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To
assess the success of existing materials in
aiding the transfer to A Level Chemistry |
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School: Rawlins School
and Community College |
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Fellow: Jack Edwards |
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Email: not available |
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My original submission outlined
my intention to use MSWord as a vehicle for
my work as most schools use it. However it
soon became clear that MSWord was not suitable.
First, schools use different versions and,
second, experiments showed the material was
bland, slow and lacked the interactivity that
students demand when using computers. My IT
colleagues made various suggestions; MSPowerPoint,
MSPublisher etc, and I spent some time exploring
theses only to find them equally unsuitable.
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Finally I concluded that a
web-page format provided the features required;
colour, variety, interactivity and universality
and I spent most of the summer learning to
use MSFrontPage – a web design package.
I started my experiments at Easter 2002; this
early start has enabled me to stay within
my original timetable.Testing materials has
taken place at various points throughout the
year but this has proved difficult and time
consuming. Students at two schools other than
my own were involved. The reliance on other
teachers meant that feedback was slow. However
students were largely appreciative of the
approach. |
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My project material has benefitted
from the generosity of other talented people.
Carnegie Melon University , Pittsburgh gave
me permission to use their version of the
periodic table. The RSC and their authors
allowed me to use programming used in “Alchemy?”
to produce the self-marking multiple-choice
tests. In addition I purchased a licence to
allow me to use software from “Half
Baked Potatoes” to produce word quizzes.
All these are acknowledged in the project.
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In common with commercially
produced materials and materials on the web
it has been necessary to write copyright notices
and disclaimer statements. No information
was available from the foundation so I used
other materials as a basis for my statements.
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The original specification
for the submission of projects says “You
should….. indicate how you will effectively
disseminate the outcomes.” Obtaining
guidance on the scope of dissemination required
proved difficult; does it mean to local schools,
current Gatsby fellows or nation-wide? Domestic
computers allow small numbers of CD copies
to be made but larger distribution would need
a commercial operation. I felt it was necessary
to produce some packaging for my CD materials
to carry a short “blurb”, system
requirements, instructions, copyright notices
and disclaimer statements. Again if a wider
distribution is required a commercial design
and printing operation might be used. After
discussions with Sandra Amos , our mentor,
we decided that I was responsible for a limited
distribution. If wider distribution were required
on a limited budget I would write to heads
of departments in schools, contact county
science advisers and VESA groups. |
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I am still on target to complete
the project and have my materials available
in schools for use at the start of the next
academic year. |
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Jack Edwards - Summary of
Project, January 2003 |
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Introduction. |
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Since the introduction of AS/A2
courses it has become more evident that students
come to advanced Chemistry courses from a
more diverse background from students who
started on courses in the past. In conventional
schools students start from double science
or triple science backgrounds, at both higher
and foundation levels. In sixth form colleges
since students come can from a number of schools
their disparate backgrounds can be much more
of a problem. |
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In previous times students
embarked upon A level courses with clear aims
of completing the course and using it as a
basis for university applications. Students
can now take a much wider range of courses
in year 12, for a variety of reasons, and
move on to other courses in year 13. |
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Coupled with these influences
are the facts that students start AS courses
after a 3-month break from GCSE's and the
pressure departments are under to develop
supported self-study materials. |
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For all these reasons it is
clear that in many schools students are embarking
on AS courses that are not as well equipped
or as motivated as students in the past. My
project is aimed at these students. |
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The project |
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The project is to develop learning
and/or revision material that uses computer
technology to deliver it. The materials are
also to provide a taste of the content of
AS chemistry and be challenging. The working
title is "Advanced Chemistry - Starter
Kit". |
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The "Starter Kit"
is in the form of a web site that will run
on a stand-alone computer or on a network
in a school. It consists of over 100 pages.
The "Starter Kit" is divided into
5 sections each consisting of text covering
the basic concepts needed by the AS chemistry
course. The sections are inter-spaced by questions
designed to test the concepts in the text.
Each question has multiple responses so that
incorrect answers are examined and re-tested
and correct answers are reinforced. At the
end of each section is a multiple-choice test,
which is marked by the application and a "fun"
word quiz. The questions and answers in the
text are available in MSWord and Adobe, pdf
format at the end of each section. |
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Links to other sources of
information and web-sites will be provided.
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Progress |
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After several false starts
progress has been good. A comprehensive draft
is currently under trial in 3 schools (approx.
150 students). Once reactions have been fed
back modifications will be made and finishing
touches added before final testing with current
year 11 students in the spring term. |
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The project will be completed
and distributed to schools in time for use
at the start of the next academic year. |
