The importance of science for the economy and the value of scientific literacy in contemporary society are widely acknowledged. However, there are concerns that young people, particularly girls and minority ethnic students, are ‘leaking’ from the science education pipeline (notably the physical sciences). This study draws across sociology of education and science education literature to explore the science and career aspirations of minority ethnic pupils aged 11-14 in London. British pupils from Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds were investigated as examples of typically ‘low’ academic achievers and participants in science (e.g. at GCSE and A-level), and British pupils from Indian and Chinese backgrounds were investigated as examples of typically ‘high’ achievers and participants in science education. Forty-six semi-structured interviews, six focus group discussions and 22 hours of classroom observations were conducted with minority ethnic pupils. Five science teachers and one parent were also interviewed. The study aims to explain current uneven patterns of science participation and achievement rates amongst minority ethnic students, focusing on why some students aspire, and others do not, towards science. The study found that although a diverse range of students aspired to science-related careers, the relationship between students’ achievement, aspirations, interest and capital in science was complex. A typology of ‘student science engagement’ was developed, mapping seven forms of student participation in science. British Black Caribbean students were the least likely, and British Indians were the most likely, to be engaged in science. Many British Bangladeshi students expressed science career aspirations, despite their tendency to have low science achievements, and most British Chinese pupils achieved highly in science, even though few have expressed aspirations towards science. The typology and reasons for these variations were explored using Bourdieu’s notions of habitus and capital, and sociological theorisations of identity (e.g. exploring the purchase of ‘science identity’). The study builds on the small but growing understanding regarding how minority ethnic students experience, aspire and identify with science.

Teaching outside is an important pedagogical strategy, however it is rare to find a secondary science teacher who uses the technique more than occasionally. This thesis explores the role that science teachers’ beliefs and teacher efficacy have on their pedagogical practice outside the classroom. Furthermore, in the context of a two-year outdoor science professional development programme underpinned by a social constructivist pedagogical framework, the study investigates professional development strategies influential on teachers’ beliefs and teacher efficacy and eventual pedagogical practice. The study’s methodology was situated within a qualitative interpretative/social constructive paradigm. The thesis includes six case studies of participants who completed the outdoor professional development programme and who implemented outdoor science activities into their teaching. Data (including teacher interviews, lesson observations and session evaluations) informing the case studies were collected throughout the programme. Analytical frameworks were developed from the research literature for science teachers’ beliefs and teacher efficacy. Teachers’ beliefs and teacher efficacy appeared to be influential on outdoor pedagogical practice. For example, teachers’ more general beliefs concerning how children learn influenced more specific beliefs relating to teaching and learning science outside with both types of beliefs influencing the teachers’ pedagogical decision-making outside. Furthermore, teachers’ beliefs and teacher efficacy relating to managing student learning outside appeared to influence pedagogical practice. Finally, in terms of professional development strategies, in-school factors (such as teaching activities outside and working with a colleague), alongside programme session strategies (such as tutor-led simulated modelling) appeared to be important factors facilitating change. Teachers’ beliefs and teacher efficacy appeared to influence the effectiveness of specific professional development strategies on pedagogical practice. The findings of this thesis suggest that science teachers’ beliefs and teacher efficacy influence pedagogical practice outside. Furthermore, particular professional development programme strategies are more influential on teachers’ practice when particular beliefs or levels of teacher efficacy are identified.

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This study sought to capture how science teachers view scientific knowledge from a philosophical-epistemological perspective. The philosophical themes investigated were scientific method, criteria of demarcation, patterns of scientific change and problems related with the construction of reality. Furthermore, an attempt was made to investigate the relation teachers' views on these matters both to certain curricular issues (the question of integration and the meaning of the terms "content" and "process") and to some pedagogical issues (assumptions about learning, instruction and aspects of classroom activities).

In science education, argumentation is considered to be a core skill that can empower young people to develop, amongst others, their communicative and reasoning skills, their critical thinking and their metacognitive skills. Many researchers suggest that argumentation is a skill that can be developed and that the process should begin while students are in primary school. From a cultural perspective, even though the systemic nature of argumentation activity has been implicitly recognised in the literature, argumentation as a systemic whole and the dynamics that exist between the constitutive elements of this system has not been researched. Furthermore, the active engagement of stakeholders related to science education, other than teachers, in the design of learning activities aimed at promoting argumentation, has been neglected. This thesis argues that Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) can provide an appropriate framework for promoting argumentation in primary science education and for addressing the issues raised above with regard to argumentation. With respect to CHAT, the research specifically aims to identify and describe instances of expansive learning that might emerge throughout the process and evaluate the use of the theory as a methodological framework for research conducted in educational settings. In this respect CHAT was used in this study as a theoretical, methodological and analytical framework for addressing the aims of the research. More specifically, the notions of the activity system, the object and the contradictions, and the expansive learning theory were the main tools that guided the research process. The findings of the research emphasise the various forms of expansive learning that were observed during the two years that the research was running: as a cycle of learning actions, as movement in the zone of proximal development through which contradictions within the relevant systems were identified and resolved, as transformation of the object of the Activity System of Argumentation in Science Education and as boundary crossing events. Implications for researchers, professional development coordinators and educators are also illustrated.

This thesis examines the contribution of R6mulo de Carvalho to science education in Portugal during the period he taught in the secondary school 'Liceu' (1934-1974). In his home country, Carvalho is a well-known educator, historian and poet, a voracious writer who left a great number of works in these three areas. The scope of Carvalho' s activities in pedagogy is wide. He contributed to curriculum development, wrote textbooks, books on popularization of science, and trained teachers. The thesis seeks to pull these activities together and provides an account on the characteristics and impact of Carvalho's contribution to science education within a professional and political context. The main argument o"fthe thesis is that Carvalho's work on science education can be described as 'humanistic', since he worked for the change of the nature and quality of science education in Portugal in a distinctively 'humanistic' way. Carvalho contributed to the democratization of scientific knowledge in a fascist regime, and gave particular attention to the adequate content and methods of teaching according to pupils' age, interests, and learning condition. The thesis sets out the political and educational context in which Carvalho' s work took place and examines the rationale and impact of some of his key pedagogical activities. An account on Carvalho's contribution to the 194711948liceal reform is provided. The thesis then examines the characteristic and the professional context in which his textbooks were produced. It moves on to scrutinize Carvalho' s views on the pedagogy of laboratory classes with a particular concern with his preferred teaching method. Afterwards, accounts on Carvalho' s work as a teacher trainer, on his broader support in the practice of teaching, and his own performance in the classroom are provided. In the final part, the thesis examines Carvalho' s work on the popularization of science, providing an account of his aims and writing style as well as the significance of this work within the Salazarist regime.

The purpose of this thesis is to consider if and how students in post-compulsory education draw upon their compulsory science education in a particular context whilst thinking about human interactions with their environments. This has been conducted through a case study investigating experiences drawn upon by students as they explore environmental subject matter with potential links to sustainable development and content addressed in National Curriculum science.

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Pupils come to physics lessons with some scientifically wrong ideas, sometimes referred to as misconceptions but often just misplaced conceptions; correct in some contexts but not in others. It is often difficult to change these misconceptions. Analogy has long been used to aid understanding of scientific concepts. However, the jump between analogue and target is sometimes too great, possibly because the similarity of the features compared is not significant enough. To improve mapping of similarities, bridges can be used which are part way between the analogue (anchor) and target. The anchor usually involves concrete phenomena where the pupils' intuitive ideas agree with the scientific view. This research looks at the use of bridging analogies in overcoming misconceptions in several topics. The conclusion is that, short-term, `traditional' teaching gives better results whereas the bridging analogy approach may give better long-term retention of concepts. Rather than trying to overtly use analogy, it may be more effective and less time consuming to cue the right idea using analogy on a very low key level, without the pupils realising that an analogy has been used. The idea of cueing correct ideas comes from work done by diSessa and others on phenomenological primitives (pprims). These are small knowledge units which are cued to an active state to explain phenomena. It is hoped the correct p-prim will be cued by use of the analogy and, if cued repeatedly, will strengthen. Again, research is carried out in several topics. The results are interesting. Generally, during the bridging analogy approaches, there is an increase in the sense of the scientific explanation for the experimental group even though they do not know why they have become surer of that explanation. However, the control group has sometimes shown a decrease in the sense of the scientific explanation. Although cueing p-prims is quick and easy to do using low-key analogies, it only works in the short-term and pupils need to understand concepts for long-term success which may be done more effectively using bridging analogies taught in a more overt manner.

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