I shall post the most recent (top of the page) and a defining post (foot) on this page for my Teaching Outreach Projects for undergraduate MBB students at the University of Sheffield. The students will be working with schools in the Northern Schools Trust. The archive can be found here and will remain available indefinitely.
Sol 45. Anne’s lesson was centred around Mass Spectrometry. After an initial presentation, the students were split into 3 groups and asked to discuss and answer questions on a chosen topic. My group took on ionisation. But first, to begin trying to get your head around ionisation, I made sure that everyone could currently define terms such as atom, molecule, compound and ion. Easy. So what is the difference between an atom and an ion? Not so easy. We then delved into the subatomic composition of atoms, trying to find the source of a change of charge. Ah, so an ion has either lost or gained an electron! Perfect. From this, trying to define the term ionisation was easy. After venturing into the use of mole’s and standard conditions we could even correctly define ionisation energy.
This was all well and good, but we needed to apply this knowledge to a Mass Spectrometer. So, what is the first step? Ionisation. How does the machine carry out this step? Dunno. I then had the pleasure of describing an electron gun. Obviously, everyone was amazed by the concept, and we went off on a conversation about whether or not such a thing could be used as a weapon. All very interesting, but off topic. One student took this time to start doodling a gun on the table (the tables can be drawn on with whiteboard pens). I not only found this quite amusing, but used it as a perfect opportunity to illustrate what we have learnt so far. One by one I asked the students to add something to the diagram, whether it be the stream of electrons, the atom being ionised or the overall equation. We ended up with a pretty good illustration, just in time for the end of the lesson.
Sol 52. Stephen was now in charge, as he embarked on his Life on Mars session. He had prepared several topics of interest, including what we need for life on mars, why is water so important, and what part do enzymes play. Each topic would begin with an initial presentation, followed by a worksheet to be completed in pairs. My role in all this was to circulate around the pairs and facilitate conversation and thought. The aim being to draw words and answers, rather than just tell them. It was quite easily apparent the gulf in the level of understanding between the different pairs, and so I would find myself having to adapt the intensity of my pitch each time. We got through the content quite quickly, as working in pairs allowed the most able students to crack on, while the three of us concentrated our attention on those struggling.
Since he had not got through all his material from the last session, Stephen kicked off with a presentation and worksheet on enzyme function. This took only 20 minutes, giving us plenty of time for our individual concluding activities. This part of the lesson was intended to see how much of what was taught over the past 6 weeks could still be recalled. Therefore, I had prepared a multiple-choice question worksheet, covering all the topics from my It’s not Rocket Science sessions. The students were given around 10 minutes to complete it, while the 3 of us oversaw how they were getting on. Having got everyone’s attention, I then started going through all the answers, and I got much pleasure revealing all the trick questions. After this, Anne did the same with her summary worksheet, and before we knew it, it was 5 o’clock, the students had left, and our project was over!
First Post: Lesson planning with Chemistry Teacher Mr. O'Shea Liverpool Life Sciences UTC October 2016
Sol1, Chemistry Lab, UTC... 14.45. Level 3 students brainstorming with Mark O'Shea for The Martian outreach project. The Table is covered with ideas on how to link the Science content from The Martian with the curriculum for Y10, Y11 and Y12 students. The visit started with a tour of the facilities at the UTC, to enable students, Adam, Anne-Marie and Stephen to plan their student activities accordingly. The session was also aimed at identifying the priorities for UTC students (led my Mark) and their respective courses (GCSE, A-Level and BTech Applied Science).
One of the main topics to emerge was evaluation of impact. Tracking student progress is a key element of school education and, while it was undoubtedly exciting to consider how investigating the effects of nutrients and environment on potato cultivation, or building a model Mars "Rover", measuring the impact of the project is a priority. If we are going to make a difference, the project should improve student attainment and help with the understanding of some of the most challenging parts of their Science courses. In a project lasting around 10 weeks, measuring impact will be imperfect, to say the least, but we must try, and try to understand the limitations of our impact measurements, for future project work of this kind!
One idea that emerged was an initial assessment of student understanding of some of the concepts to be covered by the project. The use of MCQs was selected following a steer from Mark, as the most efficient way to assess ability at the "launch". This would help in assessing how the project has been received and whether it has improved understanding. I think we are looking for a positive indication, in order to build on the project in future years. This is a long term mission!
The next post will contain feedback from Adam, Anne-Marie and Stephen as the retire to produce some draft ideas. Mark is also going to summarise the curriculum priorities emerging from the brainstorming session. The ideas ranged from environmental chemistry, planetary science, rocket science and Newton's laws, PCR diagnostics for monitoring the diversity of bacterial species supporting plant growth in soil.Let's see what emerges for the draft programme...
Sol 57. Log entry 6. The end of session 6, and the end of my project. But first, some thoughts on the previous 2 sessions:
Sol 45. Anne’s lesson was centred around Mass Spectrometry. After an initial presentation, the students were split into 3 groups and asked to discuss and answer questions on a chosen topic. My group took on ionisation. But first, to begin trying to get your head around ionisation, I made sure that everyone could currently define terms such as atom, molecule, compound and ion. Easy. So what is the difference between an atom and an ion? Not so easy. We then delved into the subatomic composition of atoms, trying to find the source of a change of charge. Ah, so an ion has either lost or gained an electron! Perfect. From this, trying to define the term ionisation was easy. After venturing into the use of mole’s and standard conditions we could even correctly define ionisation energy.
This was all well and good, but we needed to apply this knowledge to a Mass Spectrometer. So, what is the first step? Ionisation. How does the machine carry out this step? Dunno. I then had the pleasure of describing an electron gun. Obviously, everyone was amazed by the concept, and we went off on a conversation about whether or not such a thing could be used as a weapon. All very interesting, but off topic. One student took this time to start doodling a gun on the table (the tables can be drawn on with whiteboard pens). I not only found this quite amusing, but used it as a perfect opportunity to illustrate what we have learnt so far. One by one I asked the students to add something to the diagram, whether it be the stream of electrons, the atom being ionised or the overall equation. We ended up with a pretty good illustration, just in time for the end of the lesson.
Sol 52. Stephen was now in charge, as he embarked on his Life on Mars session. He had prepared several topics of interest, including what we need for life on mars, why is water so important, and what part do enzymes play. Each topic would begin with an initial presentation, followed by a worksheet to be completed in pairs. My role in all this was to circulate around the pairs and facilitate conversation and thought. The aim being to draw words and answers, rather than just tell them. It was quite easily apparent the gulf in the level of understanding between the different pairs, and so I would find myself having to adapt the intensity of my pitch each time. We got through the content quite quickly, as working in pairs allowed the most able students to crack on, while the three of us concentrated our attention on those struggling.
Sol 57. Present day. The concluding session. The three of us were really looking forward to the last lesson of our project for many reasons. First of all the pressure was off, as all three of us had contributed to the organisation for once. Also, we were so comfortable with the teaching environment now, and knew there would be no surprises.
Since he had not got through all his material from the last session, Stephen kicked off with a presentation and worksheet on enzyme function. This took only 20 minutes, giving us plenty of time for our individual concluding activities. This part of the lesson was intended to see how much of what was taught over the past 6 weeks could still be recalled. Therefore, I had prepared a multiple-choice question worksheet, covering all the topics from my It’s not Rocket Science sessions. The students were given around 10 minutes to complete it, while the 3 of us oversaw how they were getting on. Having got everyone’s attention, I then started going through all the answers, and I got much pleasure revealing all the trick questions. After this, Anne did the same with her summary worksheet, and before we knew it, it was 5 o’clock, the students had left, and our project was over!
The Teaching in Schools project really has opened my eyes to the prospect of teaching. The past 2 months have been an experience that I have got so much out of, and will never forget. Although the teaching itself wasn’t too far away from how I had imagined it, what surprised me the most was how much I enjoyed it. Not once in my life have I considered teaching as a career prospect, but in the future, I am sure it will be an option that I will consider. Who knows, Mr. Allen could well become a chemistry teacher. One day.
What do you get when you cut an avocado into 6.022x1023 pieces? One guacamole.
First Post: Lesson planning with Chemistry Teacher Mr. O'Shea Liverpool Life Sciences UTC October 2016
Sol1, Chemistry Lab, UTC... 14.45. Level 3 students brainstorming with Mark O'Shea for The Martian outreach project. The Table is covered with ideas on how to link the Science content from The Martian with the curriculum for Y10, Y11 and Y12 students. The visit started with a tour of the facilities at the UTC, to enable students, Adam, Anne-Marie and Stephen to plan their student activities accordingly. The session was also aimed at identifying the priorities for UTC students (led my Mark) and their respective courses (GCSE, A-Level and BTech Applied Science). One of the main topics to emerge was evaluation of impact. Tracking student progress is a key element of school education and, while it was undoubtedly exciting to consider how investigating the effects of nutrients and environment on potato cultivation, or building a model Mars "Rover", measuring the impact of the project is a priority. If we are going to make a difference, the project should improve student attainment and help with the understanding of some of the most challenging parts of their Science courses. In a project lasting around 10 weeks, measuring impact will be imperfect, to say the least, but we must try, and try to understand the limitations of our impact measurements, for future project work of this kind!One idea that emerged was an initial assessment of student understanding of some of the concepts to be covered by the project. The use of MCQs was selected following a steer from Mark, as the most efficient way to assess ability at the "launch". This would help in assessing how the project has been received and whether it has improved understanding. I think we are looking for a positive indication, in order to build on the project in future years. This is a long term mission!
The next post will contain feedback from Adam, Anne-Marie and Stephen as the retire to produce some draft ideas. Mark is also going to summarise the curriculum priorities emerging from the brainstorming session. The ideas ranged from environmental chemistry, planetary science, rocket science and Newton's laws, PCR diagnostics for monitoring the diversity of bacterial species supporting plant growth in soil.Let's see what emerges for the draft programme...
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