Preparing the report91049, 91359, and 91613

Malcolm HowardRegional Technology Facilitator- Central North Regionand National Coordinator [Technology] – Secondary Student Achievement Contract

Team Solutions – The University of AucklandJune 2014

Aim of this session

• To explore possible strategies to support students to write reports.

• To make a start on producing an action plan to support students to prepare their report.

Report writing for the externals – some key points…

• Embeded in a programme of learning• Supported by teaching and learning• Taught, structured, practiced• Involves formative feedback• Authentic• Writing about their own technological

experiences

So what can we do to support students prepare their reports?

Vocabulary demands

Determine the vocabulary (academic words and technological specific words) in the standard

Vocabulary enhancement

What are you doing to ensure students understand the vocabulary inherent in the standard

Pre-writing guides

Pre writing guides eg tables and mind maps

Structuring the report

Outlines to assist with structuring the report (section, headings subheadings)

Section 1 =Main heading 1 =

Sub heading 1 = Sub heading 2 =

Main heading 2 =

etc

Structuring the report

From the level 2 assessment report…

Successful candidates often produced reports with clearly headed sections, e.g.:• Relationship Between Performance Properties and

Performance Specifications• Material Evaluation Procedures Undertaken• Knowledge/Techniques Underpinning a Procedure.

Candidates who used these types of headings and then directly and accurately reported to the requirements of the standard succeeded at all levels of the standard.

Structuring the report

And from the level 3 assessment report…

Structuring a report is a necessary skill that should be embedded in the course to allow candidates to demonstrate their understanding effectively.

Sentence starters

Sentence starters

This was because…A main reason for this was….An important result was….I used this information in my own practice by…

Sentence starters

Eg from the Level 1 assessment report…

The following features commonly seen in reports of students who achieved could be turned into possible sentence starters:• identified the brief and project the student has addressed,

including the identifiedvmaterial/materials that created the reason for the report within the context of a briefvaddressed in a project

• described the composition and structure of their chosen material/materials using bothvdiagrams and written descriptions

• they identified performance properties of their chosen material

• explained how the structure and or performance properties of the material influenced students’ decisions when making a product

Technological experiences

Ensuring that students have had a range of ‘Technological experiences’, and they know they need to use these experiences as a basis for their report

“Reports that do not relate to a candidate’s specific technological experiences are unlikely to succeed”

Technological experiences

From the level 1 assessment report• Candidates often demonstrated their

understanding in a straightforward manner by using their own words to describe their own work.

From the level 3 assessment report• Candidates who focused on their own practice

were significantly limited in their achievement as they were unable to describe or explain the development of the basic materials within specified products.

Authenticity

Supporting students to ensure they comply with authenticity requirements.

Referenced where other material is used

Information sourced must be– interpreted or rewritten in their own words – relating the information to a specific context

or example– commented on meaningfully

Authenticity

From the level 2 assessment report…

Of concern were the many submissions where candidate voice was not obvious and references for copied material were not included at the point of reproduction in the report.

Ongoing formative feedback

How have you built in a process for giving students formative feedback as they prepare the report?

When? How often? Formal or informal?

Revising is part of the writing process

From Effective Literacy Strategies in Years 9 to 13

Structured activities using the exemplars

Are there structured activities using the exemplars (the latest ones!) that might help students rather than just making the exemplars available?

Checklists

Checklists

Eg from the level 3 assessment report• The report must focus upon the relationship between

the material; its historical, technical, manipulation, transformation and formulation features, AND, a specific enhancement such as durability, conductivity, texture, strength, AND, the design, development, production, ongoing maintenance and end of life disposal of the product.

These types of statements could easily be turned into checklists to ensure students cover everything.

Activity – report writing

• Choose either 1.6, 2.6, or 3.6• In pairs develop some resources to support

students to write their report eg:– Vocabulary enhancement– Pre-writing guides– Guide on how to structure the report– Sentence starters– Technological experiences and authenticity– Activity to use with the exemplars– Checklists