Las Murallas de la Ciudad de Mallorca

An important consideration in deciding the schools to be selected for inclusion in the main study was, to ensure that they were ‘typical’ representatives of schools in England. What is meant here by ‘typical’ is best described in terms of the size, geographical location and nature of the school, that being comprehensive in nature. This meant

schools that would not be classed as typical, such as selective schools – grammar schools, or independent schools, were to be avoided. Due to the majority of students in England being taught in comprehensive schools, it would be beneficial to the study to utilise them as far as possible in order to be able to make generalisations that could be applicable to the majority of students in comprehensive schools throughout England.

The majority of issues with selection of schools fell to access and the ever growing security within schools. However, as the researcher held a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Check, the issue became more to do with teacher availability and the organisation of times to visit students. A convenience or opportunistic sampling approach was undertaken whereby schools were chosen through acquaintance with Heads of Science departments at the schools. This led to a relatively open selection of schools across three different counties and educational authorities that were known to the researcher. It was then decided that the three schools to be chosen would be broadly representative of comprehensive schools in England in terms of their size and geographical setting where possible. Even though convenience sampling enables easier access to schools, in practice issues regarding external validity when interpreting the findings and making generalisations can mean very low population and ecological validity (Cohen et al. 2007), however the aim of school selection was more with reference to ensuring a “naturalistic coverage” (Ball, 1984, p. 75) of schools that represented the vast majority of schools in England than for meeting the statistical sampling approach in such methods. The schools were approached verbally over the telephone and then later confirmed via email including allowing permission of access into their schools. The three schools that allowed access and agreed to participate in the main study were School L, School Y and School N.

School L is a rural secondary modern school with specialist science college status within a selective county. The school has around 600 students on roll from age eleven to sixteen all of mixed ability. Even though School L had taken part in phase two and phase three of the pre-pilot stage, the students had not taken part in the stages involving the constructed questionnaires and therefore, they would not be replicated in the data collection. The science department follows the National Curriculum throughout Key Stage 3 and 4. The framework of lessons at the school is based on Collins Science, the CASE (cognitive acceleration through Science Education) for Key Stage 3. Key Stage 4 framework is based on the 360 Science Suite of specifications by Edexcel which is a GCSE examinations board from December of Year 9.

School Y is north of School L in another county and is a rural community comprehensive school with a specialist science college status. It has around 950 students on roll from eleven to nineteen of mixed ability. The science department follows the National Curriculum throughout Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. The framework at Key Stage 3 is by Collins Educational entitled Key Stage 3 Science. At Key Stage 4 students follow the framework by Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations entitled 21st Century Science for the GCSE course from December of Year 9.

School N is south of the previous two schools, in a separate county and is an urban comprehensive academy with specialist performing arts status. It has around 1400 students on roll from eleven to nineteen, all of mixed ability. The science department follows the National Curriculum throughout Key Stage 3 and 4. The framework followed at Key Stage 3 is by the Oxford University Press entitled Science Works. At Key Stage 4 students follow the framework by Oxford Cambridge and RSA

Examinations entitled 21st Century Science for the GCSE course, as School N this is from December of Year 9.

All three schools are under three separate Education Authorities they all follow the National Curriculum for science in England and whilst there are slight differences on the course frameworks for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, they are broadly representative of schools across England. Therefore, broadly speaking, there were no significant differences between the experiences students had of practical work in each of the three schools. Indeed, there were no significant differences between with schools for the types of practical work, or any other external activities, that would be manipulate the results obtained. One key reason for this was the fact that all three schools followed the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum states that all students should be able to:

a. use a range of scientific methods and techniques to develop and test ideas and explanations

b. assess risk and work safely in the laboratory, field and workplace c. plan and carry out practical and investigative activities, both individually and in groups.

(Department of Education, 2012)

Therefore, whilst the approach to teaching may differ slightly by the teachers in the three schools, it can be said that the nature of practical work that was experienced by the students in all three schools was, essentially, very similar.