PROJECTTeacher’s Guide

EXTENDED PROJECTH856For first teaching in 2015

QualificationAccredited

www.ocr.org.uk/extendedproject

Guide 1 PlanningVersion 2

Teacher GuideExtended Project

2 © OCR 2016

Starting out: This guide is designed to be used by teachers, and also shared with students studying for the Extended Project Level 3.

Choosing a topic • Selectingthetopicandplanningtheprojectthoughtfully

iskeytocreatingasuccessfulextendedproject.

• Thetopicmustbeselectedasindependentlyaspossibleby the learner, and negotiated and checked by the teachertoensurethattheprojecthasthepotentialtomeetalllearningoutcomes.

• TheprojectcouldbeanextensionofanALevelsubjectthatparticularlyintereststhelearner,oradevelopmentofapersonalexternalinterestoractivity.

Mindmapping:• Apossiblestartingpointcouldbeforstudentsto

createapersonalskillsauditintheformofamindmap,exploringalltheiracademicandpersonalinterests.Thiscouldincludeimagesaswellaswords.Itshouldbekeptgenerallytogeneralthemes(eg:film,ceramics,economics,science).

• Thiscouldthenbesharedwithpeersoratutor,andpossibleideaslistedanddiscussed.Timeshouldbetakentoexpandmindmapstocoverwhattheyarestudying,personalinterests,ambitionsandprogressionchoices.

• Agoodexampleofafreemindmapwebsite:https://www.text2mindmap.com/

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Teacher GuideExtended Project

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Leave room for development:• Researchingseveralideasbeforesettlingonthefinalideaisadvisable,andwhereappropriate,thespecificsforafinal

productshouldbekeptvague,toallowfordevelopmentsandlearningtotakeplaceduringtheresearchanddevelopmentphaseoftheproject.

Final outcomes:• Thefinaloutcomedoesnothavetobedecidedatthisstage.Cross-disciplinaryoutcomesshouldbeconsidered:e.g.a

illustrated children’s book about an historical event.

• Ideallythefinaloutcomewillbedeterminedbytheresearch,asapossiblesolutionwillsuggestitselfthroughthetypeofresearchmaterialused.

Possible outcomes:Manydifferentapproachestothefinaloutcomecanbetaken:

Someexamplesare:

• Artefact/Design:asculpture,costumesforaplay,designforastagesetorvehicle

• Report:documentingabusinessventureorscienceexperiment

• Performance:concert/debate/sport/event

• Dissertation:criticalanalysisoftheworkofafilmdirectororhistoricalfigure.

Group work:Groupprojectscanofferanexcitingopportunityforstudentstoworkcollaborativelyutilisingtheirindividualskills,strengthsand knowledge.

Ifgroupworkisinvolved,eachlearnershouldhaveaspecificroleinthegroupwiththeirownaimsandobjectives,whichfeedintothegroup’saims.Thiswillenableeachmemberofthegrouptohavetheopportunitytoreachthehighestgradesandtosatisfyotheraspectsoftheassessmenttothebestoftheirability.Theteachershouldatthispointaddresstheissueofwhetherandhoweachprojectcanbeaccuratelyassessedinrelationtothespecifiedcriteria.

Negotiation:Eachlearnershouldarrangeameetingwiththeirteacherforanindividualinterviewtoestablishwhattypeoftopicwouldsuitthemandtoagreethetopicthattheywanttopursue.TheteachershouldensurethattopicareaswillenablelearnerstoaccessthehighestbandsofassessmentintermsofmeetingtheAssessmentOutcomes.

Going out of comfort zones:Ifasubjectischosenthatoverlapswithsubjectsalreadystudied,thestudentshouldconsiderhowtheyaregoingoutoftheircomfortzoneandlearningnewskillsduringtheEPQ.

Develop new skills:Someofthemostinterestingprojectsproduced,enablestudentstodevelopnewskillsaswellasextendingexistingones.Theycouldproducea‘practical’outcomefromtheirinterestin‘academic’subjectse.g.:film,app,websiteoranimationormagazinebasedontheirareaofinterest.

Level of quality:ThequalityofthefinaloutcomeshouldnotbecomparedtothatofsomebodystudyingaLevel3qualification.E.g.astudentillustratingabookforthefirsttimewouldnotbeexpectedtoreachthesamestandardassomebodystudyingartAlevel’.

However,thelevelofskillsdemonstratedduringtheprojecte.g.research,evaluation,projectmanagementetc.mustbeatLevel 3.

Teacher GuideExtended Project

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Project planning:

Setting aims and objectives Initialplanningmayincludemorethanoneideaifthestudentisnotsureofwhichprojectwouldbemostsuccessful. The reflective journal should contain notes setting outclearaims–generalthemesandtheformthattheoutcomemighttake.

Written proposal:StudentsshouldusethefirstpartoftheProjectProgressionRecordtorecordtheirproject’sthemeandtowritearationaleexplainingwhattheyhopetogainfromcompletingtheirproject.Averificationoftopicformshouldalsobecompletedexplainingtheaimsandoutcomesoftheprojectproposed.The language and vocational language should be clear to anon-specialist,butitmaybenecessaryforthestudenttodiscusstheirproposalwithspecialiststafftodetermineifitisasuitabletopicfortheproject.

Timewillbetakeninthetaughtskillssessionstoexpandandexplaintheprocessofwritingasuitableprojectproposal,andpastexamplesmaybeshowntoillustratethis.

Itisreallybeneficialtostudentsiftheyareabletosetthemselvessomeclearobjectivesatthebeginningoftheproject.Althoughthesemightchangeanddevelop,itenables the student to evaluate against their initial intentions anddocumenthowthesehavedevelopedduringtheproject.

Planning the project:Oncethetitleandaimsandobjectiveshavebeendecided,studentscanbreakdowntheirover-archingtasksintosmaller,interimtargets,andtoseehowandwhentheseneedtotakeplace.

Identifying skills and resources needed:Astheplanisproduced,itshouldbecomeclearwhatspecialistskillsaregoingtobedevelopedoverthecourseoftheproject(eg:illustrationskills,analysingdata,academicwritingetc.)

Studentsshouldhighlighttheseintheirplan,andconsiderhowtheyaregoingtodeveloptheseskills.Thiscouldincludeusingon-lineguidesorbooksortheymightwanttoapproachteacherswithspecialistknowledge,orcontactexternalexperts.Theymightalsoattendexternalworkshopsand events to broaden their knowledge base.

Teacher GuideExtended Project

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Other skills that may need to be taught:• ICTskillstohelpsupport,analyseandpresenttheproject.

• Howtomakenotestodocumentmeetings,eventsorrehearsals.

• Practicalskillsandhealthandsafetyeg:goodworkshoporlaboratoryworkingpractices.

• Ethicalandprofessionalguidelinesforundertakingsurveysorresearchaswellassafeguardingconsiderationswhenworkingwithmembersofthepublicandotherinstitutions.

• Riskassessmentsforevents,performances,experimentsorpracticalwork.

• Theexpectedformatofanacademicresearchreport.

• Evaluationofresearchsources

• Harvardreferencing

Timeline and time planning:Adetailedtimeplanwillenablethestudenttocreateasuccessfulproject.Althoughthetimescalesandexactactivitiesmaychangeovertime,thiscanbedocumentedinthejournal,inresponsetoreflectionandevaluationofprogress.

Teachers,toenablestudentstodevelopprojectmanagementskillsfortheirproject,willdelivertimemanagementandtargetsetting sessions.

Makingthetimeplanveryspecificfromthestartwillhelpthestudenttoshowthattheyhavemanagedtheprojectwell.Itistemptingtobevaguewhenwritingatimeplan,butmoresuccessfulprojectstendtohaveprecisetimelines,evenifthesearechangedastheprojectprogresses.

Evaluation of objectives:Objectivescouldbenumberedsothattheycanbereferredtoinevaluationswrittenthroughouttheprojectinthereflectivejournal.

Newobjectivescanbeaddedtothetimelineasrequiredduringtheproject.

Summary of Guide One• Completeapersonalskillsaudit

• Mindmapideas

• Discusswithtutor

• Filloutprojectproposalformincludingaimsandobjectives

• Writeatimeplan

• Identifyskillsthatareneededfortheproject

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