| DIMENSIONS OF FLEXIBILITY IN A BLOCK COURSE. | |||||||||
| KEY COMPONENTS. | NON FLEXIBLE | FLEXIBLE | |||||||
| TIME | CONSTRAINED TO 10 DAYS | ||||||||
| CONTENT | UNIT STANDARD BASED | ||||||||
| PACE | WE OPERATE UNDER A TIMEFRAME BUT ARE FLEXIBLE IN OUR DELIVERY. | ||||||||
| ASSESSMENTS | THEY HAVE TO BE | ||||||||
| COMPLETED. | |||||||||
| PRACTICAL | THEY HAVE TO BE FLEXIBLE WITH EACH STUDENTS CAPABILITIES. | ||||||||
| TECHNOLOGY | THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY IS USED IN MACHINING AND WELDING, | ||||||||
| AS WELL AS USING TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS BEEN USED IN INDUSTRY FOR A WHILE. | |||||||||
| SPACE | CLASSROOMS AND DIFFERENT WORKSHOPS ARE USED. | ||||||||
| STAFF | DIFFERENT STAFF USED FOR DIFFERENT CLASSES. | ||||||||
Sunday 29 April 2012
Dimensions of flexibility in a block course.
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Nick this is a good overview. What would be good to see next is how you can introduce some new approaches under some of these areas. For example, even though the content is unit standard-based how could it be presented differently? For example, could students use inquiry to obtain some of the content rather than just relying on a standard textbook, or work in groups to explore materials relevant to the topics.
ReplyDeleteYou say the pace is flexible but don't say how so that would be interesting to hear about. Also, the assessments - how could these be changed to be more flexible yet stay within the constraints of NZQA? I look forward to hearing more.
If we look at the timefame and how we are flexible is by splitting the guys into small groups.One group could be say levelling a machine, the other could be aligning a pulley on a motor, the other group could be altering the backlash on a machine.All the students have to complete these tasks under the same umbrella so we find that splitting them up and going from one task to the next indeed makes it more flexible in our timeframe because they complete each task quicker in smaller groups.
ReplyDeleteWe also do encourage the students to explore more materials than the standard book.When on a block course they have a workbook with study notes and then have assessments at the end of each segment.We encourage the guys to use other mediums say the internet to elaborate more if they are perplexed with some of the ambigiuous questions. We are after all marking their answers and we find that the more they use different mediums to find their answers then the more they will understand what is being asked of them.We also try to present some theory in a practical sense by useing a workshop setting on say fitting a mechanical seal and then applying the theory when they answer in a written form this flexibility gives the student the options of doing and then writing their answers in their assessments.