ASE 2023 Annual Conference at Sheffield Hallam University

In England, currently, there is a great emphasis on our pupils learning and remembering science content knowledge. A recent EEF review of science education (2018) also emphasises the need for our pupils to build conceptual frameworks. In this session, I will refer to a research project I carried out with sixth form students (Gourlay, 2017), investigating their understandings of particle physics, to suggest how concept mapping could contribute to science teaching and learning by uncovering students' conceptual frameworks. Additionally, colleagues in schools in England appear to be using low stakes quizzes frequently for retrieval practice, to promote pupils remembering the material they are taught. Concept mapping could provide an alternative strategy for retrieval practice.