Experimenting with Industry

The ‘Experimenting with Industry’ series was published in the mid-1980s when it presented industry-related science practicals for schools. It was developed as part of a 'teachers into industry' project organised by The Association for Science Education (ASE) on behalf of The Standing Conference on Schools' Science and Technology (SCSST).

Rationale
The project was organised to provide practical work in school science that related to everyday life. At the time, according to the project, too much of the existing science practical work related only to academic syllabuses. Such practical activities were said to expect a single 'right' answer and provide very limited opportunity for experimental design, problem-solving and group working.

The project
The booklets in the Experimenting with Industry series were based on the work of experienced science teachers who, during the summer of 1984, were linked with industrial companies. Their brief was to devise experiments drawn from industrial processes, which illustrated scientific concepts and showed how they were applied in industry. The experiments described in the booklets aimed to replace, within the existing curricula, some of the present school practical work. They were planned to allow opportunity for students to conduct challenging investigations which would enhance their understanding, and stimulate problem-solving and open-ended investigations.

The industry partners
The teacher/industry partnerships which developed this material were widely distributed throughout England and in Wales. The industrial participants ranged from multi-national concerns well-known for their support of educational initiatives to companies in highly specialised areas of technology with little experience of such activities.