Why Practical Work Alone Doesn’t Teach Science
By Julian Dance —
Tags: Science Teaching, Cognitive Science, Learning Science, Science Curriculum, GCSE, Pedagogy, Practical Science
Practical work is central to science teaching, but experiments alone don’t guarantee understanding. Julian explores what research says about effective science learning.
By Julian Dance - Head of Big Ideas at SideCog During UK Science Week, classrooms across the country come alive with experiments. Chemicals fizz. Magnets repel and attract. Flames change colour. Practical work is one of the most powerful tools we have as science teachers. It captures curiosity and makes the subject feel alive. But it also raises an important question. Does practical work automatically lead to understanding? In my experience as a Head of Science, and through the research on learning, the answer is clear: Activity alone is not the same as learning. When Activity Isn’t the Same as Understanding Students can follow instructions perfectly. They can measure carefully, record results neatly and complete the worksheet. And yet they may still leave the lesson with only a partial understanding of what actually happened. Education researcher Graham Nuthall showed that students often misunderstand key ideas without teachers realising it. His research found that students usually need multiple encounters with an idea in different contexts before it becomes secure. One exciting experiment rarely achieves that on its own. Understanding requires explanation, discussion and revisiting ideas. What Science Education Research Says Wynne Harlen’s work with the Association for Science Education (ASE) provides an important framework for thinking about practical work. The Principles and Big Ideas of Science Education report argues that the main purpose of science education is not simply performing experiments, but helping students develop explanatory ideas about the natural world. Experiments should therefore support the development of understanding, rather than becoming isolated activities. Harlen also emphasises that students learn best when they can connect new experiences with what they already know and when learning begins with meaningful questions. When practical work is disconnected from explanation, those connections never fully form. The Role of Clear Explanation This is where the craft of teaching matters. Barak Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction emphasise that effective teaching requires: clear explanations carefully sequenced ideas frequent checking for understanding Practical work can support these processes, but it cannot replace them. Students still need help interpreting what they observe. Otherwise they may remember the excitement of the experiment but misunderstand the science behind it. Why Practical Work Needs Careful Design In recent years, teachers such as Adam Boxer have written extensively about the importance of carefully designed practical work . Boxer argues that experiments in science lessons should have a clear instructional purpose. Practical work should help students see something they could not otherwise easily observe, rather than simply keeping them busy. In other words, the question teachers should ask is not: “What practical can we do here?” But rather: “What does this practical help students understand?” When experiments are designed with that clarity, they become powerful teaching tools. When they are not, they risk becoming distractions. What Effective Practical Science Looks Like The most successful practical lessons usually include three key elements. 1. A Clear Question Students need to understand the problem they are investigating. Curiosity drives attention. 2. Guided Interpretation Students need help making sense of their observations. Discussion and questioning help transform observations into explanations. 3. Connection to Scientific Ideas Experiments should strengthen students’ understanding of the underlying scientific concepts. Without that connection, practical work becomes memorable but conceptually weak. Inquiry - But With Structure There has been strong international support for inquiry-based science education in recent years. Harlen argues that inquiry helps students develop understanding by analysing evidence and refining explanations. However, inquiry works best when it is structured and purposeful. Students need guidance to interpret evidence and connect their findings to scientific ideas. Otherwise experiments risk becoming interesting activities rather than meaningful learning experiences. The Importance of the Right Practical at the Right Time Science educator Ben Rogers has also highlighted that practical work is most effective when it is aligned with the learning goal of the lesson. Rogers notes that practical activities can serve different purposes in science teaching: demonstrating a phenomenon generating data for analysis helping students test ideas reinforcing conceptual understanding But these purposes should not be confused. A practical designed to illustrate a concept should look very different from one designed to teach experimental design. When teachers are clear about the purpose of a practical activity, the learning becomes much stronger. Practical Work and Memory Ultimately, learning science depends on memory. Students must remember key ideas and be able to apply them to unfamiliar problems. Research in cognitive science shows that knowledge becomes usable when it is: revisited connected applied in different contexts Practical work provides one valuable context - but it must be combined with explanation and reflection if understanding is to develop. We explored the importance of connected knowledge in more detail in Why Connected Knowledge Matters More Than Ever in Education . Practical Work Still Matters None of this means practical work should disappear. Far from it. Well-designed practical activities: stimulate curiosity provide concrete experiences create memorable learning moments But they work best when integrated into a coherent teaching approach. As we discussed in Why Knowing More Changes How Students Think and Learn , knowledge is most powerful when it forms connected structures that students can apply to new problems. Practical work helps build those structures when it is used thoughtfully. Why This Matters During Science Week Science Week celebrates the excitement of science. But it also reminds us of something deeper. Students deserve more than a sequence of interesting experiments. They deserve a coherent understanding of how the world works. And great science teaching helps them build that understanding step by step. In Summary Practical work is a powerful part of science teaching. But activity alone does not guarantee understanding. Research from Wynne Harlen, Graham Nuthall and Barak Rosenshine highlights the importance of explanation, revisiting ideas and connecting experiences to conceptual understanding. More recent thinking from Adam Boxer and Ben Rogers reinforces the idea that practical work must be carefully designed and aligned with the learning goals of the lesson. Great science teaching combines curiosity, investigation and clear conceptual development. Science should remain exciting. But it should also remain meaningful. And the real goal of science education is not simply to perform experiments. It is to understand the world. Part of the Learning Science Series If you enjoyed this article, you may also want to read: Why Connected Knowledge Matters More Than Ever in Education https://sidecog.com/blog/why-connected-knowledge-matters-more-than-ever-in-education Why Knowing More Changes How Students Think and Learn https://sidecog.com/blog/why-knowing-more-changes-how-students-think-and-learn Are You Paying Attention? https://sidecog.com/blog/are-you-paying-attention Together these articles explore how attention, memory, knowledge and teaching methods interact to improve learning.