Questions about ICT access

At one extreme, you could actually teach the course with no computer access - but that would be a shame!

SNAB can be taught using a single computer with a data projector - in which case the online tutorials would be carried out as a collaborative, whole class activity. Some schools and colleges have access to a computer room where students are sat at screens individually or in small groups.

A combination of teacher-led whole class activity, work in pairs (in a computer room or with computers in the science lab)and setting tutorials for homework is ideal, and which of these dominates very much depends on the access in individual schools and colleges.

Many centres have found that certain pots of money suddenly become available when there is a specific request for more ICT in the science department to help deliver SNAB. If you can show senior management the type of activities SNAB students will using ICT for, they are likely to be keener to shell out than for a nebulous request for more computers.

No, but if you have a projector and screen sometimes, that can be very useful.

An ordinary screen enables you (or a student) to show the introductions and go over some interactive tutorials. An interactive whiteboard just makes this easier. You can write over the top of the animations, click to the next screen without bending down to the keyboard, and so on.

For full details of the subscription  These prices can be negotiated by smaller centres. The cost may seem a lot at first, but when you see the vast range of well-thought-out resources for teaching, learning, and staff development you will see that the cost is realistic.

There are savings too: photocopying costs reduce, and you may use some of the interactive tutorials rather than practicals like DNA gel electrophoresis which use up expensive consumables.

Ready-done (but modifiable) schemes of work, masses of worksheets and practical ideas mean you do not have to devise everything from scratch.

Also, there is no real need to have any other ICT resource. When compared with the cost of some CD-ROMS covering just a tiny part of an A-level specification eg enzyme reactions or genetics, SNAB is good value.

The costs of SNAB are mainly upfront: the textbooks and the subscription to give access to the resources. See Resources

Practicals do not differ in cost from those required by other specifications. There are interactive alternatives for some of the more expensive practicals anyway: gel electrophoresis, measuring blood pressure, using a spirometer, etc so centres do not have to buy this kit if they do not have it.

There is an opportunity for a visit for AS coursework, but an alternative is to write about an issue.

Field trips are encouraged, but a residential trip is not essential.

The course is supported both by conventional printed materials and by more innovative web-based materials.

The publisher of the resources is Pearson Longman. See Resources for teaching SNAB.