Curriculum Programme

Nuffield Advanced Biology

Organisers
1960s PJ Kelly and WH Dowdeswell
1970s and 1980s: Grace Monger

Defining advanced biology
The Nuffield Advanced Biology project set out to provide a comprehensive, balanced and integrated coverage of the main fields of biological science - both pure and applied.

The units covered all levels of biological organization, that is: molecular level, cellular level, organ and tissues, organism and population. However the focus of each was on the whole organism.

The course also highlighted many of the major themes of biology such as: variety and adaptation; structure in relation to function; organisms in relation to their environment; the similarity of many processses of physiology and behaviour; the genetic and evolutionary continuity of life; matter and energy cycles; homeostasis; development and the uniqueness of individuals.

The approach
The investigative teaching approach was based on the interpretation of primary and secondary data. Data came from the students' own practical work, from excerpts extracted from the published literature, and from results of experiments carried out by the project.

The publications
In the first edition, students and teachers had to create meaning and coherence from a rich and complex set of publications which included: laboratory guides for each main topic, a study guide and a set ot topic reviews.

The studies which informed the second edition showed that there was not enough help in the publications in explaining the biological ideas. Also practical work had become too dominant and overburdened the scheme.

The revised publications featured two Study Guides which included a substantial amount of descriptive text. These books were supplemented by a series of seven short Practical Guides.

Assessment
The long life of the project owed a great deal to the imaginative assessment methods adopted by the team of examiners.

Particularly valuable was the individual project. This involved about 40 hours of class time and associated research and writing up. Over the years, students carried out an amazing range of investigations.

Impact
The course had a major influence on other advanced biology specifications and the textbooks written to support them.

The course itself had a faithful following but made fewer concessions to the realities of classroom life in most schools and colleges than the Chemistry and Physics A-level projects. At most it attracted 13% of schools, and by 1992 had declined to an entry below 2000 candidates. It was brought to an end by the examining board in consultation with the Nuffield Curriculum Centre. The last examination was in 2001.

Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology
Some of the people that were involved in this project, or taught it, have subsequently been active in the Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology developments. Good ideas, including practical activities, from the older course have been carried forward to the new one.