​​In a year's time they will be the teachers who assign science projects, but on Thursday (28 April) the Faculty of Education's Postgraduate Certificate in Education​ (PGCE) students had to set up their own research projects and explain to judges what they were all about.

The PGCE students ​who specialise in the school subject Natural Science recently completed a short course on the scientific method. As part of the course, they had to prepare a project similar to those presented at the annual Eskom International Science Fair ​.

The course was presented by Ms Erika Hoffman, project manager at the Stellenbosch University Centre for Pedagogy (SUNCEP). Staff from SUNCEP as well as other SU staff and postgraduate students are involved in the Stellenbosch region's participation in this popular science expo ever year.​

The assignment gave PGCE students the opportunity to express the theory and skills they learnt in practice. They had to exhibit their research on posters and explain it to judges.

Some of the topics were: "The influence of salt on the boiling temperature of water", "How does caffeine influence the growth of plants" and "Biodiversity: Conflict between nature conservation, farmers and predators".

According to Hoffman, the students didn't have much time to prepare their projects. The value of the assignment lies in the fact that the students now have a better idea of the process learners will have to follow when they have to do similar projects. Research projects form part of the school curriculum for Natural Science.​