Description:
The Science in Schools Research Project is a major Victorian government initiative aimed at developing a model whereby schools can improve their science teaching and learning. A consortium led by Deakin University has been working with an expanding number of primary and secondary schools across the state, supporting them in developing new initiatives in science, and monitoring the impact on school and classroom practice, and student outcomes. The research effort underpinning the project has included the development and validation of a set of components (the SiS Components) describing effective science teaching and learning, and of a school and teacher change strategy by which these can be implemented. The paper describes the research process by which the SiS Components have been developed and refined, and the different means by which they have been validated.