How do you know what your KS3 students are really thinking?

This workshop will share practical ideas for using formative assessment probes to uncover common misconceptions, including ways to use students' initial ideas as starting points for developing conceptual understanding. Participants will receive a set of probing questions to use with students. The Understanding Student Ideas in Science series has had great success in the USA in terms of providing teachers with practical classroom materials to identify pupils' misconceptions and provide teachers with a basis for developing responsive teaching. This approach has been based on a wide range of work, including research by Ros Driver and curriculum materials from Stuart Naylor and Brenda Keogh as well as research into children's ideas from a wide range of authoritative research materials from across the world. This approach was turned into a publication for KS2 teachers called 'Understanding Children's Ideas in Science' which the ASE brought out in 2022, and a similar publication for KS3 is now in preparation. The session will feature draft activities from that book. Outcomes: a) To have a clearer understanding of how probes can be used by classroom teachers in their lessons b) To understand how to interpret the evidence yielded by probes To consider how subsequent lesson planning and delivery can be informed and made responsive