A Catalyst article about how the study of ancient rocks and sediments can help deduce how the Earth's atmosphere has changed over billions of years. There used to be much less oxygen than there is today. This article describes how the composition of the atmosphere has changed through history; it also explains the...

This report evaluates design and technology provision based on a three-year evaluation of design and technology in primary and secondary schools. Evidence was drawn from school inspections during the period 2004–05 as well as from focused surveys by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) from 2004 to 2007. The surveys...

A Catalyst article about careers in educational psychology. For students of psychology there are a range of career options; this article looks at the role of an educational psychologist and a typical working day.

This article is from Catalyst: GCSE Science Review 2006, Volume 16, Issue 4.

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Published in 2012, this review focused on examining which  science programmes had been proven to help primary school students to succeed.  To find out, the University of York’s Institute for Effective Education, Johns Hopkins University and Durham University completed a research review on the topic. The review...

A Catalyst article looking at climate change. In particular the science of phenology, the study of the times each year that certain life-cycle events occur, is examined. It involves recording data on when birds migrate, eggs hatch or when leaves change colour. If the climate is changing, the timing of these events...

In 2015 WestEd released a study examining the effects of the Elevate Math summer mathematics programme on seventh-grade (Year 8) students’ algebra readiness, general mathematics achievement, and perceptions of mathematics. Elevate Math is a four-week programme that pupils attend for 19 days in the summer...

A Catalyst article about what causes faults in electrical appliances and the wiring installations in homes, and why people receive electric shocks. How regulations can reduce the risk of electrical faults and electric shocks is also examined together with the use of fuses, fuse wire and modern RCDs (residual...

A Catalyst article about the UK's extremely reliable electricity supply system generated in power stations which burn gas or coal, or use nuclear fuel. The article looks at how this is achieved using high voltages and how the demands for power at different times of the day and year are met.

This article is...

Produced by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), this case study looks at the theme of embedding functional skills. It describes how staff within the motor vehicle department of the City of Wolverhampton College were faced with the challenge of embedding functional skills within motor vehicle courses...

Produced by the Learning Skills Improvement Service, these materials help to demonstrate effective practice. This case study looks at the theme of knowledge and technology transfer. It describes how members of staff operating in the STEM area of Huntingdonshire Regional College were encouraged to embed and deliver...

Produced by the Learning Skills Improvement Service, these materials help to demonstrate effective practice. By Cambridge Regional College, this case study looks at the themes of functional skills, equality, engineering and mathematics.

The aim of the project was to work with staff to raise awareness of the...

Produced by LSIS, this report and associated materials describe a research programme aimed at supporting and disseminating effective practical work in further education science classrooms. This report summarises the key findings from action research projects carried out...

This publication, from Warwick University, reports on the STEM Careers Awareness Timeline Pilot. The Timeline project seeks to establish how schools can embed a more systematic programme of careers awareness into the existing subject curriculum. The report gives emerging findings from working with stakeholders and...

Produced by the Learning Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), this case study looks at the theme of curriculum development. From the Isle of Wight College, it shows how the explicit embedding of science into a vocational qualification helps to develop an appreciation of the role of science in construction. The...

This collaborative project by the Royal Statistical Society and the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education presents findings from an analysis of statistics in five recently reformed A levels in England. The aim of the report was to investigate whether the recent reforms will result in improvements in the...