This paper draws on a multi-phase project that sought to understand and increase young children's engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) objects. The paper presents findings from one aspect of this project that involved using storytelling to support young children's agency with STEM objects in a UK science museum.…

Critical reflective practice is a foundation of socially just pedagogy. This paper focuses on the informal STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) learning sector, where there is an acute shortage of support for critical reflective practice despite long-standing, entrenched issues of inequity. We analyse how practitioners used a new…

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers need both motivation and interpersonal skills in STEM disciplines. The aims of the study were to identify clusters of adolescents who vary in math and science motivation and interpersonal skills and to explore what factors are related to membership in a high math and science motivation and…

A STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) analysis project undertaken in the context of a historic visitor site is described. The project offered different types of opportunity for scientific working, and involved four distinct groups of participants. Two distinguishing features of the different groups of participants were their…

The inclusion of a British astronaut on the International Space Station will have caused many people in Britain to take interest in seeing it pass overhead. This article explains why it can only be seen for brief times and when conditions are suitable.

The Institute for Research in Schools (IRIS) was set up to give science students the opportunity to work on cutting-edge research projects. Teachers and students can access data and equipment that enable them to tackle real-life issues. As a result, not only do students gain in confidence and experience in their scientific work, they are also able…

The number of science and discovery centres has grown exponentially over the last two centuries. Science and discovery centres are one of the top five stimuli that influence a career choice in science. Their history, growth, impact and role in the public understanding of science are discussed. (Contains 2 tables, 7 figures, and 21 online…

The relationship that exists between students and science and technology (S&T) is a complex and important one. If it is positive, then social, economic and environmental consequences are to be expected. Yet, many problems of interest/motivation/attitude (I/M/A) towards S&T have been recorded. A lot of research has been conducted on this…

The national network of Science Learning Centres aims to raise the quality of science teaching from Key Stage 1 through post-16 (ages 5-19). Short courses are provided locally through the regional Science Learning Centres and longer, more intensive programmes are available at the National Science Learning Centre in York. There are a growing number…

One issue of interest to practitioners and researchers in science centres concerns what meanings visitors are making from their interactions with exhibits and how they make sense of these experiences. The research reported in this study is an exploratory attempt, therefore, to investigate this process by using video clips and still photographs of…

What meaning visitors make from their interactions with science center exhibits--and "how" they do so--is an issue of enduring interest in the field of learning in informal contexts. In order to explore what resources schoolchildren bring to bear in making meaning, this study used video clips taken during school trips to prompt…

Most schools visit Magna Science Adventure Centre on the back of careful planning and preparation. Magna is a fairly unique environment. "Steelos", the local name for the former Templeborough steelworks in Rotherham, West Yorkshire, was a vast plant. It became home to Magna in 2001. The building is over half a kilometre long and 45…

Presents a description of the curricula in physics at 124 universities, colleges, and polytechnical institutes in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. General information is provided on examination requirements for admission and procedures for making application to the schools. (SA)

In 2002, HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) carried out a review of the contribution of the Scottish science centres to formal and informal science education as part of a broader review of all science centres in the United Kingdom. This report identifies many strengths in individual centres and across the network. It is clear that the centres…

The City Technology Colleges in Great Britain were developed to teach science and information technology to students from 11 to 18 years of age. The approach adopted at the Bradford City Technology College, which was to open in September 1990, is one in which emphasis is given to combining established technologies with a new educational context.…