Inter-school Technology Challenge
Level: Years 7-8
School: Te Awamutu Intermediate and Belmont Intermediate
Teachers: Alyson Wingrove, David Monk
Category: Teaching strategy
Technology HODs Alyson Wingrove from Belmont Intermediate and David Monk from Te Awamutu Intermediate, worked together to create a "Technology Challenge" where teams from both schools competed to create Technological Outcomes in a quick-fire, 90-minute session, that condensed Technological Practice down to its essential elements.
Belmont and Te Awamutu Intermediate have had an on-going sports and cultural exchange programme for years, but after a conversation with Paul Neveldson at Team Solutions who was excited by the opportunity the exchange could offer, Alyson and David decided to add a Technology component to the programme.
"Everyone was really excited to introduce something new to the exchange because we have been doing it for a long time," Alyson says. "It's mainly been a sporting and cultural exchange so it was really nice to bring something totally new into that mix because it meant different kinds of kids could go and take part."
In the six-week build up to the project, Alyson and David kept in close contact via email. "It was really important for us to keep those lines of communication open between the school so we could make sure we were working on the same themes, sorting out any issues and moving on," David says.
David also worked very closely with Te Awamutu's Food teacher Margaret Dixon and Soft Materials teacher Judith Kilgour who all worked as a team to make the project a success.
Once the challenge's brief was announced to the schools, the call was sent out for students to come forward as contestants – two pairs for Food and two for Hard Materials – to compete on the day.
"We had so many kids that wanted to do it, we had a hell of a job whittling down to the final team." Alyson says. "We decided to give them a little brief to complete on paper which narrowed it down to a few kids and then we gave them a challenge to do in miniature which helped us pick our finalists."
The chosen competitors were then given their briefs for the forthcoming Technology Challenge day. The Hard Materials team had to create a moving land yacht from basic materials provided, such as balsa wood, cardboard, wheels, axles and sail cloth, while the Food team were asked to create a mince-based meal that was nutritionally balanced, tasty and presentable, with a variety of cooking options available to them such as boiling, baking, grilling, steaming or shallow frying.
David found choosing these briefs one of the more difficult aspects of the exchange. "Finding something that would interest students at both schools, getting the necessary materials to cater for the range of designs the students might come up with and having equipment available that both schools knew how to use was one of the biggest challenges in preparing for the day."
While the Hard Materials team knew exactly what materials and tools would be available to them, the Food team had a little more flexibility and were given a list of ingredients from the Te Awamutu larder that they could choose for their ingredients.
The students then spent a lunch period deciding on their recipe, which was given – or in the case of the Belmont team – faxed, to the Te Awamutu food department to ensure there would be enough on the day, and to request any specific ingredients.
The students then only had a few chances to run through their idea before the day of the challenge.
"Organising time for a run-through was quite difficult," Alyson says. "Especially when you only have a 45-minute lunch break in a full teaching programme and the challenge itself was going to last an hour-and-a-half."
On the day of the challenge, both teams competed for 90 minutes to produce their outcomes in the in the Te Awamutu Technology rooms. David says the layout of the school's classrooms – where large windows open up on a large central foyer area – helped to turn the challenge into a true spectator event.
"It gave those students who aren't interested in sport something they wanted to watch and they were able to observe the challenges and see Technology in action, without having to be in the technology rooms which would have caused safety concerns."
A group of specialist teachers and a guest cook judged the outcomes, with the land yachts evaluated on physical attributes such as stability, finish and movement, while the mince meals were rated for nutritional aspects as well as creativity in taste, smell, texture and colour. The teams were also evaluated on the safety procedures they followed throughout the production of their outcome.
Belmont won both the Food and Hard Materials Technology challenges by a narrow margin, and the scores were also added to the schools' total scores that determines the overall winner of the entire exchange programme.
"Successes are celebrated between the two schools," Alyson explains. "The students also received certificates at the school assembly, a write-up in the school newsletter and yearbook and of course the kudos of having won, which was great for them."
Benefits
Alyson feels that the high speed of the challenge is one of its biggest assets. "With this kind of challenge, students get given the brief, then have to do their planning, trialling, evaluating and remodelling all instantly, so it gives them a real picture of what Technology is all about. It condenses it all down for them and makes it really obvious what's going on and what all the processes are that they have to go through."
The challenge also champions students who may not always have as many opportunities to support their school and show their natural talents.
"The sports kids have opportunities to go to events throughout the year, but there's no other challenge like this that Technology students can take part in, so non-sporting types always feel like they're on some kind of back burner," Alyson says. "The challenge gave them the opportunity to step forward and go for it, and they really loved that."
David feels that the challenge helped to boost the status of Technology in both schools. "It helped to elevate Technology as a subject that could be used as part of the exchange, putting it on the same plane as the sporting achievements."
Although the two schools already had very similar Technology departments, Alyson is keen to stress that this wasn't a crucial element to the challenge's success. "I think it's the kind of challenge that would work in any school that does Technology and I think everybody should do it, even if it's internally, because it's a summary of the entire tech process and it just makes it so clear to students how it works. Eventually I would love to see it as a regular zone day like all the others."
The student response was so overwhelming, both schools are keen to continue the challenge in future exchanges.
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