The role of practical work in the developing practice of beginning physics teachers

The role and rationale of practical work in teaching school science are receiving renewed scrutiny (Abrahams and Saglam, 2010). This paper is a case study which reports part of a larger longitudinal study which used semi-structured interviews to explore the approaches of beginning teachers of physics to teaching electricity during Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and beyond. The interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. One of the emergent themes was the use of practical work in secondary school science. All of the beginning teachers had embedded the use of practical work in their teaching. This paper discusses their reasons for doing so and compares their responses with the rationales suggested by Hodson (1993), Lunetta, Hofstein, Clough, Abell, & Leerman (2007) and Abrahams (2011). The implications for ITE and continuing professional development (CPD) are discussed

Implementing electronic theses at the University of Glasgow: Cultural challenges

Many UK university libraries are actively engaged in the process of introducing electronic theses to their institutions. This article describes the strategies that have been adopted by staff at Glasgow University Library in trying to implement electronic theses and the challenge that have been faced. The article concludes that a number of lessons have been learned from the experience and presents further strategies that have subsequently been developed. External developments, which may help speed up the transition to electronic theses, are also detailed

Student teachers views on the nature of science: do they change during a one year pre-service programme?

The nature of science (NOS) remains a central issue of pre-service teacher education. We considered the student teacher as a scientist, their background from undergraduate, previous postgraduate and life experiences as well as monitoring changes in their responses to a short questionnaire derived from McComas et al (1998). The study aimed to map the students' understanding of (NoS) with a view to developing their pedagogical content knowledge as well as establishing baseline data to measure the effect of future interventions during the pre-service programmes (such as teaching about NoS or the Philosophy of Science) It is also anticipated that we will be well placed to promote ACfE aspirations as well as informing our programme in relation to developing Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors who can contribute meaningfully to debates about controversial scientific issues

Working in law’s borderlands: translation and the work of an advice office

Increasing ly people in the UK are turning to voluntary sector advice organisations for help and support in dealing with everyday problems . Here w e argue that advice organisations, who work in the borderlands of law , are nevertheless key players in legal arenas , focusin g on local Citizens Advice offices supporting clients with employment problems. We look at the making of advisers as border- workers through programmes which turn volunteers into employment advisers; and the paid advisers who inhabit spaces on the edges of the profession. We examine the social practices of these advisers, the ways in which law -work becomes translation and advice -work becomes a process of co -production between adviser and client. In concluding, we consider how far into the legal arena it is p ossible to go with limited resources ; and what happens when translating the technicalities of law no longer works. Translation comes to mean advisers turning to their activist -selves and adopting political tactics

Climate change, collaboration and pre-service teachers' emergent professional identity

The study group included 74 graduate, pre-service science teachers who were following the Professional Graduate Diploma of Education Secondary (PGDES) in all science subjects, biology with science, chemistry with science and physics with science. The strong tradition of integrated science in Scotland is reflected (Inspectorate of Schools (Scotland) 1994) in the structure of PGDES programmes (The Scottish Office Education and Industry Department 1998). Scottish School science departments are organised in a variety of ways and a strong collaborative element is often present in providing a common programme of study in science during the early years of secondary schooling. Collaborative coursework on climate change was selected due to its contemporary interest; consultation on the detail of a 'Curriculum for Excellence' (The Curriculum Review Group 2004) and the absence of reported depth of experience in this content area in Scottish school science. Issues associated with climate change conform to all ten qualities of socio-scientific issues (Ratcliffe M. and Grace M. 2003. ) p. 2-3. The purpose was to simulate the collaborative working environment (Watters J.J. and Ginns I.S. 2000); to establish a 'community of practice' as suggested by the (Lave J. and Wenger E. 1991)model of situated learning; involved aspects of problem based learning (Savin-Baden M. and Howell C.M. 2004) as well as authentic assessment (Wiggins G.P. 1993); and to initiate the formation of identities as science teachers rather than 'subject specialists'. The task was based on a constructivist framework. We sought to explore aspects relating to attitudes and knowledge in the context of climate change, to collaboration and the use of ICT. Students were allocated to mixed subject groups and expected to produce reading materials for 12-14 year olds and an associated teachers' guide on a given aspect of climate change over a seven week period. The product and collaborative aspects of the task were assessed using a combination of tutor and peer assessment, including two group debriefing sessions. Students' knowledge and confidence about global warming and information relating to their experiences of collaboration were assessed using a simple pre- and post-task questionnaire developed for this task. We found that the students experienced a number of benefits and frustrations of group work task. Overall, they found the process beneficial and collectively produced a high quality resource which is available as a basis for their own teaching. The resource could be adapted for use by other teachers. The students have become more knowledgeable about aspects of climate change. They may also have considered the challenges in teaching complicated socio-scientific issues in relation to their own professional attitudes and values. A generally positive attitudinal movement took place during the period and some variation was observed between students from different subject areas

Deriving accurate peculiar velocities (even at high redshift)

The way that peculiar velocities are often inferred from measurements of distances and redshifts makes an approximation, v_p = cz-H_0 D, that gives significant errors even at relatively low redshifts (overestimates peculiar velocity by ~ 100 km/s at z~0.04). Here we demonstrate where the approximation breaks down, the systematic offset it introduces, and how the exact calculation should be implemented.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted by MNRAS; revision adds footnote 3, a couple of references, and some minor tweaks to tex