Introduction

This section comprises just two papers, but should not be underestimated in its ability to provoke thought. Leach asks us to consider the fundamental question about the nature and purposes of the science curriculum setting his response in the context of an empirical student-centred study. His findings take us into the twin policy objectives of public understanding and the training of future scientists. Nott and Wellington on the other hand probe teachers’ views of the nature of science, suggesting that much teaching about this occurs embedded in most everyday science teaching transactions.