It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a ne…(more)
Oct
7
Looking Forward
Submitted by Ross Parker (ICHK) on Wed, 07/10/2009 - 09:02
Over the past 3 months I have learned a lot about teaching. However, there are still areas I can improve. What will I focus on in the coming months?
Oct
6
Assessment
Submitted by Ross Parker (ICHK) on Tue, 06/10/2009 - 07:27
Thus far, my student assessments have been relatively unsophisticated, relying mostly on written tasks. As I being my teaching practice, I will look for new, more imaginative ways to assess student prior knowledge and learning. This desire has been prompted by course-related work undertaken in regards to assessment.
Oct
6
Computing 2X Portfolio Contents
Submitted by Ross Parker (ICHK) on Tue, 06/10/2009 - 07:05
Welcome to my Computing 2X Portfolio, which outlines my learning in relation to programming and teaching the HSC Information Processes and Technology (IPT) course. Use the links below to navigate to particular portfolio entries. Feel free to leave comments and feedback against any of the articles.
Oct
6
Project Development
Submitted by Ross Parker (ICHK) on Tue, 06/10/2009 - 07:04
As part of our on-going learning, we were asked to develop a project that could be used as a unit of work under the Stage 6 Preliminary course. By applying the principals of Backwards Design and Project Based Learning, I built up the outline of a project from the syllabus documents, and then worked to create the details. The outline currently does not include lesson plans, but these could be developed from the task outlines created. The work so far is contained in the attachment below:
Sep
19
Assignment 1
Submitted by Ross Parker (ICHK) on Sat, 19/09/2009 - 16:57
Due to a timetable conflict I was unable to undertake the group project for assignment 1. Instead, I aimed to answer the following question:
In relation to a recently delivered unit of work, consider how you would utilise two extra weeks with the same students on the same topic. Your answer should make use of the assessment tasks undertaken by students, as well as your own understanding of their development. Your answer should take the form of a 1500 word reflective essay.
My submission can be seen in the attachment below.
Sep
7
IPT Syllabus Analysis
Submitted by Ross Parker (ICHK) on Mon, 07/09/2009 - 10:01
The two visualisations below were produced as an excercise in coming to grips with the NSW Stage 6 Syllabus for the IPT strand of computing. The first is a simple word cloud illustrating some of the key ideas in the syllabus, as represented by word frequency in the syllabus documents. The second attemptes to add some structure to these ideas in order that they be understood at a higher level.
Click on either image to see a larger version.
Aug
23
Big Ideas Graphically
Submitted by Ross Parker (ICHK) on Sun, 23/08/2009 - 12:34
The attached file outlines the big ideas I have drawn from the IPT syllabus, displayed in a logical and graphically descriptive manner. In short, my big ideas are to do with understanding ICT in a holistic fashion: rather than discreet technologys in isolation, I hope to help students see the entire fabric of ICT, and how it is intertwined with human society. This document can be used with students or fellow teachers.
Aug
12
Project & Tasks
Submitted by Ross Parker (ICHK) on Wed, 12/08/2009 - 09:45
For this week's computing class we worked through a process of using Big Ideas to form questions that inspire projects. Projects are then linked to syllabus outcomes, and are then further refined into a number of tasks. Tasks can subsequently be broken down into activities.
Attached below are 3 documents which show my working through this process.
Jul
30
KWL
Submitted by Ross Parker (ICHK) on Thu, 30/07/2009 - 10:04
To kick off the new semester for Computing 2X we were asked to start working on a KWL Chart, in which three questions are posited:
