The current assessment models atomise the content into 'bite size' chunks in the name of 'accessibility'. There is huge pressure to teach to the exams, which often consist of rather banal and trivial questions which are sometimes so dumbed down that more able students sometimes become confused by the requirement to simply state, or even just restate, the obvious. It is difficult for teachers to lead students through the 'bigger picture', especially as students are expected to discover knowledge for themselves and to have opinions on non scientific aspects of science without having sufficient understanding upon which to base these opinions. The disproportionate emphasis on whatever ill defined 'skills' are currently in fashion demotivates further due to the requirement to learn the turgid vocabulary of 'How Science Works' in order to cope with these rather abstract concepts being shoehorned into a multiple choice question format.
Andrew Urwin is Head of Science and Technology College Manager at a large state comprehensive in Devon. Prior to that he was Head of Physics at comprehensives in Sussex and Northumberland. He has been teaching for 20 years.