Outcomes
Vince Brannigan:
"Because the students had so much one-on-one and so much help from the Victoria student mentors, students got quite challenging projects done and functioning so well. This was a great bonus to students as every one of them gained something from their interaction with the mentors. This, and the use of industry mentors such as Scott Abernethy, has been a major factor in the increased number of students we are seeing opting for technology-related tertiary studies."
Working with 'real customers' motivated students, improved the quality of the outcomes and raised awareness amongst the students of the opportunities available within the Technology sector.
We generally do a major software project each year. Within each year's project there are a number of things identified for the students to learn, but, because of the nature of the projects and the need to meet individual requirements, they always end up learning more. Even in Year 11 now, the projects are quite large. Which is why it's important to teach students to plan their work and break it down into smaller, achievable chunks.
Vince says that a key outcome for students this year has been learning this lesson: do your planning and work out what you can and can't achieve in a year's work. "That's something all students, whether they've achieved or not, have learnt: that you can't just jump in to a project, you have to plan things first," says Vince. "And maybe when they go to university they will take that focussed attitude with them."
As with the previous year's class, a number of the 2006 Year 13 students went on to university and to pursue ICT-related careers! Their contact with the Victoria University mentors has made them realise that ICT at university is a realistic option and something they could do themselves.
Vince Brannigan:
"It's interesting. Last year we did client work with the Year 12s and 13s. This year its been the Year 11s as well, and when you look at the visual diaries of the Year 11s you can see they have a very good idea of what's required. They seem to be much more open to the Assessments Standards based environment. I'm looking forward to this new lot as they move through the levels to see what they do at Year 13."
Vince also has an ongoing dialogue with both Massey and Victoria Universities to work out ways to accommodate student transition into first year computing courses. This has resulted in some students being exempt papers based on their portfolio of work.
He also keeps in contact with other ICT teachers at schools outside the Wellington Beacon cluster, including Rongotai and Onslow. "A concern that teachers have is that a technology approach to teaching ICT may lead to students not gaining ICT specific skills, and also that students with excellent skills may fail because of poor documentation of their Technological Practice."
"However, with the right balance and focus, I've found that delivering ICT through Technological Practice does not necessarily reduce skill levels. Proof of this is the continuing success of our senior students in external skill-based competitions, with, in 2006, our two teams gaining third and fourth places in the School Team NZ Computer Society Programming Competition, a student gaining a place on the International Olympiad in Informatics New Zealand Team and a Royal Society Silver Crest Award for another student's work."
Year 13 Information Science students covered most of the material required to sit the Waikato University Computer Science Scholarship Examination by the end of week four in term 2.
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