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Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Wynne Harlen

Extract: This article focuses on the role of the Association for Science Education (ASE) in supporting and developing policy and practice in primary school science. It first sets the events after the formation of ASE in 1963 in the context of what went before. It then takes a mainly chronological view of some, but by no means all, of ASE’s activities that have had an impact on primary science in the past 50 years. More details can be found in Chapter 4 of Advancing Science Education: the First Fifty Years of the Association for Science Education (Jenkins and Wood-Robinson, 2013).

Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Phil Ramsden, Jonathan Ling and Norma Broadbridge

Extract: Viewed by someone with no involvement, the Association for Science Education (ASE)Annual Conference will seem like an impossibly ambitious task, relying significantly on volunteers though increasingly supported by a small permanent staff) to organise and run it. Developed from events already established in the former associations, it offers a tremendous choice of lectures, workshops, discussions, practical sessions and exhibitions. A typical young member visiting for the first time will find an incredibly large choice of things to do. This article explains some of the details in planning and running the event, indicates the contributions of some of those having significant involvement, and illustrates some of the changes that have occurred in half a century.

Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Malcolm Oakes

Extract: The Association for Science Education (ASE) has a proud history of responding positively to changes in the education system. The creation of ASE INSET Services was one such response, resulting in an organisation that in its 16 year lifetime engaged in an impressive range of activities and had an impact on the professional development of tens of thousands of teachers of science. This article outlines the origin of the project and its activities, with a closer look at three aspects of its work.

Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Compiled by Jane Hanrott

Extract: Over the past 50 years, the Association for Science Education (ASE) has published a wide range of journals as a principal benefit of membership of the Association, with some reaching beyond the membership. This article explores the history behind each of the four current ASE journals, as well as touching on two titles that ‘served their time’ and are no more. How the journals were put together, the ethos behind each and the development of each over the years are examined by those who know them best – past and present Editors and other members of their editorial teams.

Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Lynne Symonds and Graham Jackson with Michael Turvey

Extract: The Association for Science Education (ASE) has been involved in exchanges with various countries in a number of ways. Teachers from all over the world visit the Annual Conference and their own associations have often used ASE methods in developing their own programmes. The responsibilities of the International Committee of ASE range from assisting weavers in remote parts of Africa to improve their education within the workplace to selecting the best British students to participate in an event in Australia.

Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Ralph Whitcher

Extract: From a time when laws on health and safety applied only to some industries and much was unregulated, we have moved to a time when health and safety laws seem, if you believe some reports in the news, to pervade every aspect of working life with silly restrictions. This article looks at the development of the legislation from the 1960s and suggests why there are now overcautious interpretations which give the false impression that a significant amount of science practical activity is restricted or banned.

Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Peter Borrows

Extract: The author of two chapters in the new history of the Association for Science Education (ASE) gives some insights into the process of writing the book, summarises some of the key messages, explores some of the areas that did not make it into the final text, shares some of the surprises uncovered by the research and reflects on how ASE has changed over the years.

Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Simon Young

Extract: The prevalence of nine indicator lichens found on trees in Northern Europe and Western Russia was used for monitoring air quality. The 4200 mile route of the survey went through eight countries. Surveys were carried out in cities, towns, countryside and forests, and along motorways. The author has conducted tree lichen surveys with pupils from schools and orphanages in Western Russia for many years. As expected, the calculated ‘lichen score’ at each site correlated negatively with the published nitrogen dioxide levels in that area, and nitrogen-sensitive lichens were found to be most prevalent in forests and less-industrialised locations close to the Baltic Sea.

Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Helen Barley, Muhammed Karim, Myra Gilchrist and Andrew Gillies

Extract: To meet the needs of a modern Scottish society, a ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ enables teachers to deliver a more coherent and skills-based curriculum, involving partnerships with external agencies. This article analyses the work of one host school/researcher team through the Researchers in Residence scheme in an Edinburgh secondary school and describes the benefits and flexibility of such schemes to fit with the ideals of the new Scottish curriculum. The team found that the partnership was mutually beneficial to the researcher and the host school and flexible enough to adapt to any subject discipline.

Issue: March 2013 348

Author: Bev Goodger

Extract: An opportunity for teachers to join 80 outstanding biological sciences undergraduates in a series of practical sessions and lectures at the 2010 Gatsby Plant Science Summer School has inspired the development of teaching and learning resources for use in schools. Plant scientists have a crucial role to play in society and it is hoped that the resources will help to stimulate interest in this important but less popular area of the biology curriculum.