Stimulating learning skills and ways of thinking for work, study and life in the 21st century is the aim of the new TQA course Student Directed Inquiry.Thirty students have begun this course which involves students completing projects and research in their areas of interest. Learning is personalised and flexible to meet the learning needs and interests of each student.
This PowerPoint explains the purpose and thinking behind the course and you can read about the curriculum planning process here.
At HC we call the course Interactive Media and we have a journal that is documenting our journey in this exciting pre-tertiary course. This is not an easy journey for students or teachers because the course challenges everyone to learn reflectively, collaboratively and rigorously.
Teachers are working in teams to bring a wider range of expertise to individual students and project teams than would normally be found in the traditional classroom.
The course is also structured differently: 30 minute presentations are being held in a lecture theatre and these are recorded for later online access... Attendance is more about participation than just physical presence... Students can work from home and everything is co-ordinated online.
Comments received from students in the first two weeks:
"I do more work in this subject than any other."
"Having recorded presentations online is great - all subjects should do it."
"Saw a presentation on secondlife, was feeling pretty stoked to have a go as it looked awesome..."
"Viewed a presentation slide on ethics, it was a fairly thought provoking show and it had wicked pictures to keep us amused and enthused..."
"Being able to view class presentations online if you miss them is great – more subjects should do it!"
"Ethics presentation was good – I took heaps of notes."
"Working from home I'm better equipped… for the stuff I want to do, with Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash CS3."
