From compliance to integration: Microscience enables learning through practical activities

Abstract

University courses preparing students to teach school science should be models of good practice rather than reflections of accepted behaviour in schools. At the same time the requirements of the national school curriculum and the real difficulties faced by teachers must be catered for. Such thoughts led us to revise a course in chemistry for final (4^th) year student teachers of Physical Sciences. The revision is continuing, being informed by experiences so far, which we report upon here. Extensive adoption of microscale activities enabled greater student access to hands-on, minds-on experiences, whilst improving safety and reducing environmental impact.