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Take CONTROL at
Key Stage 3 |
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School:
The Ravenscroft School |
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Fellow: Catherine Atsiaris |
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Email: Cat503@hotmail.com |
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Interim report: |
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Overview |
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During my observations as
a secondary school teacher and as a TEP associate,
it became apparent that Design and Technology
teachers constantly need to meet changing
curricula requirements. This can be the subject
of curricula review or enforced requirements
brought about by government initiatives and
programmes. The inevitable work that ensues
can bring about a large commitment from subject
leaders in order to develop, along with their
departmental teams, new Schemes of Work and
activities to meet these needs. |
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It was also evident from spending
time on the TEP stand at the NEC, that teachers
need an almost “off the shelf solution” for
their curricula development and requirements. |
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The recent Key Stage 3 Curriculum
reform has affected all subjects and has at
last produced a coherent parallel, if not common
framework, which allows teachers and pupils
more freedom in achieving educational developments.
In Design and Technology, Systems and Control
is now an entitlement and it is with the above
points in mind that I concentrate my Gatsby
Project. |
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Aims and outline plan |
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The intended title for this project is “Take CONTROL at
Key Stage 3”. It aims to provide a
set of ready to use progressive activities
and resources for teaching Systems and Control
in years 7, 8 and 9 in line with the new
statutory requirements. |
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My plan is to develop the following: |
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Schemes
of work |
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An adaptable framework of lesson plans |
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Assessment for learning
(AFL) |
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Process video library
and linking these to web page resources |
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Practical activity |
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Actual and virtual industrial visits |
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Industrial engagement
and other possibilities as they emerge/develop |
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Dissemination |
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Evaluation |
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Timeline and Plan of Action |
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| July/August 2007 |
Determine the direction and create ideas
for year 7 and 8 projects. |
| September/October 2007 |
Design Scheme of Work and lesson plans
for year 7 and 8 projects. |
| November/December 2007 |
Attend D&T show at the NEC, Design
Year 9 project. |
| January/February 2008 |
Take video material of processes used
in the projects and design a webpage
for it. |
| March/April 2008 |
Test year 9 project in school as part
of an electronics after school club and
evaluate. |
| May/June 2008 |
Final conclusions and all material
assembled. |
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What I have achieved and discovered
so far |
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It should be noted that through discussion
with my mentors and my own personal reflections
and requirements, that the original title
and aims of my project have changed. The
difficulty in interpreting a daily changing
engineering diploma state and platform in
the summer of 2007 led to an insecurity of
development, hence the need for change of
direction. |
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In deciding upon a new direction, I looked
closely at the new National Curriculum and
noted that Systems and Control plays a larger
role. I thought this would be an ideal opportunity
to create some material to make it easier for
inexperienced schools to introduce Electronics
and Systems and Control to their departments.
I have developed Schemes of Work and lesson plans for year 7 and year 8; these
are called ‘Push Penny’ and ‘Colour Cube’. |
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As Electronics was a distant memory in the
school I work at, this became an ideal opportunity
to introduce these basic Systems and Control
to pupils in my school.
I work in a mixed comprehensive with 57% A*-C with around 50% SEN. We are a Technology
College but it was very important to the department to keep the projects on a
low budget and differentiated to suit those with low ability. |
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I requested to teach all of KS3 last
summer so that I could get the opportunity
to test these projects. For year 7 I
created an electronic version of the ‘Push
Penny’ game. The aim is to push
a penny down the ramp and position it
in between the two metal screws at the
bottom. If successful, the LED will light
up. Pupils can then compete with each
other to see who can get the most goals
within an agreed amount of time. |
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Year
8 project is a type of night-light. To
show progression from the year 7 project,
I designed this one using a parallel
circuit and 4 LEDs.
This one is well received by pupils and
staff alike as it has a tremendous glow
because of the live edge acrylic. I have
also filled the cube with glass beads and
crystals which help deflect the light. |
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Both projects have already assisted my
department in moving forward and enjoying
curricula change. Indeed, there has been
a desire for Electronics/Systems and Control
to be reintroduced into lessons and pupils
have all heard about the projects and look
forward to experiencing them through my teaching,
which is a good early indication of their
impact on teaching and learning. |
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The Schemes of Work and lesson that I have
created, alongside the projects, are particularly
suited to my departmental requirements and
I have started work on making them more generic
and therefore easily adaptable by other teachers
based on their needs. |
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I used some of the Gatsby fund to finance
a day off to attend the D&T show at the
NEC. It was a valuable part of my research
and I was able to explore all the stands and
gather information and ideas. I also quizzed
some teachers and discovered that what most
wanted were ready-made cheap projects to introduce
into schools. |
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I also plan to spend some of the Gatsby fund
on editing software, a digital camcorder to
video industrial processes which I will use
to help with the teaching of the projects,
and days off to attend relevant courses. |
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Outlining next steps: |
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My next steps will be to start developing
the process videos. I need to purchase a
digital camcorder and appropriate editing
software to do this. When teaching, I found
it difficult to demonstrate some parts of
the activity in a way that all pupils could
clearly understand, especially when soldering.
I plan to video these activities and project
them on the interactive whiteboard to support
my teaching. |
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I also want to link these video clips with
web page front end. The aim here is to develop
a range of clips that can be dragged and dropped
into existing and newly developed Schemes of
Work. This would be useful for pupils to access,
especially if they missed a lesson or need
to be reminded of demonstrations again. This
saves the teacher an immense amount of time
and allows them to assist the rest of the class
instead of helping others to catch up. |
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I am viewing year 9 as a major development
activity. This is the turning point for many
pupils and I feel they should be given the
best opportunity to make informed choices before
entering GCSE or a 14-19 route. I have some
early ideas but these will develop and emerge
in the early part of 2008. |
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Assessment for Learning (AFL) is a strategic
and very important part of pupil learning as
it involves using assessment effectively in
the classroom to raise students’ achievement,
motivation and self esteem. I would like to
develop my projects with this in sight and
perhaps work with another Gatsby Fellow to
take this forward. |
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Evaluation |
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I will evaluate the success of this project through the following criteria: |
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Departmental review |
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Pupil evaluations and pupil voice |
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Level of achievement
and NC levels |
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Parental questionnaire |
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Industrialist evaluations |
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Dissemination through
school website and other sites |
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Other teachers in other
schools through the mini forum |
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My own reflections |
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I am pleased with my progress so far and look forward to the next stages of the project. I hope it will be a great resource for teachers and staff alike in pushing forward effective ways of Systems and Control in Design and Technology. |
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