• SSERC are delivering a 2-day course, based at SSERC HQ, to explore techniques applicable to senior phase biology, including National 5, Higher Biology and Human Biology and Advanced Higher Biology.      This programme offers an excellent way of keeping up to date with developments in your subject area.  There will be ample opportunities to build new working relationships with other Biology teachers across the range of schools and local authorities in Scotland.    The course is aligned to the GTCS Standards for Full Registration and the National Model for Professional Learning.  

    Among the various techniques, you will explore: 

    • bioinformatic platforms for phylogenetic analyses 
    • Colorimetry to monitor competitive and non-competitive inhibition of enzyme activity 
    • Chromatography to explore photosynthetic pigments in plants
    • Quick and simple (and cheap!) tools to explore the absorbance spectra for photosynthesis in plants
    • Simple methods to monitor fermentation in yeast, including a microscale protocol to keep costs down
    • The use of a simple immunoassay 
    • Constructing a standard curve to determine glucose concentration in a diabetes clinic simulation
    • The use of electrophoresis to separate protein mixtures 
    • Discussing teaching points around chemical synaptic transmission (non-lab based)
Course Dates: 12th – 13th March 2024
Closing Date: 26th January 2024

Applying for this course is no longer possible as the closing date has passed.

Please email us at enquiries@sserc.scot if you would still like to register your interest.

Giveaways!

This is an ENTHUSE-funded course and a selection of relevant giveaway items will be provided to each delegate following attendance. At a time when schools are facing significant financial pressures, we carefully consider how best to support our delegates with materials to carry out practical work back in their centres.

Course Leader

Annie McRobbie
01383 626070
annie.mcrobbie@sserc.scot

Cost

£320.00 (non-residential rate

£410.00 (residential rate)

Applicants from Local Authority-funded schools and FE colleges will be entitled to apply for an ENTHUSE Subsidy of £320.00 to help towards covering the cost of the course.

On completion of the course, participants will be able to:  

  • demonstrate an enhanced portfolio of ideas for practical work across senior phase biology courses  

  • use a wider variety of teaching strategies to promote learning in science including demonstrations and scientific enquiry  

  • exemplify the importance of contemporary science and its applications in the context of the curriculum   

  • network with fellow professionals and explore mechanisms for ongoing support  

  • understand the range of opportunities within the wider STEM engagement portfolio which SSERC offers 

  • evaluate their own professional learning and its impact on learners

For delegates who live more than 50 miles (or 90 minutes on public transport) from SSERC headquarters, overnight accommodation will be available. 

The course will be held at SSERC in Dunfermline. Our SSERC buildings are at 2 Pitreavie Court, Dunfermline, KY11 8UU. SSERC is a short (5-10 minutes) walk from Rosyth railway station and close to the end of the A823(M) spur off Junction 2 of the M90 motorway. Car journey times (approximately): Edinburgh – 30 min; Glasgow – 60 min; Aberdeen – 2.5 hours; Inverness – 3 hours.