Abstract
An investigation into views of pupils about science practicals was undertaken. The pupils’ ideas were elicited through an ‘ethnographic’ style research programme using three different instruments: a questionnaire, a letter‐writing exercise and a drawing assignment.
The results show that pupils consider science practical work to be useful only in the school context; they believe that their teachers’ ideas about practical work are similar to their own and reject certain cherished beliefs held by curriculum designers.
The research raises a number of questions that could provide the basis of an agenda for an school evaluation of practical work in science.