ABSTRACT
This chapter considers some of the main conceptual and practical barriers to teaching about electricity effectively. It examines some common alternative frameworks held by children and the assessment for learning (AfL) techniques people can use to elicit them. The chapter explores some cross-curricular contexts, promoting the potential for links with design and technology (D&T) by using an everyday piece of technology such as a torch. It also considers progression in electrical skills and understanding, proposing a progressive sequence of 'challenges' to move children's conceptual and procedural development forward. The chapter also explores the potential for making some of the abstract and difficult electrical concepts more concrete for children using analogies, while being aware of some of the potential pitfalls in the style of teaching. Electricity is essentially the movement of electrons from one place to another – even 'static' electricity involves transfer of electrons from one surface to another, so that the charge is separated.
