This section provides help in actually running sessions where you are addressing subject knowledge.

During their training year(s) we hope that trainees will develop their personal understanding of science and hence be able to understand how to approach the teaching of the topic.

1 The ideas children hold about the world around them

A key text is Making Sense of Secondary Science (Driver et al 1994), both for primary and secondary. This resource summarises research into the ideas children hold about the world around them. Many of these ideas are contrary to scientific belief and therefore act as barriers to their learning. Many trainee teachers, including secondary, also hold these 'alternative ideas' or 'misconceptions', and we need to remember that the personal understandings of all of us, both trainees and trainers will never fully agree - we all continue to learn and our ideas undergo change and sometimes revolution as our lives progress.

2 Do trainees have misconceptions?

It is not the details, facts nor nomenclature, that we need to share with trainees, but their deep understanding of the basic scientific ideas. Most ITT courses will audit students' subject knowledge by testing for these misconceptions. There is currently an ESCalate project to provide some electronic audit questions and Keogh and Naylor's Concept Cartoons are also useful in testing for misconceptions (this resource is intended for pupils but can be used with great effect with ITT students). Unless we rigorously search out and challenge these deep-seated misconceptions in our trainees there is little hope that they can do the same for their pupils. This topic is covered in the professional issues unit [Misconceptions and naïve ideas of children - how we learn science].

3 The Subject Knowledge Pages

Each of the topics on this website begins with a review of the conceptual barriers that learners (and that can include trainee teachers and their mentors and trainers!) need to face and overcome, in order to understand the concept. As tutors we need not only to be fully aware of these barriers ourselves, but we need to ensure that they are understood by our trainees. It is sometimes more difficult for a trainee with strong subject knowledge to realise that there is a conceptual problem in their specialist subject that lesser mortals find conceptually difficult.

The key stage 3 strategy for science has identified 5 key ideas that underpin an understanding in science, which are all considered under the topic headings in the content section of this Subject knowledge section.

Following this review of conceptual barriers, each topic will have a section entitled “Giving Practical experiences” suggesting experiences trainees should be given during their ITE year(s).

This Section prepared by:

Keith Ross, University of Gloucestershire