May 12 2009
What might a “report” for a CfE outcome look like?
So what might we consider to be evidence of achieving a Curriculum for Excellence outcome? I’ve been working on one of these with a lower ability S2 science class. The outcome we explored was
I can use my knowledge of the basic needs of humans, and the bodies of our solar system, to put together a reasoned report on whether we can colonise space.
I like the way this ties together aspects of physics and biology. A lot of people out there have this idea that physics and chemistry go well, as do chemistry and biology. How many people have experienced the intersection of physics and biology though? I understand this gap a little as I used to work as principal engineer in a biophotonics instrumentation company developing laser-based laboratory equipment for protein analysis in the drug development sector. When I attended meetings, I was amazed to see so many presentations from researchers who were using biology and physics to solve their problems.
As I mentioned in another post, my class have researched the bodies of the solar system. They then reviewed their prior learning on the gases in the air, respiration and photosynthesis to make an informed choice of potential colony – they decided on Mars. Our timing was spot on, as we were able to follow the European Space Agency’s Mars500 project, looking at the potential effects of long term isolation on astronauts travelling to Mars.
For a lower set, writing a report was a daunting prospect. So we threw out that idea and I took them to the library and introduced them to Animoto, GoAnimate and Glogster. Once we got round initial problems of web filtering, pupils experimented with all 3 and unanimously agreed to work with Animoto. I applied for, and received, a free education all-access pass from the Animoto folks for 6 months. Without this, their films were limited to 30 seconds.
I’ve attached one of the short films they produced to this post. Are these clips evidence of achieving an outcome? I feel that they are at least part of the way. One of the things I like about them is that there is not a powerpoint presentation in sight. My concern when I hear people around the school talking about implementing CfE is that too many of the outcomes might be assessed by the quality of a powerpoint presentation to the rest of the class. If nothing else, I hope I have shown this class a different way of structuring and showing information.
Oh, did I mention that they had fun doing it?
Excellent – having heard so much more about the details of this project it is great to see the outcome.
It’s not rocket science so they say!
The whole arrangement of this task met what I consider to be the CfE experience. The move away from traditional formative assessment is a big leap for all of us. This is individual, creative and fun.
It might not be as difficult as we thought……??
Superb! Would love to do something like this with some pupils towards the end of term – 6 long weeks to fill as timetable doesn’t change til august & have finished S2 course.
How did the pupils find working with animoto? how difficult was it to get access through filtering? how much time did they spend working on their information prior to putting hte video together? what about time to get the video made?
@Drew
I gave the class 3 weeks before the Easter break to do their research. They worked in pairs to find out about their planet (we included pluto, and all the planetary moons we could find data on) – easily enough to split between 20 pupils.
The Mars500 activity was designed to give an impression of travel conditions in a “pre-warp” society and was brought in at end of lessons. Start of each lesson we heard from each group about their progress the day before. By sharing, they were able to make an informed choice of location for a potential colony.
In the 3 weeks after Easter, we spent 2 periods (50 mins each) in the library learning how to use Animoto. Our ICT technician is very helpful and unblocked the site (http & https!) for us.
They had 4 periods learning how to use animoto and creating short (30s) clips before we got the code through, then some pupils were able to get a video together in one period this week, while others needed the two periods to complete the task.
Animoto is very easy to use. If you think you will want an education temp pass, request it in advance as it can’t be applied retrospectively to accounts – you will need to reregister with different email address, etc – a real nuisance!
[...] of year when people start wondering what to do with S2. I’ve mentioned this issue here and here in earlier posts. Last year I looked at a space-related CfE outcome with S2. I was going to [...]