Travel and Tourism integrated Core Skills Project

John McLachlan (Numeracy), Jacqui Bower (IT) and Margaret Montgomery (Communication) are currently running an integrated Core Skills project for students who are studying Travel Tourism.

Each student has to prepare an itinerary, brochure and presentation for a group of ten foreign visitors travelling from a college in another part of the world. Each task involves all three Core Skills. For example, to prepare a useful itinerary each student has to analyse reports about visitor behaviour and collate the statistics and trends uncovered in pie charts and graphs. This clearly involves numerical skills. At the same time, the itinerary has to be incorporated into a brochure aimed at the visitors, meaning the development of written communication and IT skills.

The team feel the project is also giving the students employability skills as they are working with VisitScotland reports the contents of which are relevant to many jobs in the tourist industry.

Student feedback has not yet been formally gathered but the class tutor, Nina Boyd, reports that the students all see the relevance of the Core Skill work they are doing to their vocational area and can also see how the Core Skill areas of Communication, Numeracy and IT often complement each other in the workplace.

The project will culminate in each student presenting the itinerary they have created. As such, they will explain the structure and content of the scehdule they have put together by referring to the research they have done. They will also present a budget breakdown (each student is working to a sum of £600-£800 per visitor for all costs except travel). As this presentation will involve all the Core Skills, all the project tutors will be present at this, as well as the vocational tutor.

Collaborative approaches to our Sustainable Solutions Project

‘Sustainable Solutions’ is a two year education and culture project sponsored by the EU Comenius programme. It commenced in August 2010 and the Partnership consists of nine colleges/schools located in seven EU countries. Stevenson developed the concept for the Project and is the co-ordinating Partner. The aim of the Project is to devise models for embedding education for environmental sustainability into the existing curriculum. Students are encouraged to investigate environmental problems and come up with sustainable solutions. What follows are the minutes I wrote up from a recent partnership meeting in Rome. My thanks must go to my travelling companions Kirsty and John who helped make this trip a memorable one. The project is an excellent way of discussing the wide variety of excellent teaching and learning happening all over Europe and illustrates how a collaborative approach to the subject of sustainability can yield brilliant results.

Minutes of SusSol Partnership meeting 

IPSIA Carlo Cattaneo, Rome, Italy (19-23 October 2011)

Thursday 20^th October 2011

Sinead Kellett (Marriotts School, Stevenage, England) opened the meeting by showing attendees a wonderful video made by her Drama students on the topic of ‘the sustainable global environment’ where her older students were teaching the younger students about sustainability by performing a series of short informative sketches.

John O’Neill and Marzia Zabbatino welcomed all delegates to the meeting and gave an overview of the programme of cultural and educational activities proposed for the visit.

The co-ordinators from the partner colleges delivered presentations which detailed the following information:

John O’Neill (Stevenson College, Edinburgh, Scotland)

·         Summarised SCE participation.

·         Embedding skills to facilitate projects.

·         Student targets.

·         Showed SCE and EU SusSol websites.

·         Information from projects communicated via college website and in-house newsletter (SCEne.)

Maurice Schoffelen (Stedelijk College Eindhoven, Netherlands)

·         Outlined the ‘It’s not easy being green’ interdisciplinary project.

·         Students were involved in projects designing different types of windmills as a wind efficient energy source.

·         Problems were addressed with learners encouraged to ‘think outside the box.’

·         This was a good example of different departments working together.

·         A You Tube video highlighting the possibilities for solar bottle lights was shown.

Tomas Diaz Gomez (Instituto de Educacion Secundaria Abyla, Ceuta, Spain)

·         Detailed information about recycling and environmental issues, giving an overview of different topics covered.

·         The sustainability of beaches in Ceuta, analysis of mobile consumerism and other aspects were discussed.

·         The importance of working productively with colleagues was presented.

·         Different modes of assessment such as essays and educational videos were used to increase students’ awareness of sustainable problems.

Joanna Omachel (Zespol Szkol Elektronicznych i Ogolnoksztalcacych, Przemysl, Poland)

·         Gave information about the ‘Clear up the world’ event on September 20^th.

·         Visit to an ecological farm was presented.

·         PowerPoint presentations about the dangers to the environment and a list of pros and cons concerning the issue of how to be eco-friendly were constructed.

·         Results of a partner meeting with Stevenson College was discussed, including a visit to a bird sanctuary and a discussion (in English) about the advantages and disadvantages of zoos.

·         A blog created to showcase the work done in European projects was shown.

Heather Bullen (Marriotts School, Stevenage, England)

·         Details of the ‘your community and sustainability’ project were given.

·         The issues of solving global warming and doing something by the students were communicated using a colourful mind map.

·         Pathways to poor health were reviewed as was an extended school map of ‘is there a place for sustainability?’

·         A final thought was offered – a school does not become ‘green’ by conserving energy, collecting batteries or sorting waste. The crucial factor must be what the pupils are learning from participating in such activities.

Marianne Herzog (Schulheim Schloss Kasteln, Switzerland)

·         Details of the short student made film ‘The Princess of Littering Castle’ were explained.

·         The premise that this institution is free to create a curriculum of study was raised.

·         Sustainability issues were clarified in terms of student work, such as heating of the castle and wooden heating efficiencies.

·         Recycling of litter in terms of project work was illustrated.

Marzia Zabbatino (IPSIA Carlo Cattaneo, Rome, Italy)

·         This institute’s focus is on technical aspects: sustainability and sustainable energy.

·         Collaborative approaches with colleagues from English, Thermohydraulics, Maths, I.T and Mechanics were clarified.

·         Classes  were divided into groups and produced group projects about issues such as heat pumps, solar power, solar water heaters, heating swimming pools, heating systems of vehicles with liquid cooled engines and the meaning of sustainability.

·         Meaningful evaluations were shown and these included the co-operation of students, improving IT skills and the challenges of using English.

Friday 20^th October 2011

Arrangements for partnership meeting to Zespol Szkol Elektronicznych i Ogolnoksztalcacych, Przemysl, Poland

·         Joanna and John clarified the arrangements for the meeting in 2012 as follows: 10/4 delegates to travel to Krakow for overnight stay, 11/4 sightseeing in Krakow and travel to Przemysl in the evening, 12 and 13/4 meeting business, 14/4 cultural activities, 15/4 travel to Krakow (depending on flight times for various partners).

·         Joanna will source costs for hotels, train travel, possible trip to Ukraine (it was reinforced that students will require passports for entry to Ukraine, but visas are not required.)

·         John noted Joanna’s industry in organising this trip.

Proposal for future Comenius project (Heather and Marianne)

·         The title of this project is entitled ‘Good Food, Good Mood’ with the focus on fewer food miles, more food smiles.

·         Delegates were invited to join the project and it was highlighted that new partners from Germany, Turkey, Sweden, France, Slovenia and Romania had expressed interest in possible collaborations.

·         The planning meeting will take place at Schloss Kasteln, near Zurich from Wednesday 25^th January until Sunday 29^th January 2012.

·         Funding can be claimed from national agencies for attendance at the preliminary meeting.

·         The deadline for colleagues to confirm participation is 15^th November 2011.

Presentations from lecturer delegates outlining student project work

Mark Hetherington (Stevenson College, Edinburgh, Scotland)

·         An overview of how the SusSol project was used as a vehicle to develop reading, writing, speaking and listening skills was given.

·         Working examples were given to clarify how communication skills underpin almost all personal, social, learning, and working activity.

·         The importance of clear planning and how a strong collegiate approach can enhance learner engagement was outlined. This included communication with the Communication Lecturer from the 2010-11 session, lead Lecturers in Science and the Head Librarian.

·         Vocationally relevant examples of formative and summative assessment were distributed in a handout.

Kirsty Nicholson (Stevenson College, Edinburgh, Scotland)

·         Sustainable solutions within the HND Tourism curriculum were analysed.

·         The aims of the unit were clearly outlined, namely to examine and analyse the concept of sustainability and its application within tourism planning and development, comment on the positive and negative impacts arising from tourism development and put forward sustainable solutions.

·         The concept and application of a paperless class with paperless assessments was explained.

·         The importance of students being able to recognise and discuss global issues and problems due to unsustainable development practices was clarified.

Matthias Hugli (Schule Kuttigen, Switzerland)

·         A project entitled ‘Rubbish in the City’ involving kindergarten, primary and secondary school pupils was described.

·         Other topics of sustainability research by students included desertification and how to save energy in everyday life.

·         It was explained how the students take all the rubbish they find in the city and build an artwork distillation to demonstrate to citizens what has been thrown away.

·         Students are keen to explore relationships between disasters like Fukushima and our daily use of energy.

Nikos van de Klundert (Stedelijk College Eindhoven, Netherlands)

·         Activities in years one and two were communicated to delegates including successful student trips to Stevenage, London and Ceuta.

·         The results of the SusSol (mini) Science Fair were also used for the 3TTO Science Fair for all bilingual 3^rd classes, which took place in April.

·         Again, the importance of a collaborative approach was highlighted, including working with teachers of various vocational areas.

·         Dissemination of  information was showcased using the following methods: SusSol (mini) Science information booklet, SusSol (mini) Science Fair projects, school website and newspaper.

·         Future plans include running a science fair held in the evening time so more teachers and parents are able to see the results of the project, producing a signpost to all the participating schools in Europe, placed centrally in the auditorium where the Science Fair will be held.

Tomas Diaz Gomez (Instituto de Educacion Secundaria Abyla, Ceuta, Spain)

·         The students’ study of different aspects of Ceuta’s beaches and their sustainability was discussed.

·         An inter-disciplinary approach was used between lecturers in subjects such as Geography, History, Economics and English.

·         Research projects have included work on wide ranging topics, such as discussions on sustainable habits, conclusions about consumerism, preservation of the environment and a visit to a workshop in Granada.

·         The onus on the work of the institute is ‘learning from our environment.’

Martin Greenacre and Sinead Kellett (Marriotts School, Stevenage, England)

·         An understanding of how sustainable Marriotts School is and how they relate to the local, national and international pattern was broken down.

·         Energy usage has been a research topic for the students and staff at Marriotts, including questions such as: How do we use Energy? Do we switch off appliances? Do we waste electricity?

·         ‘Opening Minds’ is a theme explored at this school in an attempt to understand an Ecological Footprint, how it is measured, where it varies around the world and how it can be reduced.

·         Students have carried out research with surveys and questionnaires.

·         There is no fixed curriculum at Lonsdale School (for students with learning difficulties) and an innovative project between the two schools was highlighted. This was demonstrated using a short drama clip outlining a project on the sustainable world.

·         The video showed how students were using scripts to teach each other about the issue of sustainability in a creative way.

Dissemination, communication and evaluation activities

John concluded the meetings with the following action points:

·         Delegates to use the ‘shared treasure’ function on respective institutional websites where possible.

·         An improved evaluation questionnaire to be discussed and devised at the next partner meeting in 2012.

·         Maintain collegiate approaches with COMENIUS colleagues.

·         Links to innovative practice to be linked to respective websites and on the SusSol hub.

The advent of a new project, provisionally entitled Good Food, Good Mood was initiated by colleagues from England and Switzerland, and this will be explored further and formalised at a meeting in Zurich in February 2012.

John thanked all delegates for their contribution and enthusiasm and in particular representatives from the host institute in Rome.

Mark Hetherington, 23/10/11.

 

Core skills (communication) and the science

View more presentations from Mark Hetherington

Sussol rome sce student activities (2010 2011)

View more presentations from Mark Hetherington

Sus sols presentation

View more presentations from Mark Hetherington

Developing employability and communication skills for Hairdressing students

Two members of the teaching team, Caroline Brady and Joyce Faulkner are working together to deliver the first part of the Cosmetology Unit, which is also the first part of the Hairdressing course.  Essentially, this means the students are:

·         researching career paths/routes for qualified hairdressers (this has proved very enlightening for us all)

·         analysing job adverts

·         preparing a CV and letter of application

·         preparing and practicing for interviews  

Reading will be on a text associated with hairdressing. 

Talks will be about their individual career/ research findings, or practice interviews with each other.  A possible re-sit/alternative speaking task will be a talk on a top hairdresser/hairdressing chain. 

The lecturers involved have worked out a schedule which covers both classes, sharing materials, and adapting the course as we go, to meet the students’ needs.

A snapshot of current Good Practice within the team

Caroline – has been working in collaboration with Joyce with their Hairdressing classes. They have been devising materials for some portfolio work so that the employability and communication skills of the students are enhanced. This involves writing CVs, letter, presentation pitches etc. Caroline has also been involved in some interesting team assessing with Jo Whelan from MAAV with her TV and Broadcast Production class. This will involve joint oral assessments where the students are involved in a comparative study of television shows from the US and the UK. Work with her Early Education and Childcare classes has involved the students looking at inclusiveness issues when analysing BBC CBeebies programmes where signing for deaf children has been studied.

Madeleine – has been developing lots of interesting materials for her Preparation for Work class. Contemporary issues such as the London Riots, perceptions of imagery and text etc. has been looked at. It is anticipated that the Community Policeman will be able to attend some of these classes to talk about societal issues that affect young people. The importance of budgetary issues has been worked on with these students where they have been mapping out income and expenditure using mind maps. Madeleine has also been inviting students to pick a song from You Tube where they are to critically analyse their choice of tune. She is working on developing their language from ‘I like it because it is a bangin’ choon’ into something a little more sophisticated in analysis!

Deborah – has been working with Caroline on developing a new summative reading assessment for the HN Legal Services students. They are also working collaboratively on the writing outcome assessment too. Mark has provided a working brief to work with as a starting point. They will run that by him as IV for HN Units before anything is finalised. Deborah has organised a trip to the theatre for her Access to Humanities class to see ‘Men Should Weep’ at the Kings Theatre and around two thirds of that class are keen to see the production, some of whom have never been to see a play before. She also outlined her proactive approach to the Literature One class this year. In previous years, students have taken Intro to Literature in semester one (Int 1 level) then Literature One (Higher level) in semester two. Due to a streamlining of that cohort’s Programme of Study, she had adapted her teaching and assessment schedule to accommodate weaker students. She is using the revised unit for Lit. 1 and this has only two outcomes, suitable for work studied within class time. She has also been developing sample answers for formative reading tasks.

Roisin – has been using a documentary called ‘The Buckfast Code’ where BBC Scotland journalist Kenneth MacDonald investigates whether Buckfast Tonic Wine can really be blamed for crime and antisocial behaviour, enlisting top scientists in the search for evidence. This has resulted in a meaningful project for the students addressing this contemporary issue. It was suggested that a follow-up project could be for the students to write to Buckfast directly to ask them their opinions on the connection between their product and alleged crimes. This would enhance their writing skills and any replies could form a mini project too.

Isobel – has been using the wonderful ‘Pixar shorts’ with her Digital Media and ICA classes. These are films lasting between two and three minutes and have been used as short stimuli for development and awareness of analysis, storytelling, structure, writing skills etc. She has also been using a text written by Helena Nielson about her experiences when she was teaching at the time of 9/11. This stimulated an interesting discussion about this subject on the ten year anniversary of that tragedy and she also noted how some incidents that happened to her had ‘sparked’ some ideas for her Writing Skills class.

Stephen – has been doing some fun creative tasks with his Higher English class to try and get them thinking about different mediums and techniques. He asked them to adapt an imagery-heavy poem into a graphic novel form, thinking about what each image was trying to communicate. He also asked them to do a stage adaptation of one dialogue heavy chapter of the novel they are studying to investigate the similarities and differences between prose and drama. He has also been involved in some reworking of the Beauty Therapy assessments with Mark.

Too many cooks CAN improve the recipe to enhance Essential Skills in NQ Business classes!

Much of the success of the Communication and English teaching team is due to excellent working relationships with colleagues cross college. A project that we are currently involved in is with the NQ Intro to Business group. The project was a success last year and involves input from Communication, IT, Numeracy and Business lecturers.

The theme of the project is 'Be your own boss - creating your business plan.'

Students enrolled on the Core Skills (Communication) Unit are assessed on their ability to read and evaluate a newspaper article, write a business plan and present their business plan as contestants would in the critically acclaimed BBC television programme, Dragons' Den.

Student feedback has been positive and although we aren't quite at the half way point, the students have successfully negotiated a newspaper article (summative task) entitled 'Young entrepreneurs are cooking with gas' which included recent research that contradicts the idea that young people are often seen as troublemakers who lack ambition, drive and commitment. The article highlights the fact that a significant percentage of young people want to set up their own businesses in the near future and provides useful references and links to support organisations for those young people wishing to go down this route. It is well written, appeared in The Scotsman and is a good example of positive journalism that addresses contemporary issues.

The students enjoyed reading this as they could identify with the main points raised in the article. I had already established from the first session with them that the main reason for them being on the course was to learn the skills necessary to sustain a business of their own. When students know why they are enrolled on their Programme of Study, it does make things less stressful for the lecturers!

The final two tasks require a lot of planning, goodwill, application and understanding and that is just with reference to the lecturing staff! Carole Paterson, course tutor and Senior Lecturer in Business met with representatives from Communication, IT, Numeracy and Business before the start of semester one to explain the premise of the project, supported by the Communication lecturer who taught the class with great success the previous year.

What the project entails is for the students to identify what their proposed business is about, what they would like to call it, details on the location, type of business (sole trader or partnership), what the WOW! factor is, USP, Marketing Plan and many other aspects besides, too numerous to mention.

This involves teaching and learning from four lecturers. These lecturers help the students with Communication Skills (writing formally, structure, form, content and presentation techniques), Business acumen (learning about Business discourse, Marketing principles and Business Management), IT knowledge (learning how to apply principles of spreadsheets, blogging, general word processing skills) and application of Numeracy skills (to discuss the financial plan, cash budgeting, profit and loss accounts etc.)

The final part of the jigsaw culminates in the students delivering a presentation on their business plan to a cross section of lecturing staff. The Communication lecturer assesses the talks using a checklist in line with SQA guidelines joined by up to three other members of staff to authenticate the process. It has been rumoured that bundles of cash will be available for the pitches, but alas, they won't be real! The students will be asked to pitch for investment from the lecturing 'dragons' with prizes going to the best two presentations.

In terms of what this collegiate educational project can add to the student experience, I genuinely believe that we are adding value to their learning. The project promotes the ideas of enterprise, employability, citizenship, entrepreneurial activities, career development, self-awareness and improvement, problem solving, communication and literacy, application of numeracy, application of IT, joined-up thinking, participative working and reflective practice.

It is clear that the lecturers understand the roles they play in this process and the students are keen to impress with their ideas. Some of the business proposals include a traditional tea room called Eden and Eve, developing and manufacturing covers for the iPad 2, running a mobile beauty therapy business, an idea for a non traditional milkshake bar and a sports and fitness business for disadvantaged young people.

I look forward to the pitching in December and will probably assume the role of Theo Paphitis rather than Duncan Bannatyne on the day!

Addressing contemporary issues within vocational areas

Flexibility within Core Skills (Communication) Units is very important and the team value this when it comes to formative and summative assessment. One such area is within the Sports and Exercise curriculum.We have been working on speaking and listening skills with one of the NQ Sports and Exercise groups and they are preparing for summative assessment after the October break. A meeting was held with the Senior Lecturer and tutor from Sports, Leisure and Exercise Studies and a new brief was developed. The students enjoyed having the opportunity to 'shape' the topic of their talks and the following areas of interest will be analysed:

• Drugs in sport
• Match fixing
• Racism in sport
• Cheating rife in professional sport
• Twitter, Facebook and social networking 'issues' within professional sport
• Sport as a catalyst for challenging gender stereotypes
• Fitness and exercise issues in young people (UK study)
• The decline in Scottish football
• The 'Tevez' issue and the knock-on effect this could have within all aspects of sport
• Private vs public sporting facilities
• Are footballers paid too much? A comparative study between football's top earners and those working in the public sector
• Controversy in sport (case studies)
• Kung-fu - the mental and physical benefits of this martial art.

Students have been commended on their timekeeping, aptitude and attitude and seem to be enjoying the classes!

Discussing issues that concern young people

Research exercise on cannabis

With my CPC class, we watched a documentary on cannabis use, the students answered some questions on the programme and then we had a discussion afterwards. From that discussion, a short research exercise was put together and the students unearthed the following points.

Twenty facts we found out about cannabis (10^th October 2011)

1.    In a small minority of people, cannabis can trigger serious mental illness. It is best to avoid cannabis if the user has a family history of mental illness.

2.    The maximum penalty for possession of cannabis is five years in prison.

3.    Supplying cannabis can lead to the supplier getting a jail sentence of up to fourteen years and an unlimited fine.

4.    Cannabis is a class B drug.

5.    Cannabis is the most used drug in the U.K.

6.    It is said that 20-24 year olds is the most likely age group to use cannabis in the last year.

7.    Research states that 2 million people in the UK smoke cannabis.

8.    If young people are found to be in possession of cannabis the police are able to do the following: arrest them, take them to a police station, give them a reprimand, give them a final warning or charge them (depending on the seriousness of the offence.)

9.    Long term use of cannabis can cause lung cancer, bronchitis and respiratory disorders associated with smoking.

10. If you start smoking cannabis before 15 years of age, you are four times more likely to develop psychotic illness or any mental illness.

11. Claims have been made for its use in treating: migraines, asthma, strokes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s Disease, alcoholism and insomnia.

12. In 19^th century Nepal, naked men would run through fields of flowering cannabis plants and then had the sticky resin scraped off their bodies.

13. Bill Clinton famously said that he had smoked marijuana but didn’t inhale.

14. Cannabis contains a high dose of tar.

15. The compound that gives cannabis its mind-altering properties is known as THC.

16. Approximately 4% of the world’s adults (some 162 million people) use cannabis at least once in the course of a year, making it the world’s most widely-used illicit drug.

17. Cannabis may impair short-term memory and affects body co-ordination.

18. First time users may feel confused and distressed. Anxiety, panic and suspicion are not uncommon side effects.

19. The Home Office has published a guide on cutting down and stopping. It suggests that users: write down their reasons for wanting to change, plan how they will change, plan how to cope with withdrawal symptoms and have a back-up plan.

20. Although dangers exist for marijuana users of all ages, risk is greatest for the young. For them, the impact of marijuana on learning is critical, and cannabis often proves pivotal in the failure to master vital interpersonal coping skills or make appropriate life-style choices. Thus, marijuana can inhibit maturity.

The students consulted a wide variety of websites to glean their information including BBC Health, Know UK, Issues online, FRANK, Royal College of Psychiatrists and NHS.

The students found the exercise interesting and informative and some learners had preconceived ideas about cannabis. In most cases their research disproved their thoughts. This was not an exercise in glamourising cannabis use, but rather, a meaningful research project with an end product.

Watching documentaries followed by discussion and short research projects helps to enhance the learner's writing, speaking and listening skills.