Outcomes
The result of the year's work was production of some high quality artefacts and the students were deservedly proud of what they had achieved.
A highlight for Matthew was an animated and intense hour-long discussion on the merits of one of the student's work by four others. The arguments for and against were critical, analytical and cuttingly functional. He only regrets that he didn't have a video available. For the five students involved, technology had moved on to a different level. They were passionately involved in each others' work, contributing meaningfully to their questions and needs. They had become advocates for the subject and would be great ambassadors.
Partway through the course Matthew identified five students who were highly motivated with plenty of ideas, and who became Scholarship candidates.
Matthew was surprised at how many left their practical piece to the last minute, putting pressure on themselves, teachers and parents. However he was amazed at how hard others would work through several nights to present superbly finished prototypes.
Some pieces needed to undergo a process that could not be done in the school workshop, for example a metal seat frame that was sent to a plastic coating company. These students learnt that outsourcing of project finishing meant working to specific deadlines. Welcome to the real world!
Some of the mid range students completed their work successfully and their clients were positive about the outcome. However Matthew felt that their projects lacked the depth and breadth that the best ones exhibited. A couple of students managed to complete their project to the modelling stage but not the prototype or realised artefact.
Sports commitments affected the classroom productivity of half of the class. Work was left on the school website to help them catch up.
Client satisfaction varied significantly from generally pleased to near disbelief at the high quality of the finished product. Seeing the development from initial sketches and thoughts on a page, through to computer modelling still left the tricky business of construction. Some clients could not believe that the students could complete some of the very large tasks that they undertook - one project alone took over 120 hours to produce.
The students also rose to the challenge of public speaking with an in-house competition to select four to visit Parliament for a Beacon Practice presentation, of whom two were chosen to be the College representatives to deliver five-minute speeches.
The class enjoyed their second experience of working with university mentors and found immense value in discussing their work with the students and having it reviewed and critiqued.
