Outcomes
In the first project the aim is to teach the students relevant process skills relating to identifying a client issue and interacting effectively with the client. In their next project they can then more easily select a specific client and identify a genuine issue. Over the rest of the year they are able to confidently use these process skills and enable the classroom teaching to re-focus on required advanced practical skills.
While Jeff found that his 2005 students still had some difficulty in selecting their client for their second project, in 2006 the class was much more confident in picking the client and sorting out the questions to ask to identify and clarify an issue.
The students clearly saw the value of having an external client and the need to be accountable to that client. They quickly realised that their outcomes had to be of a standard that would meet the client expectations and took genuine pride in the presentation of a high quality outcome.
"They're working for a common client and each one of them is accountable to that client, so they're not just fudging things to suit themselves. This year, when students said 'I'm not too sure how to do that,' I just said 'Well how did you do it in Term 1?'. And they'd go off and do it." Jeff
Feedback from the client was very positive and reflected the effort that Jeff had put into the planning of both the initial and ongoing interaction. Specific positive comment was made about student motivation, the detail in the presentations, the relevance of the issues identified and the level of innovation in the solutions proposed.
"A number of boys were regular visitors to the shop to measure, take more photos, and study our manufacturing processes," says Edges Framing Consultant Suzi Merson. "Some of the concepts they've come up with are amazing and I'm looking forward to going through them in more detail"
Jeff was impressed with the way the class dealt with the client situation. "You can't help but be a bit apprehensive when they're out there representing the school," he says, "but I was very proud of the way they did it. Some had a few weaknesses but it was the start of the year and their first time at working with a client - but they all came up with feasible solutions for the issues they had identified."
With more effective interaction with the client, the students' documentation was less constrained and had considerably more stakeholder input than in the past.
The range of solutions to client issues identified for the second project included the development of:
- a front counter desk for the office of a local 'Backpacker' establishment;
- a specialist storage unit for a local computer company;
- a seating unit to allow workers to relax on a local farm during meal breaks;
- a rotary stand to display goods at a local shoe shop;
- an attachment for an uncle's quad bike which allows specific equipment to be carried around his farm more easily;
- a trailer to carry foliage for a local company;
- an all terrain trolley for a local plumber to use when working under a house.
