We clearly recognised the need to bring the quality of the learning environment in Science in line with our current approach and vision of teaching and learning in the 21st century.

At the start of the 2002 – 2003 academic year, the science department made use of ten old-fashioned laboratories, and one dedicated Dry Science Lab. The labs were 33 years old. They offered an inflexible learning environment far from the needs of our approach to teaching and learning. 

More than half of the laboratories had no access to ICT, resulting in a lack of confidence and consistency in staff use and ICT resources.

Under the guidelines given by the DfES on how Science College funding could be spent, we used the maximum permitted for lab refurbishment, £150,000.

We set about converting six of the existing laboratories into 21st Century, flexible learning environments. The furniture had to be moveable, and easily arranged to facilitate presentation, group work and review. We needed space for students to role play their understanding or to ‘walk their thoughts’. We needed learning environments carefully designed with the distinctive needs of very different learners in mind. 

We are on our way to achieving that.

Six labs have so far been completely renovated, and we have been able to furnish every learning area to allow students free and flexible access to a cluster of intranet-linked PC’s. 

In all areas science students are using ICT, now freely available at point of need, in ways that make a real impact on the quality of Science learning, literacy and digital communication.

Students use these resources to enter data obtained from experiments to create graphs, instantly highlighting patterns for discussion. Concept mapping software such as Inspirations helps students to plan their approach to experiments. The department has immediate access to digital cameras, which the students use for capturing images for use in PowerPoint presentations, and for explaining their ideas. 

Interactive Whiteboard Technology

Most importantly, we have been able to install interactive whiteboard technology into every science area in the school. Staff have undergone training and have become adept at using this high impact tool to its maximum effect.

Caesium exploding a gas jar, observation of sub microscopic movement of particles in a gas, a visual journey through a human, real time observation of earth from space, images direct from the Hubble telescope, online video footage of earthquakes in Japan, these are just some of the ways in which we have used ICT to engage students.

There is no doubt we have a growing facility to take very abstract and possibly ‘dry’ concepts and use ICT tools to make them very visual and very real. The interactive whiteboards have huge visual appeal for the students and we often have large images on the whiteboards as the students walk into lessons which will hook them into the work immediately.

Developing High Quality Online Resources

On its own, of course, the hardware is of little educational value. So in November 2002 we appointed two web page designers one of whose brief is to work alongside colleagues to develop high quality interactive online resources specifically tailored to meet the needs of the students in our school. 

Detailed analysis of previous exam papers already alerted us to the concepts our students find difficult. The web designers have worked with teachers to produce interactive animations that can provide students with a fun, visual playground to test their ideas. What happens when I change the size of a skydivers parachute? What happens to the number of wolves in a population if the number of owls increases? The interactive animations give instant feedback to the students and can help to realign their conceptions. What our two web designers produced was so effective that in September 2003, after gaining Leading Edge status, we had no hesitation in appointing a third.

A Unitised Curriculum

By working closely with the web designers we have moved to a culture where schemes of work, lesson plans and resources are available online. This is our unitised curriculum.

Developing a unitised curriculum has facilitated the sharing of tried and tested ideas and has helped to establish a high level of consistency in lessons across a large department. High quality lesson plans which make good use of visual and entertaining resources - including Camtasia presentations and interactive animations, all available on a mouse click - has ensured our students, whoever they are taught by, get a more consistent deal. Although fifteen teachers might teach the same lesson plan fifteen different ways, the high-profile nature of these online resources has re-set the ‘minimum quality bar’ at a higher level.

The unitised curriculum now means there is now an increased accountability in terms of lesson plan quality – as fifteen teachers will teach each lesson, you are more and more accountable for the lesson plans you and your planning team have devised. This has certainly improved the overall quality of lessons.

ICT has started to help get more experts into more classes, simultaneously! Camtasia recordings can put a specialist/expert in every classroom. During Intensive Study Weeks in July, 120 students across four rooms were being taught a lesson on electromagnetic induction – a very abstract concept, whose nuances may not always be appreciated by a non physics teacher. Via a highly visual and entertaining Camtasia production, recorded by a physics teacher who took a multi-angled approach to the subject, 120 students got the same quality learning experience.