work safely, and how to prioritise curriculum time after 5 months of school closures. The qualifications regulator (Ofqual) is permitting students to observe demonstrations or simulations instead of doing hands-on practical work.

What are the key messages of your talk? We have collected empirical evidence of the effectiveness of alternatives to hands-on practical work in preparing students (n=1252) to answer practical-themed GCSE examination questions.

What are the implications for practice or research from your talk? Findings suggest that if circumstances prevent hands-on practical work, schools should deliver student-engaged teacher demonstrations that include purposeful discussion and questioning. Reliance solely upon videos or textbooks is likely to disadvantage students in examinations.

If you interested in attending one of these seminars, please email EducationFOS@soton.ac.uk .

Seminar recording

Speaker information

Alistair Moore , University of York. Science Education Group

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