For a brief history of the InSECT Project, see this post in the InSECT Project Community. The Community is available to browse without logging in, but to comment and to download resources (see below) you'll need to create an account.

Each set of teaching materials that the project is developing is designed to provide support for teachers in the form of Teachers' Notes (TN). In addition to the Teachers' Notes materials typically include one or more Student Information Sheets (SIS) and a Student Activity Guide (SAG), supplied in an editable form (Word and PowerPoint files). The Teachers' Notes also include comprehensive links to other resources available online, like YouTube videos. As they are produced, these materials will be added to the Teaching Resources forum in the InSECT Project Community for free download.

We are also developing support materials for teachers. These include guidance, hints and tips for teaching as well as suggestions for dealing with controversial issues both inside and outside the classroom.

The background reading The importance of science and humanities for democracy – a sketch has been written for the project by Harry Collins, and provides a short and readable introduction to the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (widely abbreviated as SSK) - this informs the development of the project's resources and suggested teaching methods. The reading can be downloaded here or in the support materials forum.

For anyone wanting a deeper dive into this, Harry's book Are We All Scientific Experts Now? is available here. You will also find The Face-to-Face Principle: Science, Trust, Democracy and the Internet an interesting take on the effect that the rise in remote communication post-COVID has had in creating an illusion of intimacy which threatens the core institutions of democratic societies. The book may be freely downloaded from Cardiff University Press in several e-book formats.

We have a number of papers we are submitting for publication in academic journals, and these will be linked from here when they are published. Ahead of this, Harry has written this bibliographical essay which sets out how our new analysis of science can put truth into society. It's probably a good idea to read The importance of science and humanities for democracy – a sketch (link further up this page) before you dive into this.

Finally, we have our own practical project for you to try. Harry's interferometer is a home-built physics experiment to construct a table-top laser interferometer using inexpensive parts. Interferometers are widely used in science and industry for the measurement of microscopic displacements, refractive index changes and surface irregularities. They also lie at the heart of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), which uses two 4-km long interferometers for the detection of gravitational waves. Of course, no-one can detect gravitational waves with a home-built interferometer(!), but constructing such an instrument illustrates a number of important physical principles, and provides direct experience of how hard successful experimental science can be. Not only that - it's a great trigger for a discussion about frontier science and the problem of finding correspondence truth. There's a discussion forum for Harry's interferometer in the InSECT Community - we look forward to hearing about your experience of building your interferometer and seeing your photos!