Delivery
Tim working on his wind generator
Steve took a different approach to some in 2006, by getting the students to find an area in which they were interested in developing a product. In Year 12 they were given a choice of two broad contexts to work in – Leisure Time or Personal Transport – both of which tend to motivate boys. Year 13 students were free to choose their own context. Steve didn't show them any achievement standards until about halfway through the first term, and says theylooked at these only briefly as he didn't want to "clog up" their minds – "it's basically all about creativity at the beginning of the year." He notes that he did talk to the students a lot about trusting that good practice would allow them to succeed
The beginning of the year was very much about students finding an idea that they could run with. Having decided on their area of interest, they needed to find something they saw as a possible product opportunity. Steve then went through a screening system with each student to try and work out whether or not this was something that would allow them to produce a suitable project. Once they'd agreed that it was a worthwhile project to pursue the students needed to find a design client.
Steve Ronowicz: "A lot of pushes for Technology education are economy-based, for example – government initiatives to make the New Zealand economy more productive. But at the end of the day we need to bear in mind that it is also clearly about making socially and environmentally responsible, technologically literate people. So in this class we're always asking those questions – 'That's a great idea, but should we be actually making that sort of product?"
Steve comments that this might seem a bit back to front but that the reality is that there aren't many genuine design/industrial clients actually available for the students. "If we're not careful, businesses are going to end up running for cover if hit on all the time. Students are guided to find people in the comunity who have a vested interest and who are happy to be their design clients. They're encouraged to identify people with the knowledge and skills they require to develop their product."
During this time and throughout the year class discussion would explore the economic and environmental impact of a range of technological innovations, and how they might affect a technologist's decision making.
A student and his stabilised ladder
Steve talked to the class about his own product development, in which he had identified an opportunity to develop an alarm system for boats, with the potential to avoid significant damage or sinking. The alarm would warn if the bung hadn't been screwed in when the boat was on the water and also if the outboard or stern legs hadn't been lifted, prior to putting the boat on the trailer. This product is 'on hold' at the moment.
Steve says he likes to keep it 'real' and doesn't want students doing things just for the sake of assessment. They need to have a valid argument for why they need to go and talk to a particular person, rather than just meeting the requirements of the standard. It can be hard at times to ensure students are going out and getting valuable information.
Students arrived in the workshop "like a tornado" – they were right into it. Steve comments that while some may have dragged their feet a little in the last term, because it had been a very long unit, work ethic had not been a problem during the year.
Steve Ronowicz: "I tend to teach a lot for the first half of the year then swap the steering wheel over to them at the end of term 2 and become more of a facilitator."
Most periods the students would just come in and get their work out, enabling Steve to go around and spend time with each of them individually, giving them a hand or teaching specific skills.
