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Proposal
for implementation of ‘Datalogging at
Keystage 3’ project |
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School: Ivanhoe College |
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Fellow: Beverley Ashe |
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Email: bev_ashe@hotmail.com |
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Interim Report |
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The Project I have undertaken
this year had three main aims. These were: |
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To update from using BBC
computers to a PC based system, with
subsequent upgrading of teacher skills. |
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To look at longer-term
investigations using the i-buttons and
pulse monitor. |
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To look at using the datalogging equipment
to develop cross-curricular links, particularly
with PE and Geography. |
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The first aim involved using
the Gatsby money to buy two dataloggers, sensors
and software to up-grade to a PC based system.
We chose Logit Datameters and Insight software,
as these are the systems in use at the Upper
School that the majority of our students transfer
at the end of Year 9. We already had some
datalogging in place, using BBC computers
(from the early ‘80s), so we bought
sensors to continue this work. We also looked
at the QCA Scheme of Work on which our course
is based and bought those sensors we felt
would be most useful to us. Through the Laptops
for Teachers Scheme, I was provided with a
laptop to help with this work. |
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Phase 1 - Familiarisation |
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Initially, I began by familiarising myself
with the sensors and software, and then had
an afternoon of Inset with the Head of Department
and the Senior Technician. Basically by playing
with the equipment and exploring the software,
we found that after two hours all three of
us felt reasonably confident about using and
manipulating the sensing part of the software
package. |
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Phase 2 – Curriculum and staff
development |
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Following on from this, I began to develop
the use of the dataloggers to continue, and
extend, the range of datalogging used to support
student practical work. I decided to write
a complete lesson plan for each example. The
lesson plan should include starters and plenaries,
worksheets where necessary, highlight assessment
opportunities and have links to Literacy and
Numeracy. This took a long time as I was determined
to get the plan to an acceptable standard
before writing up other lessons. I had a lot
of help with this from Sandra Amos, but also
used the first lesson as a discussion document
for the department, and asked our Science
Strategy Consultant for her views before I
put the lesson plan into place. |
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At the same time as I was writing this,
I set up two afternoon training sessions for
the other members of the department. This
was not as successful as I had hoped. I was
fired with enthusiasm about my project and
I expected everyone else to be the same. The
reality was, and in some cases still is, that
there are other priorities that take peoples
time and attention. This is an issue I have
continued to address throughout the year. |
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Meanwhile, having established how I wanted
to write up the lessons, I was working through
Year 7 and 8 topics, re-writing existing lessons
and adding lessons where appropriate. At the
end of Unit 8I (Heating & Cooling), I
gave a questionnaire to my Year 8 Set 0 (some
of our most able students) to ask what they
thought. They generally agreed that the work
was interesting and had helped their understanding.
Their two main criticisms were that we had
to do everything by demonstration (they wanted
to try it for themselves – a fair comment)
and that using the laptop restricted their
access to the information due to the small
screen. We do not have interactive white boards
or portable data projectors, so I am investigating
ways of transferring the screen either to
a monitor or TV screen, and hope to have this
in place for next year. |
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Comparing my group to a parallel group that
had done the same course, but using the old
BBC equipment, showed little difference in
understanding or recall. In retrospect I wish
I had asked about how interesting they found
it – I hope mine found the newer equipment
more exciting. I would like to move this on
by having enough equipment to put it into
the hands of students, as I am sure this would
help to develop their understanding further. |
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Initially, I had planned to
introduce and develop the datalogging to one
Year Group at a time, but it has developed
in a much more organic way as I have moved
through the curriculum. This has seemed a
much more logical approach than a rigid plan.
I have liased with the Upper School with regard
to the practicals we carry out, as I wished
to minimise overlap to prevent students repeating
work unnecessarily. Their response is that
as long as students are being introduced to
datalogging they are happy, and will deal
with any issues that arise when needed. |
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I have carried out two of the three longer-term
investigations that I planned to do. Using
the Pulse Monitor to investigate fitness went
well. Realistically it needs to be done over
a longer time scale than I suggested, and
more intensive cardio-vascular exercise needs
to be included. With the current debate on
obesity, this is an area I would like to work
on further next year. I think it could certainly
motivate students to have such a visual response
to their fitness levels. |
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Using the i-buttons to investigate germination
also went well. The main problem I had here
was not really thinking ahead. I set the i-button
to take the temperature every hour. I didn’t
multiply that by 24 hours and 35 days. This
gives you 840 readings on each i-button, which
is a ludicrous amount of data to handle. The
longest timescale you can set between readings
is four hours. Even then, you would get 140
readings. I would like to see if you could
take them on a daily basis, as the large amount
of data is too much for students to work with.
It may be that the software has been further
developed since we got our i-buttons, but
I have not had time to investigate this. |
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The third investigation into wildlife in
the School Pond had to be put on hold. The
pond has developed a tear in the lining and
so is not full. Also, due to lack of routine
maintenance, there has been a build up of
dead leaves in the water. This has significantly
reduced the variety of animals present as
decaying leaves reduce the oxygen content
of the water. Hopefully, we can resolve the
problems in the autumn, and can carry out
the investigation next year. |
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The development of Cross-curricular work
has gone ahead. I strongly believe in students
appreciating that subjects don’t exist
in closed boxes, and hope that they will appreciate
they can develop transferable skills. |
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The AST in the PE Department has embraced
the use of the Pulse Monitor, and has integrated
it into fitness work in Year 7. She is involved
in the ITT work at Loughborough University
and so has used the Pulse Monitor in her work
with ITT students. It is possible that funds
will be forthcoming to purchase equipment
for this work in school, as ITT students will
benefit. Interestingly, she has had the same
problems as I have getting other members of
her department to find time to learn new skills.
In order to facilitate this, and for the work
with students from Loughborough, I have written
a booklet explaining how to use the Pulse
Monitor. I was reluctant to do this for Science
as there are a number of Sensors and I felt
it would be too complex, but for single sensor
use it seems more appropriate. This will be
in use from the autumn in her Department and
in her work at Loughborough University. It
is also on the CD-ROM, as it may find uses
in other schools. |
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With the Geography Department we have begun
to investigate the use of the i-button for
their work on microclimates. We have carried
out a log over a 7-day period with the i-buttons
fairly close together, but on different faces
of a building. One was on the north face,
and one on the eastern face, where it would
catch the morning sun. This has given us some
interesting results, which the department
is keen to follow up. Another issue I have
with the i-button software is that I can’t
work out if it is possible to place two sets
of results onto a graph to compare the data
directly. I have transferred the data into
Excel, and graphed it from there but it would
be useful to cut out that step, and certainly
easier for direct work with students if that
were a single step, rather than a series. |
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Phase 3 – Support materials |
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As the year is reaching its’ end,
I have now written up all the lessons to the
plan I established at the start of the year.
This now forms a Departmental Handbook on
Datalogging, to which all teachers and ITT
Students will be able to refer. This is a
large document, and will be available on CD-ROM
at the Gatsby Seminar in June. It will also
be sent to Laurence Rogers, who is the author
of the Insight programme and is based in the
Education Department at Leicester University.
He was kind enough to come into School and
give me some help at the start of the project.
He has asked for a copy of the lesson plans,
so I am hopeful his ITT students will use
them. I would also like to ask him about the
possibilities of publishing the handbook,
as he will have useful contacts, I am sure. |
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I have also forged links with a Head of
Department in Wensleydale, following a meeting
at the Royal Society about the new Science
Learning Centres. He was having trouble as
a young Head of Department getting his staff
to adopt new practices, so he has taken some
of the lesson plans to try. I am awaiting
his response to them, and hope he will also
be keen to have a copy of the complete set
of lessons. |
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Future Plans |
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One aim was to try to get the Logit Datameters/Insight
to completely replace the BBC equipment, but
I am still struggling to get people to change.
I understand that time is an issue, most people
in the Department have other responsibilities,
which take up their time. We have used a session
of disaggregated time to further explore the
equipment, and I feel the balance is turning
in its favour, but we do still have some way
to go. I have also done some one to one work
with people, and this has been more successful.
The problem is that people go for familiarity
when they are under pressure, and so return
to their established patterns. I can’t
take the pressure away. It was suggested to
me that I throw away the BBC’s but I
think I might not be too popular if I do that!
Also, we are still struggling to replicate
exactly the experiment in the classroom to
measure the speed of sound. This works really
well with the BBC, but cannot be done in the
same way with the Insight software. When I
asked Laurence Rogers about this, he admitted
he still uses an Acorn so I do feel I have
identified a need – though I don’t
know how to resolve the issue. |
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This interim report is a brief account of
all that I have done this year. It will be
further illustrated by the Final Report, due
in July and by the Resources which will be
available on the CD-ROM at the Gatsby Seminar. |
