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Developing
a Multimedia Scheme of Work to Support Physics
Teaching &
Learning at GCSE |
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School: Rippon College
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Fellow: Steve Robson |
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Email: Steve.Robson1@btinternet.com |
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Introduction |
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The development of a multimedia
scheme of work to deliver Physics at GCSE
level will help to motivate students and make
use a range of learning styles in a lesson.
Teachers will be able to keep the scheme of
work alive by including examples of work from
students studying the course and to enable
new ways of learning to be adopted within
the scheme as it develops. A range of ICT
will be used to deliver the content but I
have based my work around the use of digital
projector, laptop and digital moviemaker with
a variety of software. |
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Summary of Findings
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The scheme is still under
development but the structure of those parts
completed has received positive feedback from
staff and students alike. Feedback from students
from September 2002 will enable me to adapt
resources as the course develops. The findings
from this study will be collated and analysed
at a later date. |
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Context |
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Ripon College is an 11-18
Specialist School designated Technology College
status in September 2000. My original proposal
for my Gatsby Project was to use “Webstore”
to investigate the use of home-school learning
in science data logging. This became impractical
due to technical problems and the very late
installation of the broadband internet connection.
The theme for this new project developed out
of a need in the institution to investigate
vocational science qualifications. I have
studied the new GCS E in Applied Science GCSE
and plan to commence the course in September
2002. I have focused on the delivery of the
physics elements and some skill areas of that
must be developed if students are to be successful
in this new GCSE course. I hope that the model
itself, not just the content, will provide
support to colleagues and enable them to improve
on the basic idea. It is hoped that this multimedia
approach will offer a range of learning styles
within a lesson and to keep the scheme current
as new resources and new ideas develop. |
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Outline of the New
Project |
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The new GCSE in Applied
Science provides an opportunity to study science
in a vocational context. The college intends
to adopt and amend the resources developed
by the “4Science” team as the
basis of the GCSE Applied Science course.
(These resources will not be available until
the end of May 2002.) Other activities e.g.:
learning about the social and ethical applications
of science, are based upon Chapter 2.7 ASE
Guide to Secondary Science. Several resources
from the Pupil Researcher Briefs (Pupil Researcher
Initiative) will be linked to the scheme of
work. Activities from Science Safety Sheets
(CLEAPSS) were included to help students develop
the skills needed to work safely in science.
I decided to use the accelerated learning
cycle developed by Alistair Smith as the framework
to develop the scheme of work around. Mark
Lovatt, Cramlington Community High School,
delivered an outstanding INSET day at Ripon
College and really helped me to understand
how the Accelerated Learning Cycle can address
the problem of the Multiple Intelligence Classroom.
This learning cycle became an important part
of the project. |
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The Hardware |
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I have used a digital projector
to help me and the students visualise the
structure of the accelerated learning cycle
within a lesson. The students and I used a
number of moviemaker, digital video cameras
to collect examples and demonstrate key ideas
and skills during class introduction and review
sessions. Other equipment has been used to
digitise video content from a conventional
camcorder. I am, however, investigating other
options to digitise content. |
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The Software |
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I initially used Power Point
to put together my initial format for the
scheme of work. I then adopted Internet Odyssey
(Granada Learning) which enabled me to make
links to resources; on the hard drive, web
sites, CD ROMs and searchable archive lists
on many Granada Learning CD ROMs. More recently
I have begun using Learnwise Publisher (Granada
Learning) to develop other parts of the scheme
of work. I may end up using different platforms
to complete the project. Mind maps were drawn
up using eMindMaps (MindJet LLC). The moviemaker,
digital video cameras (Intel) are supplied
with user-friendly software to allow video
editing and enhanced presentation. |
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Development of the
Scheme of Work |
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The framework for the scheme
of work was established using the accelerated
learning cycle. A digital projector is used
to inform students of the lesson outline.
It should follow this common structure, |
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A range of activities
can be used to “connect the lesson”
to previous lessons. |
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The mind maps were developed from
the Unit Specifications produced by
OCR for the Applied Science GCSE course.
These mind maps help to put the lessons
into “the big picture” within
the module. |
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The Learning Outcomes for that lesson
are displayed. |
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New input can be given through a variety
of media. |
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The activity instructions and skill
demonstrations can be given using video
through the digital projector. |
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Students should demonstrate what they
have learned in a variety of ways, which
could include the use of movies, presentations,
role-play or short, interactive class
assessments using something like Hot
Potatoes. |
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Students should then review &
preview what has been learnt with reference
to the learning outcomes, which may
be presented as Mind Maps. |
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Homework activities will
link to the multimedia scheme of work on the
school ICT network or possibly home PC. |
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Problems & Solutions
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There were two persistent
problems that I encountered on the project.
The biggest problem was my time management.
This was to be expected but also involved
the management of student time on work that
related to my project whilst ensuring that
the activities remained relevant to their
studies. This can only be managed with careful
planning and involvement of some of the students
in this process. The second major problem
was that of ICT technical problems and technical
support. This is an issue that faces all schools
and will only become greater as more sophisticated
ICT resources are integrated into the curriculum.
It is vital that ICT technicians are given
an opportunity to comment on the level of
support that is required as a project develops.
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Issues |
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The use of the digital projector
must form part of the teaching and learning
process but must not be over used. With the
increasing use of ICT in all subject areas,
teachers will need to ensure that students
still receive a “varied diet”
of learning experiences. A map of the expected
ICT usage by students should be drawn up to
inform curriculum planners and help teachers
to ensure variety within day to day activities
and across their subjects as a whole. |
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Future Plans |
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The multimedia scheme of
work will need to be further developed in
readiness for September 2002. Several areas
of interest have developed whilst working
on the project. These include; the use of
video conferencing to support the development
of key skills within the science curriculum,
the use of Net Meeting to discuss the results
of investigation work within the college and
with students in other schools, the use of
video to develop a range of skills across
the science curriculum, the use of email to
support learning outside of normal school
hours and the possible use of internet radio
for lesson support at home. |
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Conclusion |
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Through my Gatsby project
I have developed a much better understanding
of the role of accelerated learning in the
science curriculum. I feel I now have a framework
to develop new resources around. The use of
platforms like Learnwise Publisher (Granada
Learning) is established at higher education
level but is not well developed in schools.
Therefore I eagerly await the findings of
the Learnwise trial being carried out by Granada
Learning with a number of Specialist Schools.
The purchasing or development of digital curriculum
content should form part of the ICT strand
within the school development plan. Within
the next few years, teachers will be spending
more time incorporating digital content into
their lessons. Collaborative groups from different
institutions could develop multimedia schemes
of work. GTEP could help to co-ordinate or
facilitate the work of such collaborative
groups. |
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References |
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Alistair Smith, Accelerated
Learning in the Classroom, Network Educational
Press, (4th Reprint 2000) |
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Derek Wise & Mark Lovatt, Creating
An Accelerated Learning School, Network
Educ. Press, (2000) |
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Ed. Mary Ratcliffe, ASE Guide to Secondary
Science Education, Stanley Thorne (1998)
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CLEAPSS, Student Safety Sheets, CLEAPSS
(2nd Edition 1997) |
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Resource Folder, GCSE Applied Science,
4Science (2002) |
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Pupil Researcher Initiative, Pupil
Research Briefs, Sheffield Hallam University
(1996) [now online.] |
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