Data-logging in practical science: research and reality

Considerable importance has been attached to the use of computer-based approaches to UK science teaching. Data-logging techniques have been available for some time but, despite research findings identifying their benefits, they appear to be under-used. This article sets out some of these benefits and describes research into routine use of data-logging in some UK secondary schools. The interview data presented reveal that implementation of data-logging in classrooms is not straightforward. It is shaped by a complex set of influences including provision of resources, planning strategies and the level of teachers' understandings of the scope and potential of data-logging activities. It is argued that these issues need to be better understood in teacher's own educational contexts if the higher order benefits of data-logging for pupils are to be secured.