I co-construct meaning with students through diagrams and dialogue, so I don't have any slide decks to share. Learn how to teach this way...

Not long ago a drive emerged against "fun" lessons. The push was to rid the focus on fun and return it to subject knowledge itself. Soon followed the argument that students had to accept boring lessons. Now I hear ever more reports of widespread boring lessons. Often, it seems, following a script of teacher does, students do. With an ontology of controllability comes the urge to pin systems down like an insect to a cork board. While learning through entertainment didn't wor

Two years ago, we began planning the new IB biology syllabus and I shared my initial perspective. Now that we've completed our first...

Podcast: Sense-making in Classroom Teaching

The nephron is a tricky concept for many students but it doesn't have to be. In this post, I explain how I've taught it recently, without...

Podcast: Knowledge Doesn't Equal Understanding

Including metacontent in your teaching will ensure students learn for the long-term.

Oxygen dissociation curves are difficult for students. I often find that difficulty comes from trying to visualise the mechanism through...

Does knowledge = understanding? This simple equation suggests that the extent of a person's understanding is purely equal to the extent...

Teaching about natural selection gives a mechanism for how species change but it doesn't directly address how one species can diverge...

The role of individual organisms is vital to understanding ecosystem functions. Often, the organism—and how it goes about its life—is...

The nervous system is a great topic for exploring who we are and what we can do. It's also great for explaining experience. But to do...

What are enzymes? For students that's a strange word. So, firstly, we'd better have a look. To do so, my favourite animation is one of...

The lac operon is a classic of genetics and is common in biology curricula. Yet, students can sometimes find it difficult. I want to show...

If you're teaching Mendelian genetics, monogenic disorders are on the cards. But which ones are good examples? The IB has once again...

The relationship between photosynthesis and respiration—within an individual plant—isn't easy for students. Often I find, they've been...

The peppered moth of industrial England—and the Galapagos finches on Daphne Major during the 1976 drought—are common examples used for...

Often, people seem to discuss schools as centres for optimising students' learning and teachers' teaching. However, I want to share a...

"Rarely have I been so convinced by the power of a new theoretical underpinning for a pedagogical technique such as the one presented...

Teaching the nitrogen cycle is one of my favourite lessons. There's so much to connect to: history and everyday life. But, students also...

Recently the idea of "rehearsal" has appeared in UK-based educational blogs. But there appears to be confusion. What's it for? Here are...

Around 2012ish, a new movement rode into the UK (school) educational scene. It came with the banner of "evidence-based", to counter the...

To understand p-values, you must discern a critical aspect: how confident you can interpret data. You must see how the relationship...

Advising students how to study is complex. Learning is messy, with ups and downs. Sudden insights may punctuate periods of seemingly...