I normally wouldn't dream of doing a practical with 6 students and one set of apparatus but today I tried. The reason was that I don't have enough single slits to go round so set up two optic benches and waited to see what would happen. The result was quite unexpected, lots of activity, good focus on the task, much sharing of ideas and plenty of discussion. I think I will use this model again but maybe only with second year classes who know each other well facilitating easy interaction. The first year programme is more focused on developing individual skills in preparation for the investigation so it is important that each student gets to record and process data. I can already see that this new syllabus allows for a fresh approach.