Tuesday, August 30, 2016

NCEA Level 2 DVC Inquiry Focus - Starting Point

The main focus for my ongoing teacher inquiry is the Year 12 group doing Level 2 NCEA Design and Visual Communication. (DVC)

This post is focussing on the starting point at the beginning of the year in March.

Here is the link to the doc with this information on it.


Inquiring into my teaching.  Teacher: Karen Ferguson     Group: Level 2 DVC Department: Technology - Design and Visual Communication School: Tamaki College         Date: March 2016

Scanning:
What does the data say?  Who are our target learners? What do we know about them contextually, socially etc?  
What are our learners saying? What can they do?  How do we know?

Level 2 DVC - 19 students

These results are one of the reasons why I have chosen the level 2 group to be the focus of my inquiry this year.
Of the 19 students who are doing  Level 2 DVC this year, only 4 of them did Level 1 DVC last year.
5 of these students are in this class due to it being the only thing on the timetable that they felt they could choose at the time, so it was not a conscious choice to do DVC as a subject.





Focusing:
What does “achievement” at this level look like?  
What aspect of their learning should the change in my teaching focus on?  How will we know they are on track?

We  need to break down the specific requirements of each standard to make sure we are covering everything to the required level. This will give students the opportunities to work at a higher level.

The focus needs to be on deeper thinking with their research and designing phases of the projects. This will enable them to achieve at higher levels. SOLO taxonomy structure will be key to this.

Checking:
How will we ensure quality teaching practice as a result of our inquiry?

I will use SOLO to support and structure the planning of my Level 2 course.

How will I monitor the progress of the target learners?



What is happening?  How do we know?

Developing a hunch:
What are our hunches about what has happened for our learners?
How can we check our assumptions?
How is my programme/lesson planning and delivery contributing both positively and negatively to my learners’ progress?

  • Having to be taught with Level 1 and Level 3 students in mixed level classes means that the Level 2 students are not getting the attention that they need in the lesson.
  • There is a large proportion of the Level 2 group that have not done DVC at Level 1 so they need do a lot of skills catch up.
  • I need to start building the Level 2 course on the class site so that it gives the students the support that they need when they can not get face to face time with me.
Taking action:-
So what action (strategies or practices) will be taken (SMART goal)?  What will we focus on in our cycle of inquiry?

Ongoing support with project work ...

Specific - Organise the class google site so that there are screencasts and videos of how to’s and skills to support the students when they can’t get face to face time with me.
Measurable - Ask the students in the form of specific questions on a google form that can be repeated at intervals over the year to see if there is any change. Sticking rigidly to deadlines throughout the year to ensure that the students have the opportunity to cover all the work for the standards / credits offered.
Achievable - realistic time scales for project work over the year in the form of deadlines and ongoing support in terms of examples so they know what they are aiming for.
Realistic - working with the students on their project work - having examples ready for them to see, both done by me and other examples. Doing the work at the same time as the students, with them, so they can see it being done in real time and can see that it is doable.
Time frame - ongoing till the end of term 3.
New learning:
What theory or research informs our learning as teachers?

Here is the basic group information as of the start of the year.

EthnicityLevel 1 CreditsLit / Num
1Maori22No / No
2CI Maori77Yes / Yes
3Maori58Yes / Yes
4Tongan67Yes / Yes
5Samoan111Yes / Yes
6Maori47No / Yes
7CI Maori31No / Yes
8Niuean59Yes / Yes
9CI Maori80Yes / Yes
10Tongan120Yes / Yes
11Maori71Yes / Yes
12Maori72Yes / Yes
13Tongan101Yes / Yes
14CI Maori91Yes / Yes
15Samoan48Yes / Yes
16Maori70Yes / Yes
17Niuean28No / Yes
18Maori56Yes / Yes
19Maori56No / Yes

I sent out a Google Form to get some student voice at the start of the year.


Here are the results from last year to give a comparison.

Internals ...

 

Externals ...

 

Here is the tracking sheet used over the year to keep check of where they are up to.
(the names and assessment sheets have been removed from this sheet )

Site LinksAssessmentAS91342AssessmentAS91356AssessmentAS91341Totals
1NA
2Site LinkMAA15
3Site LinkAEntEnt3
4Site LinkAEntEntEnt3
5Site LinkMMAEnt15
6Site LinkAEntEnt3
7Site LinkAEntEnt3
8Site LinkAEntEnt3
9Site LinkAAAEnt15
10Site LinkMAAEnt15
11Site LinkAEntEntEnt3
12Site LinkMAAEnt15
13Site LinkA3
14Site LinkA3
15NA
16AAEnt12
LampLampShipping Container
666