“Looking for ideas and inspiration to teach electronics more successfully”?

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Quinn

There are many reasons why electronics is often considered to be a difficult and challenging subject to deliver in the classroom. There are many questions being asked…

Does electronics teaching generally need to be based on novelty projects or hidden “black box” technologies alone? Should we default to prescriptive kit activities that provide the same educational  journey for all?

We know that teaching and learning  is not an exact science and understand that what works in one classroom is not necessarily going to succeed in another…

How can activities be devised by teachers to meet the National Curriculum requirements and provide carefully managed opportunities for more purposeful design and hands-on creative working for everyone?

It is felt that learners have greater motivation and success when engaged in more-open activities; over which they have greater ownership…

How do we provide activities that ensure learners  are both challenged and greater informed in the process and ultimately successful in the outcome?

Do you have a question or point of view that YOU would like to make? If so, we have created an electronics forum on our website for teachers who are either training, newly qualified or fully-experienced. If you would like to share your own ideas and experiences with like-minded educationalists: visit the forum here to get started.

Help to grow the forum by telling a friend or colleague
(see sharing links below).

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James Dyson Comments on The Future of D and T

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Quinn
James Dyson comments…

Ideas and invention. This is what drives our economy forward. And they are nurtured by Design

and Technology. We desperately need engineers to ask ‘what’s next?’ We need them to

challenge the status quo and create new technology. But it all starts in our schools and we forget

this at our peril.

George Osborne wants our economy to be based upon making things. To achieve this, our

society needs to believe that technology creates the foundation for a prosperous future. We live in

a world which is constantly changing. Technological advancement is on the tip of every industry.

Our school curriculum must not be afraid to move forward with it.

Engineers do not suddenly appear at university. They have a mindset which is fostered throughout

their education. That is why D&T is essential at all stages of the curriculum. We should encourage

children in the early years to pull objects apart. Find out how things work. And pose that most

inquisitive and brilliant of questions – ‘why?’.

Equally, older children need the opportunity to apply the science and maths they’re taught. They

need to see its relevance. To understand how it relates to business and their future career. The

can-do, hands-on attitude that D&T fosters gives students the skills to handle life’s difficult

situations. To succeed. To shape the world around them.

With the exception of doctors, engineering graduates are the most highly paid. And rightly so. It

reflects their importance. But how many students know this when they study D&T? The interest and

rewards of a career in design engineering need to be better communicated. To students and their

parents. We need to sell our ‘product’.

The responsibility for our innovators of the future falls on the shoulders of D&T teachers. Through

working with my foundation, I have come into contact with many brilliant Design and Technology

teachers. Those who inspire. Those who influence the direction of this relatively new subject.

We know our subject is under threat. We face a challenge from the current national curriculum

review. But it is far from insurmountable. As designers and engineers we are trained to solve

problems. We must apply this to the current education climate. We must fight apathy with

inspiration.

We tell students that in every challenge there is an opportunity. Well, we need to rise to this

opportunity. We know the innate value of D&T. How it creates problem solvers. People who don’t

shy away from failure but use it to succeed. I will continue to fight for this subject and urge others

to do so. Now is the time to start shouting about it. And to tell Michael Gove that D&T is not an

optional fringe subject. It’s inspirational and it’s essential.

James Dyson

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Get Them Hooked!… We live in an Electronic Society

Posted on June 14, 2011 by paul bexfield

I have used the earlier version of Quicklink ‘Project Tools’ software to help enhance student’s knowledge at KS3/4 Electronic Products. My school has decided to start GCSE Electronic Products in the summer term of Yr 9 and a new GCSE to school, Systems & Control. I have been busy this half-term planning tasks for these groups (using the software element only). I believe that the upgraded version, as well as the earlier version, gives students a much better understanding of the ‘Systems Approach’ to designing circuits. From past experience, the ‘Systems Approach’ is a part of both these subjects that often causes students difficulty when designing and being creative, especially the Input, Process, Output and Feedback element.

With software as user friendly as this, hopefully it will encourage more teachers to investigate avenues into starting teaching Electronics at KS3. As a founder member of the EASTLINK group based in GT Yarmouth and the support of local electronics company C-MAC MicroTechnology, EASTLINK meets each term with the attendance of several schools in East Norfolk, N Suffolk and representatives from other local electronics companies and our Norfolk STEMNET co-ordinator. Having the industrial input into these meetings, education and industry work together and understand each others requirements to help solve the skill shortage within this field. These companies are finding it difficult to get students at 16 who have electronic knowledge and unfortunately, electronics teachers are on the decrease nationally.

Using the software such as ‘Project Tools’ it is hoped that more teachers will be encouraged to include Electronics to their school DT curriculum.

With school re-organisation taking place in Norfolk and Suffolk this is a great time to investigate a change to your DT options!! You will be fully supported by other colleagues!!

The software is a must for someone who has little knowledge of Electronics and wants to start teaching it and achieve 100% success with projects. If the pre-made circuit boards are used, a good variety of projects can be made.

The name of the game is 100% success with a student’s first practical project.
Get them hooked! We live in an electronic society

Paul Bexfield

KS3/4 Electronics Teacher

Lynn Grove V.A.High School

Gorleston Norfolk

Posted in Curriculum and Creativity, Reviews of QuickLink Products, Teachers are Saying... | Leave a comment

Summer Newsletter: Free Downloads

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Quinn

In our Summer newsletter we are providing the first of three FREE classic electronics projects that may be used as starter demonstrations in your lessons. These are featured in our latest Project Tools teaching software as “Acorn Tasks” and may be built using our multi-solution FastTrack pcb.

[If you would like to have a go at making this first project, but haven't already asked for a pcb for your school, please Contact Us with your details and we will put one in the post to you (at no charge).] 

To Download Project Guide and Designing Cards:

After clicking download please Log In  using the details that were emailed to you when you first registered or if this is your first visit please select register – Its quick and free

Acorn Project 1 - Acorn Project 1
(pdf pdf file 513.19 kB - Downloaded 81 times)

 
We are also providing a complementary set of “designing cards” below to go with each of these projects. These will help you introduce the key building blocks of common control systems to your learners. These cards can be used to kinesthetically learn how systems can be assembled from a range of smaller interchangeable input, process and output subsystems.

SubSystem Designing Cards - SubSystem Designing Cards
(pdf pdf file 119.27 kB - Downloaded 71 times)

Posted in Newsletter Free Downloads | Comments Off

A Creative Approach To Learning

Posted on May 3, 2011 by ben.treacher

Good to see a creative approach to using technology that’s integrated into learning and teaching rather than technology being used as a substitute for a philosophy of learning.

Posted in Curriculum and Creativity, Teachers are Saying... | 1 Comment

‘Meeting Technological Challenges’ – Ofsted Report

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Quinn

[In response: See our NEW In-School CPD Electronics Training Course and free electronics software to support schools.]

On 25th March 2011 Ofsted published the findings of a 3 year study between September 2007 and July 2010 by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) to evaluate the provision of design and technology (D&T) in primary and secondary schools. The inspections were to evaluate how well the subject was meeting its National Curriculum aims and promoting high levels of achievement.

These are excerpts with some relevance to the delivery of systems and control/electronics in secondary schools:-

…Inspectors found that a considerable challenge facing schools is the modernisation of the D&T curriculum so that it keeps pace with technological developments…

… The responsibility for tackling the challenge of ensuring that the D&T curriculum keeps up with technological developments is primarily that of schools…

…Achievement in D&T was more variable in the secondary schools …. It was good or outstanding in just under half of the 89 secondary schools visited; in nine schools achievement was outstanding, but in another four it was inadequate…

…In outstanding secondary schools, students learnt how modern materials and new technologies worked and how to design and make with them. In so doing, pupils developed the skills to think, design and shape their future…

…Not all students in all of the schools visited experienced D&T of this high calibre. Many teachers were not keeping pace with technological developments or expanding upon their initial training sufficiently to enable them to teach the technically demanding aspects of the curriculum…

 …Most pupils in all of the schools visited enjoyed designing and making products, solving problems and seeing their ideas taking shape…

…Pupils’ work in D&T from their primary schools was rarely built upon by the secondary schools in the sample… This lack of continuity led, in the less effective schools, to weak curriculum planning at Key Stage 3. Pupils said they found projects and units of work in D&T easy and the nature of the work was pitched too low or duplicated earlier learning of the type commonly seen in primary schools. This did not challenge pupils sufficiently, particularly the most able…

…More outstanding teaching was seen in secondary schools, where lessons included up-to-date technologies which were demonstrated and explained accurately to pupils. However, most of the schools visited had not made sufficient use of subject-specific training to enable teachers new to the profession, and those who were more experienced, to continually update their subject knowledge. This often resulted in an out-dated Key Stage 3 curriculum…

 …Take-up of GCSE courses in the essential technological areas of electronics and systems and control has been low, due mainly to the lack of relevant expertise among teachers…

 …In around a third of the secondary schools, too little use was made of electronics, computer aided design and manufacture (CAD and CAM) and control technology in the teaching of D&T…

 …To enable education in England to keep pace with global technological change, new approaches are needed to teaching pupils how to apply electronics in combination with new materials and how to apply control systems in all aspects of the subject…

 Links to electronics teaching resources:-

- Free Activities to Download
- QuickLink CPD Electronics Training 
- Project Tools PLUS Electronics Teaching and Learning Software 
- QuickLink Project Modelling/Making Hardware

Full Ofsted Report: See Links Page

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Letting go of ‘Safe’ Electronics Projects!

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Quinn

PCBWhen I first began teaching Key Stage 3 electronics, I felt it was important to write my schemes of work in great detail. I pre-planned activities in  considerable depth to make sure I  could manage the class and keep everybody busy – especially if I was to be observed by senior management who favoured well-ordered, structured lessons that were firmly controlled.

As there was a strong emphasis in our department for learners to acquire skills and take their projects home, I believed highly steered lessons would be necessary to meet these objectives and that students would need to know precisely what they would be doing. I had wanted to avoid teaching classes where students would come back to me at the first hurdle or difficulty and expect me to sort out their problems. I felt that if they had been given clear instructions and knew what they had to do, then they would be able to get on and work in a more independent manner.

Despite my careful lesson planning, when students had difficulties making the circuits I had given them, they would often come back to me in droves rather than spend time rectifying the mistakes themselves. In many instances I found I had to use much of my teaching time to troubleshoot and deal with their problems individually. I did this as I wanted my students to experience success and believed (by giving them individual help in the lesson and during lunch breaks) I would keep all of the class motivated.

Every summer term, as timetables grew lighter, there was time for our department to review the previous term’s projects. After several years of updating or changing our department schemes, I realised we were actually making our projects even more rigid; with most outcomes pre-determined by us -either through restrictive specifications or the “kit” projects and components we were providing. Our main aim had been to ensure problems or difficulties couldn’t arise so that more immediate “success” could be guaranteed. We had developed a  “no risk” teaching ethos, based on our safe “off-the-shelf” styled projects.

We had locked our teaching down to pursue what we had come to believe was the perfect project. This was at the expense of providing opportunities that really enthused or encouraged original design and problem solving. The only nod in the direction of creativity or originality was to allow limited design input into a vacuum formed case or a laser cut logo for the electronic product we were asking them to make.

My earliest electronics teaching was based on heavily prescriptive projects so that I could minimise uncertainty and possible failure along the way. By doing this I had inadvertently put up boundaries to creative working and independent learning; the very things I had actually been seeking in the first place. It was no wonder the students didn’t take ownership and kept coming back to me to troubleshoot their circuits -they were all making the same product and it was mainly based on our design and not theirs!

I felt a new approach was needed to inspire the students, so (ten years ago) I produced and obtained a patent for a quick no-connector pcb linking system for the classroom and began developing teaching software. The aim of this was to deliver the essential core knowledge of electronics/ systems & control and also provide learners with useful system designing tools, skills and resources to independently manage more-open, creative projects that they wanted to make.

From my more recent teaching experiences I found students work with far greater motivation and enthusiasm in electronics when they are given greater autonomy and sense of ownership over their projects. This inspires them to be more engaged, better behaved, eager to learn and up for overcoming obstacles when they arise. To achieve this I found it is important to “let go”, and through a systems’ approach provide more-open, varied activities or challenges for learners to navigate themselves.  The reasons: they inspire at a much deeper level, can still be manageable and if well structured & resourced, result in more successful outcomes that learners can take great pride.

To finish, you may be interested in the following quote I read recently from a head inspired by research from Dan Buckley, Cambridge Education; looking at students as peer teachers and the consequences of “letting go” in classes:

‘When you first give children control over their own learning, it’s scary because you realise that they can’t do all those things you thought they could do. Everything has been broken up by teachers so much that it only looks like they understand. They’re actually following menus, not really thinking it through’.

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- Further reading:- GTC case study:
http://www.gtce.org.uk/tla/rft/ict1107/ict1107cs/casestudy3/
- Students as peer teachers – Dan Buckley, Cambridge Education (Future Lab):
http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/projects/teachers-as-innovators/stories-of-practice/students-as-peer-teachers

 

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Evaluation of QuickLink Products with Yr. 9

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Website Member

Using QuickLink Products with Yr 9 Students at the Forest School:
Martin Bevan, Head of Electronics.

Background History:

I have been teaching electronics projects at Key Stage 3 as one of the projects in an 8-10 week rotation for some years now. I’ve always done the same circuit with the whole year group to keep things manageable but varied them from year to year when I feel the pupils, or I, are bored with them. Projects have included: Latching steady hand game, light activated alarm with time delay for setting, electric organ, plant pot moisture sensor, toothbrush timer.I usually put this project in year 9 and design and make the 200 pcb’s for the year group myself. I would produce some sheets – printouts from PCB Wizard, to show where the components go and line up trays of components on my desk, and then oversee that they put the right ones in the right place. This produced 80-90% successfully working circuits, poor soldering and misreading the sheets and pcb being the main culprits.I am conscious that the pupils are simply copying, often from each other without thinking much about the electronics and certainly there is no element of designing, and of course not everyone wants a steady hand game.Using QuickLink With Groups:
This year I have been using QuickLink’s software with the Fasttrack pcb’s and have just taken my fourth group through the project ( class sizes 19-24 ).

I have found this very successful in a number of ways:-

1) The circuits all work –the pcbs are well laid out, clearly labelled screen printing, tracks and pads are large and not damaged by overheating, the plated pads form good solder joints.

2) I can allow many different circuits to be made at the same time in the group as each pupil has their own printout to follow. The program positions the components in the right place and gives the correct values. The pupils can handle the program very easily and can relate the real world pcb to the circuit diagram which they printout and stick in their books for reference through the practical sessions. The only difference from before is that I need to put out a wider range of sensors and variable resistors, etc. 

3) The pupils are more motivated to complete their chosen project.

4) With individual projects few pupils simply copy from each other.

5) They have found it interesting to work out the cost of their circuit using the component information and they were keen to try out the self marking test.  

Timer Circuit for Nightlight

6) There is a real design element in the projects. After seeing the range of sensors and outputs they have come up with a wide range of applications.
They have then been able to produce more meaningful design work than before eg. Research into existing products, users and situation, individual specifications ( instead of all doing the same spec. for a toothbrush timer ). Evaluations are different for each project.

 7) There is scope for a certain amount of differentiation/extension work eg. Some have wanted to add an extra output- an led as well as a buzzer. With a little thought there are pads on the pcb that can be used for this. Some have made pressure pads for the touch sensor and mounted the contacts on pieces of shaped plastic for water level sensors. 

Wardrobe Automatic Light

8)There is also scope for more circuits to be made using the same pcb- replace the transistor with a thyristor to make a latching burglar alarm, put a resistor and capacitor on the input side to make a timer circuit. 

Products Realised with QuickLink:

Some of the applications made so far are; dark sensors/ microswitches/ pressure pads for burglar alarms/ room alarms/drawer alarms, bath water level alarms, bath water temperature indicators, fridge alarms ( temperature rising in the fridge) (temperature falling outside the fridge if the door is left open), night light comes on when it’s dark, 

Fridge Alarm

bedroom light that comes on for a few minutes when touched, a mini fan comes on when temperature goes up, open a wardrobe door and a light comes on to light up inside so you can see the clothes.

Bath Water Level Alarm

We don’t have enough time for them to design their own cases so they add card decoration to standard patterns for vacuum forming, but need to decide where to place switches etc.

Overall Conclusion

My overall feeling is that the pupils enjoy it more, are more usefully employed in lessons, are getting a better design experience, the practical work is no more hassle to me than usual and I’ve got more resources to use for teaching the electronics.

Thanks very much QuickLink!

Martin Bevan
Forest School
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Posted in Reviews of QuickLink Products, Teachers are Saying... | Leave a comment

I’ve got a question… “Are your electronics projects working”?

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Quinn

If the same electronics projects are delivered year after year, they can become dispiriting and tedious to teach (we’ve all been there!). When students in your class tell you that their older brothers or sisters have brought home an identical systems and control project a few years ago, then it’s highly likely they won’t feel very motivated either.

With the arrival of the latest curriculum, teachers have been advised to not try and adapt older prescriptive projects to “fit” – think square peg, round hole. The reason for this is more rigid projects are unlikely on their own to meet the current curriculum’s broader aims of encouraging learners to be more creative, enquiring and autonomous…
So, if you are teacher, looking for a new novelty electronics “kit” project to keep your students busy, this is probably the time to look hard at the wider benefits it will bring to your class and learners.

The latest curriculum offers more freedom, unchartered opportunities and greater challenges. If you are updating your schemes of work and would like to move towards more-open electronics projects, with greater opportunities for student creativity, autonomy and learning, we have been busy over the past decade developing high quality hardware and innovative software systems to support you confidently manage this. We hope you will browse and find them useful and of course tell your friends about them too.

We would be interested to hear what motivates your students to be more engaged, creative and independent in their learning.

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Teachers get switched on!

Posted on July 25, 2008 by Quinn

QuickLink Systems present to local schools and industry at Lynn Grove School 12 June 2008.

TEACHERS have been given the opportunity to get switched on to the latest methods to help pupils learn about electronics.

Lynn Grove High hosted visitors from schools across Norfolk and Suffolk on Thursday where representatives of electronics firms gave demonstrations of the latest techniques for teaching Key Stage 3 electronics

Schools from the Great Yarmouth borough taking part were Cliff Park High, Flegg High and Oriel High.

One of the local technology businesses present at the teaching day was C-Mac MicroTechnology, which has been featured in the Mercury because of its work in manufacturing components for the defence industry. Some of the company’s products have even gone into space through contracts with aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

Lynda Watts, C-Mac’s education liaison co-ordinator, said there was a skills shortage among engineers and her firm wanted to encourage students to pursue a career in electronics by inviting pupils to the company’s Yarmouth base in South Denes.

The aim was to dispel any negative preconceptions about the electronics industry.

She said: “On a local level, we have been working with Yarmouth schools getting students to come along and see that it is not a nasty, dirty place. It is state-of-the-art and involved in designing and developing products for the worldwide market so hopefully the students go back enthused about electronics.”

But teachers were the main target of the meeting at the Gorleston school with the aim being to enthuse them about the subject so they could pass this on to the children.

The seminar also served as a chance to showcase the equipment available to schools through firms such as Quicklink Systems … Mike Snell, Lynn Grove’s assistant head, said his own school had been successful in encouraging students to take up electronics and 95pc of year 8 and 9 pupils were studying the subject. He added the GCSE electronics pass rate at A*-C at Lynn Grove was 85pc and this was due to the good facilities available at the school.

“We are trying to raise awareness across the borough of the importance of electrical engineering for the global economy. We aim to preach the good word,” Mr Snell said.

Guests also had the chance to learn how well the school’s food and technology pupils were doing courtesy of a buffet prepared by the pupils.

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