ABSTRACT
How do scientists carry out scientific investigations? There is no straightforward answer to this question. Scientists use a great range of investigative approaches. For example, they carry out laboratory tests, study patterns of behaviour, carry out surveys to try to correlate possible cause and effect relations, build models and test new theories, all of which is in stark contrast to the paucity of kinds of investigations carried out in schools in the UK. The first part of this chapter is concerned with the varieties of kinds of investigations used in schools and the problems associated with the dominance of fair testing. In the second part of the chapter, the pupils’ experience of investigative work in schools is examined. Teachers see investigations as providing opportunities for pupils to make decisions, to think for themselves and to use scientific skills and processes to solve scientific problems, but do pupils see things in the same way? Do they have any idea of what they are supposed to be learning, or do they see investigations as just another school exercise to be done to keep the teacher happy?
