Nuffield Advanced Physical Science

Organiser
John Spice

The vision
John Spice enthused his team with a vision of a completely new physical science course exploring the regions of common interest to physicists and chemists. He was excited by the contributions that physics and chemistry make to the study of the structure and properties of materials.

So the basic course consisted to 14 topics with the physics focused on the interlocking roles of matter, energy and radiation and the chemistry on the interpretation of material properties on the atomic, microscopic and macroscopic scales.

The course culminated in one of three 'Materials options': Metals, Polymers or Ceramics and glasses.

The approach
The course was strongly concept-led. It was intellectually challenging for teachers and students.

Applications of science and technological considerations only featured in the Materials options.

There was extensive practical work in the course which was mainly designed to help with the development of concepts. Mastery of particular practical skills was not one of the aims.

The course highlighted the importance of theoretical models such as the kinetic theory of gases, the Bohr model of the atom, and the moving charges model for an electromagnetic field.

The publications
The course books were published with lurid magenta covers. The student material was presented in workbooks which included considerable exposition of the ideas because the content and treatment was often different from that in exisitng textbooks.

Book of Data
The most interesting publication was the Book of Data. This book was intended for use in all the Nuffield Advanced Science courses, but it was in the physical science course that it really came into its own. Thanks to the Physical Science course, the data included information about a wide range of materials. It also included the properties of atoms and nuclei, and the thermochemical and physical properits of elements and compounds. As a result the Book of Data has continued to sell well to a wide audience since it was published in 1972. It was revised in 1984, and this edition is still in use and continues to sell.

Assessment
The examinations featured data analysis and comprehension as well as more conventional questions. The wide ranging nature of the course meant that even well-prepared and bright candidates who scored good grades came out of the examination hall feeling that they had done badly.

The saving grace and glory of the course was the 40-period project in which students could choose their own investigation from across the whole range of physical science. For many sutdents this was the most stimulating and rewarding part of the course.

The strains
The influence of Higher Education helped to destroy the Physical Science course. The medical schools, for example, were not willing to compromise on the extent of knowledge of organic chemistry expected of those who had taken the course. As a result the basic course and materials options, which were enough in themselves, had to be supplemented with two general options such as 'Further organic chemistry'.

The demands became too great. The Introduction and Guide to the course included the heading: 'Is the physical science course too full?'. The text admitted that if Nuffield Physics and Chemistry could be taught in 7 periods per week, then Physical Science needed 8 periods per week. It was all too much.

Impact
The course never attracted many schools beyond the 80+ schools that took part in the trials. The examination entry rose to near 1000 but then soon declined.

However, the course had a major influence on teachers who began their careers in an era of optimism, and were subsequently active in a range of curriculum projects and in defining the national curriculum. In particular, the course showed these teachers the value of material science as a context for developing ideas in the physical sciences.