MIT15 Day 1 - Teaching as Inquiry

We are here at the lovely Spark building in town, an our first meeting day for MIT15.
The topic of our conversation at the moment is "Teaching as Inquiry" and how we are applying this to our research this year.

Here is "Focusing Inquiry" :-

Stage 1 - The Focus

Why?
What is the crisis?
What is the underachievement?
Why is this important to spend time on?
Which group of students will be affected?

My focus is to improve the NCEA achievement of my Design and Visual Communication students.
My students are weak in the analysis skills of the course and this lets them down with the achievement of the standards.
This is important is as it is a skill that is across subject areas and it is these skills that are needed for the students to achieve at merit and excellence. The analysis of design work is key to understanding their own work and knowing how to improve upon it.
The group of students will be all of my Level 1 and Level 2 DVC students. I will also include any Year 10 students who want the opportunity to start some Level 1 credits.


Stage 2 - The Question

I plan to see how the use of online courses, in a MOOC style can affect student outcomes in these areas:

• Starting the DVC course early, in Year 10. This will get them an early start on Level 1 credits.
• Doing the online components in their own time at Level 1 and 2 and using more of the class time for group analysis work and skills practice, as it is these elements that will gain the higher levels of achievement for the students.
• Offering the courses to students who do not have space on their timetable due to other option choices.