Course overview
Welcome to Thinking, Doing, Talking Science (TDTS). TDTS is an interactive four-day training programme for teachers that focuses on developing creative and challenging science lessons that encourage pupils to use higher-order thinking skills.
TDTS teachers enable their pupils to think and talk about scientific concepts through dedicated discussion times, they provide them with a wide range of opportunities for creative investigations and problem solving and they focus pupils’ recording so that is there is always time for practical science.
The programme
What’s in it for me?
The TDTS programme is interactive, practical and enjoyable and provides strategies and activity ideas that can translate immediately into classroom practice without the need for extra expense and excessive planning.
Our highly-skilled TDTS team and training partners have a wealth of experience in science education and we have received extremely positive feedback from all the teachers and pupils in the hundreds of schools who have taken part so far.
Are the course materials tested?
The simple answer is yes! The TDTS ethos is based on original research funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust and carried out by Oxford Brookes University in 2002-4.
Thanks to more recent funding from the Education Endowment Foundation, TDTS has been thoroughly evaluated via efficacy and effectiveness trials between 2012-2018. Read about the TDTS research programme and the impact of the course on pupils’ interest and attainment in science here.
Our results
We’ve delivered 23 TDTS courses.
For 12 different regions of England.
In 340 schools.
Supporting 739 teachers.
Reaching 20,640 pupils.
For primary teachers
TDTS is suitable across the whole primary age-range. Our aim is for you to enjoy the training thoroughly and to see the immediate value for your pupils. Our intention is to help you to build on your existing good practice.
We will provide you with a repertoire of evidence-based strategies and you can choose and adapt them in ways that best suit your class. We understand how hard teachers work and we do not intend to add to that workload. We set out to build a team ethos – the trainers and the teachers learning from each other. You are the classroom experts and we value that.
For secondary teachers
TDTS is currently a primary science focussed initiative but some work has begun on developing the ethos and strategies for the Key Stage 3 context.
In 2018-19 the Department for Education, via the Strategic School Improvement Fund, supported a TDTS project that enabled us to work with nine secondary schools in Herefordshire. The project aimed to improve the participation, engagement and cognitive skills of pupils in science through interesting and challenging science teaching.
How we can help
Primary Teachers
In 2019-20 TDTS courses are available for primary teachers to book in York and in Oxford at our new Science Oxford Centre. For more information and to book, click here.
Education Partners
If you are an education partner who is interested in talking to us about TDTS courses for primary or secondary schools in your region, please contact us at tdts@scienceoxford.com
Course Attendees
If you have already attended a 4-day TDTS course, please log in to access the course resources.
Access to these resources
Our online resources are for teachers who have completed a full 4-day TDTS course. To access the resources section, please contact bridget.holligan@scienceoxford.com with details of the course that you attended and she will provide you with an access code.
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