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To develop resources for the effective teaching
of AS and A Level Chemistry
with interactive whiteboards that are freely
available to all teachers |
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School: Brighton Hove
and Sussex Sixth Form College, East
Sussex |
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Fellow: Sandra Clinton |
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Email: s.clinton@bhasvic.ac.uk |
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Final report: |
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Aims of the Project: |
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The aim of my fellowship was to develop
resources for the effective teaching of AS
and A Level Chemistry with interactive whiteboards
and to make these resources freely available
to all teachers. |
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Project Outline |
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The initial objectives of my project were: |
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To evaluate currently
available resources for suitability
and report the findings of this evaluation
in the form of a research paper in appropriate
journals. |
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To develop and fully evaluate a set
of bespoke resources for core AS/A Level
Chemistry Topics to be used with an
interactive whiteboard. |
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To write a website through which
these resources can be shared instantly
with colleagues including resources
and instructions for their adaptation. |
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To promote the resources through
teachers conferences such as The Association
for Science Education, BETT etc. |
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To produce a CD containing a copy
of the website to be made available
through teachers conferences. |
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Outcomes |
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My fellowship year has split into three
distinctive phases. In the initial phase I
gained the technical knowledge required for
the rest of the project and laid the foundations
for the year. This involved researching into
the nature of interactivity, evaluating currently
available resources and purchasing hardware
and software. I had an excellent two days
training on writing websites during which
I began to rapidly realise the need for the
development of high quality resources in order
to meet the needs of students used to interacting
with computer game style interfaces. I designed
a website with attention to detail to use
throughout the year in order to disseminate
my resources. |
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During the second phase I worked on intensive
resource development. Each resource was designed,
created, trialled with and evaluated by students,
and in some cases modified in the light of
student feedback. I continued to develop the
website adding resources, guidelines and presentations
suggesting how they can be used in practice.
Learning how to put together animated presentations
required a very steep learning curve with
a new piece of software. I gave a demonstration
of the resources to PGCE students at Sussex
University and continued to develop my ideas
about interactivity. I have made contact with
a former Gatsby fellow who is involved with
the Royal Society of Chemistry’s ChemIT
project. He looked at the website and resources
for me, gave very positive feedback on my
work and is going to link my website to the
RSC. |
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The final phase of my project has taken
place since Christmas. I have worked hard
on completing resources and trialling them
with students. I have been pleased to make
resources for all except one of the topics
identified; this amounts to twelve resources
each with guidelines and a demonstration animation.
The Royal Society of Chemistry has published
a letter from me about the project in the
May edition of Education in Chemistry. I am
hoping to receive feedback from teachers who
have used resources in the classroom over
the coming year. |
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This graph shows students responses
to evaluation forms. Each resource was evaluated
by a simple questionnaire. This shows that
in each area resources were evaluated overwhelmingly
as excellent or good. On discussion with students
it is increasingly apparent that they regard
interactivity in terms of the type of interface
they experience while using gaming software.
However, the sum of excellent and good responses
to questions about sustaining interest and
interactivity is 89% and 91% respectively
therefore meeting my initial objectives. |
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I have had debate with many colleagues over
the advantages of using interactive whiteboards
over LCD projectors in the classroom. Throughout
this project I have focussed on developing
computer resources that offer interactivity
through the influence of feedback on the students
input. Interactive whiteboards offer greatly
improved functionality over projectors as
they remove the need to be static behind a
computer keyboard. Groups of students can
work effectively at an interactive whiteboard
together by passing round pens etc. The resources
I have developed can be used with both LCD
projectors and IAWB’s but will facilitate
student learning far more readily through
the interactive interface as students can
highlight key terms, write on relationships
used, show methods for calculations etc. I
have seen real evidence in the classroom of
this process greatly enhancing student’s
conceptual understanding. |
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Promotion and dissemination of the resources
generated by my fellowship has been a slow
process. The number of visitors to the website
has increased fivefold since publication of
my letter to the RSC. I have distributed CD’s
of resources during the year via the PGCE
course at Sussex University, through colleagues
and during a Gatsby/RSC ICT training day.
By the end of June I will have sent a copy
of the website on CD to all the schools in
the local area that teach A Level Chemistry
and have made arrangements to continue working
with the Sussex PGCE course in the coming
academic year. I will continue to monitor
use of the website in the future. |
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Personal Development
I have relished the opportunity to carry out
academic research again and enjoyed renewing
contacts with Sussex University. Positive
relationships with my AS students developed
more quickly this academic year as they have
had input into the resources and felt part
of the project from the start of the year.
I have readdressed some of my practice in
the classroom and re-evaluated the needs of
my students in the light of a more intensive
focus on their conceptual understanding. |
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College Outcomes
It has been very apparent in course evaluation
forms this year that students have enjoyed
and gained a great deal from using the interactive
whiteboard. Several of the students have commented
on how much easier it has made understanding
difficult topics. ‘The equipment for
theory work i.e. interactive whiteboard is
very useful and engaging’, ‘Teacher
engages pupils in active learning through
whiteboard resources’. Having the financial
freedom to purchase items to aid my development
of resources has seen an improvement in the
quality ICT facilities we can offer our students.
These impacts will be long term and the resources
will be embedded into our curriculum for students
to use in the coming academic years. |
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Appendix |
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Images from the website
www.funeducation.co.uk |
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Images from Moles Formulae and Equations
Activity for AS Students |
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Sample guidelines for Moles Formulae
and Equations Activity |
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Sample student evaluation form |
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Summary sheet showing overall student
evaluations of resources |
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Images from www.funeducation.co.uk |
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Homepage |
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AS Resources main page |
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Images from Moles Formulae
and Equations Activity |
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Introductory Page |
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Value for Solution Volume
hidden enabling student calculation to be
carried out |
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Calculation Crazy |
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Aims |
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To help students practise
selecting the correct relationship to
use for mole conversions. |
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To build confidence in manipulation
and rearranging of simple formulae. |
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Prior Knowledge |
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Students will need to be able to convert
between: |
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Masses, RMM’s and
Moles |
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Concentration, Volumes and Moles
of Solutions |
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Moles and Volumes of Gases |
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How to use the spreadsheet |
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Select a value that you want students to
calculate from the boxes on the bottom right
hand corner of the screen. This will hide
the relevant value. (The spreadsheet then
recalculates all the data values so that the
answer cannot be copied down before it is
hidden). To check your answer select the tick
next to the relevant box. |
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This activity was trialled with whole class
groups of students. The first student to write
down the correct answer then came to the front
of the room and checked their work. The rest
of the class carried on working on the calculation.
Once they had obtained the right answer the
student that was first selected another value
for the group to calculate. |
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When closing the spreadsheet you will be
asked if you want to save changes, select
no at this stage. |
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Interactivity |
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This spreadsheet offers a vast amount of
interactivity through the generation and revealing
of answers to calculations. An infinite number
of calculations can be carried out and students
can check their own answers using the reveal
button. There is space on the spreadsheet
for calculations to be written on the board
if it is being used with an interactive whiteboard.
It may be useful to write the formulae used
for mole conversions onto the board while
initial practice is being carried out. |
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Adapting the resource |
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This resource is not suitable for adaptation
due to the complex nature of the macro’s
(small bits of program) used to run the spreadsheet.
It is not advisable to even alter colours
on the sheet as this can impact on other settings. |
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Sample student evaluation form |
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Overall student evaluations of resources |
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