#TMSLF13 – Round Table – Opportunities for Learning in ‘The Real World’
It was my great pleasure and privilege to lead a round table session at this year’s Scottish Learning Festival TeachMeet. The topic for the discussion – Opportunities for Learning in ‘The Real World’...
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CERN visit Sept 2013 – Day 3
The final day of our visit began with a visit to SM18 – the magnetic dipole manufacture and test facility. The 27 km long LHC ring at CERN is made up from over 1200 individual dipoles. Every dipole...
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Home-Made Eclipse Viewer
Next Friday, 20th March 2015, the best eclipse in over 50 years will reach between 90-95% of totality in the skies over Scotland. The online physics communities have been awash with chat and links on...
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Eclipse 2015
After all the preparation, and an early start this morning, it looked like it might be a wash out given the cloud cover. — Drew Burrett (@drewburrett) March 20, 2015 Unprepared to admit defeat, I got...
View ArticleCloud chambers
Thanks to Dr Aidan Robson from Glasgow University I was able to borrow a set of cloud chamber kits which I have used with my Higher physics classes this week. This facility is now available to any...
View ArticleDo Exams ‘Pass’ under CfE?
After more than five years of ongoing development in Scottish secondary schools, the Curriculum for Excellence has reached its first round of ‘gold standard’ Higher examinations. Though the contents of...
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Teaching about Radioactivity without Sources
Radioactivity is an exciting, mysterious and scary part of physics for many students, often because their ideas about ‘radiation’ are closely associated with their ideas about superheroes. Frequently...
View ArticleWhy we need to reform assessment
Following on from my post back in May 'Do Exams Pass Under CfE?', I have given the issues of assessment and certification some further consideration, which I outlined in my presentation at this year's...
View ArticleHow we could reform assessment and certification
In my recent post 'Why we need to reform assessment', I outlined a number of issues which give me concern over the assessment of SQA National 3-5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses, introduced as part...
View ArticleSQA Consultation on Reforming Assessment
In an acknowledgement that there are 'issues' with assessment, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) have opened a on-line consultation. Their survey can be found here -...
View ArticleResponse to SQA Consultation on Assessment
The SQA have released a consultation on the assessment arrangements for the new qualifications, which can be found here - surveymonkey.com/r/TFJQCX2 Having blogged recently on the subject of...
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Model Linear Accelerator
Last June, I made a model particle accelerator using a plastic salad bowl. This was courtesy of a great 'cook-along' online CPD via Google Hangouts hosted by a fellow IOP Network Coordinator, Dan...
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Newton’s G-ball
'Newton's G-ball', marketed by Swedish company Mollic, is a simple electronic timing device which can be used to measure the the freefall time from its point of release to impact on a surface below. It...
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Perimeter Institute – EinsteinPlus 2016 – Day 1
Earlier in the year I was delighted to receive an invitation to the annual Einstein Plus teachers' summer school at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario. A total of forty two teachers from...
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Perimeter Institute – EinsteinPlus 2016 – Day 2
Day 2 of EinsteinPlus 2016 saw the group formally welcomed to the spectacular Perimeter Institute building after an equally spectacular breakfast. (There are two excellent bistros at PI, which provided...
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Perimeter Institute – EinsteinPlus 2016 – Day 3
Day three began (after breakfast) with a session on Quantum Mechanics. The session was based around the 'Investigating the Nature of the Electron' activity from the Perimeter Institute's materials on...
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