How to link the three strands of the specification
One of the most attractive features of the course is the fact that it allows students to engage with issues which are of topical interest, and where the science is often still uncertain. Most of the topics in section 9, Issues in the Biological Sciences, and section 10, Issues in the Physical Sciences, are of this type. However, although these issues provide the framework for the text book and scheme of work, the real foundations of the course are the Ideas about Science which are applicable to a much wider range of current and future issues. At the same time many of the issues require an understanding of the key science explanations.
Ideas about Science
Most school science is about well established theories and techniques, much of it necessary information about how the world works but of limited value in making decisions on current developments. SPU, on the other hand, is mainly about science as 'work in progress'. Public attitudes to new science and its applications can be very diverse. They range from a faith in scientists' ability to come up with the truth and to solve many of the world's problems on one extreme, to a strongly anti-science stance on the other which blames science for environmental problems and doubts the reliability of the knowledge produced.
Our challenge as SPU teachers is to teach our students how science actually advances knowledge about the natural world and about the many factors involved in decisions involving applications of science; so that they can develop a personal understanding which avoids either of the above extremes. They need to know why science does sometimes get things wrong in the short term, why scientists cannot always give certain advice to decision makers, but also that the methods used mean that mistakes are recognised and corrected over time and that a consensus does emerge eventually.
What we call Ideas about Science are a summary of the key ideas they will need to gain this personal understanding. Most of them do not appear explicitly in other science courses but are an integral part of SPU. It is intended that they are learned through the study of specific issues and pointed out and applied wherever appropriate. Nearly all the activities on this site include the use of Ideas about Science in the students' work. This is indicated in the Teachers' Notes with reference to the specification. We have found that as students progress through the course they gradually gain confidence in using the ideas and in identifying them for themselves.
Science Explanations
Most of the scientific knowledge and understanding in this course should be familiar from GCSE. In some places it is possible to teach the science explanations within the contexts of the issues; in others this is more difficult; but every attempt should be made to relate the science to the issues and to the ideas about science. Ideally, it should be clear to a student that they need to learn about the science in order to discuss risk, or ethical issues, or how science works. Don't be tempted to cover the science in too much depth, it will take up time that could be spent in activities involving active engagement with the issues arising from the science. The emphasis here is on the 'big ideas' in science, rather than the detailed knowledge of examples.