Proposed learning objects, media and activities are described, as well as the way in which they will be used
Given the relative maturity of my course, many of these aspects will remain unchanged. I will briefly summarise the course's current status, then discuss CCEL-specific changes that I plan to make.
Technically, the course is based on Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 using Visual Basic for application programming and integration, and Microsoft Access 2010 for database system development. I also have a lot of material that I have been using that involves Microsoft Excel 2010 using Vsial Basic for Applications, but this should be quite easy to convert to Visual Studio work and I will decide with the class which to emphasie at the time of delivery. I have no current plans to change this environment.
Learning Objects
The Learning Objects of this course are built closely around the following learning objectives:
This comparison of learning objectives with learning objects is new to me, and enlightening. Although I don't currently have any leeway to make major changes in this area, I do plan to review the course content, to notionally put each individual activity into its learning object. That will enable me to review each parent object for consistency and completeness with respect to the learning objectives as a whole, and to ensure that a range of alternative teaching strategies, content types and activities can be offered within each object. I feel the best way to do this will be on an ongoing basis, as I review the material to prepare each week.
Media
Media-wise, my main immediate aim for the content of this course is to formalise it, so that the details reside somewhere other than in my head. Initially I will achieve this with slide presentations, activity documentation and explanatory notes for the students and with comprehensive session planning documents for myself and any other facilitators.
The development of computer applications is technically challenging for the students at this level, and I am currently reluctant to divert their attention to technical learning facilitation packages beyond what is currently in use: e-mail, Moodle shared work areas and network hosting of applications and documentation. Any future efforts I make in this area will probably be driven by programme-wide considerations.
In terms of media themes relating to activities and assignments, the subject of the course provides, of its nature, a rich environment for creation of versatile, interactive multimedia applications. Learner-centred discussions of what application scenarios to adopt for the final project assignment, usually end up selecting a computer game to develop. This is what I normally go with, but any number of business or leisure applications could be agreed and integrated into the project.
It might be possible to enhance this course to incorporate web-based applications, allowing for further interactivity - including the development of custom groupware tools, for example. However, this would have to be at the expense of current content, which would mean breaking the link with the current NACCQ basis modules. If this were to happen, I would need to review available web development environments and introduce disparate technologies, as the web-development component of Visual Studio 2010 (ASP.Net) is not suitable at Level 3.
Activities
I feel that this course currently contains insufficient formal content, and plan to create more. This means that it is going to be difficult to incorporate any further session-based activities. There are, however, three technical areas when I am concerned to alter or add content:
All of these assessments are as experiential as possible at this level and, beyond incorporating the new content (listed above), I have no current plans to change them.
Technically, the course is based on Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 using Visual Basic for application programming and integration, and Microsoft Access 2010 for database system development. I also have a lot of material that I have been using that involves Microsoft Excel 2010 using Vsial Basic for Applications, but this should be quite easy to convert to Visual Studio work and I will decide with the class which to emphasie at the time of delivery. I have no current plans to change this environment.
Learning Objects
The Learning Objects of this course are built closely around the following learning objectives:
- Identify the parts and structure of a computer programme
- Document and code programmes from a given design
- Describe the terminology of databases, including what data types are available
- Create a database system that shows the principles of databases
- Create, document and test these programmes and database system
- Design, illustrate and desk-check solutions to computer programming problems and database system problems
- Reason statistically and make sense of Number to solve problems
- Apply learning of this course to real world context, including integration of core competencies (including change management, social responsibility, social context, Treaty of Waitangi and sustainability)
This comparison of learning objectives with learning objects is new to me, and enlightening. Although I don't currently have any leeway to make major changes in this area, I do plan to review the course content, to notionally put each individual activity into its learning object. That will enable me to review each parent object for consistency and completeness with respect to the learning objectives as a whole, and to ensure that a range of alternative teaching strategies, content types and activities can be offered within each object. I feel the best way to do this will be on an ongoing basis, as I review the material to prepare each week.
Media
Media-wise, my main immediate aim for the content of this course is to formalise it, so that the details reside somewhere other than in my head. Initially I will achieve this with slide presentations, activity documentation and explanatory notes for the students and with comprehensive session planning documents for myself and any other facilitators.
The development of computer applications is technically challenging for the students at this level, and I am currently reluctant to divert their attention to technical learning facilitation packages beyond what is currently in use: e-mail, Moodle shared work areas and network hosting of applications and documentation. Any future efforts I make in this area will probably be driven by programme-wide considerations.
In terms of media themes relating to activities and assignments, the subject of the course provides, of its nature, a rich environment for creation of versatile, interactive multimedia applications. Learner-centred discussions of what application scenarios to adopt for the final project assignment, usually end up selecting a computer game to develop. This is what I normally go with, but any number of business or leisure applications could be agreed and integrated into the project.
It might be possible to enhance this course to incorporate web-based applications, allowing for further interactivity - including the development of custom groupware tools, for example. However, this would have to be at the expense of current content, which would mean breaking the link with the current NACCQ basis modules. If this were to happen, I would need to review available web development environments and introduce disparate technologies, as the web-development component of Visual Studio 2010 (ASP.Net) is not suitable at Level 3.
Activities
I feel that this course currently contains insufficient formal content, and plan to create more. This means that it is going to be difficult to incorporate any further session-based activities. There are, however, three technical areas when I am concerned to alter or add content:
- Cutover from introducing programming with VBA in Excel to VB in Visual Studio
- I will probably make this decision by discussion and agreement with the students
- The current course material can be quickly adapted to work with either environment, but an early decision (within the first couple of weeks should be possible) will allow me to work out how much cutover effort I will require
- Formalised coverage of how to cope with coding errors
- This will be incorporated in the initial rote typing exercises, and should not actually impact on available session time - it has been covered in earlier course instances, just not to the level of formalisation that I would like
- I will take the relevant information from my old course logs, and include example code with errors in the session plans, for presentation on the overhead projector as before
- Integration of a database system into an application
- I need to find a week around Week 11 to cover the information on how to do this
- (It can be partly integrated onto the project time available from Week 12)
- It will involve the students designing a database to the application's requirements rather than to their own wims, as is currently the case
- On the other hand, it should work well as a summative group exercise
All of these assessments are as experiential as possible at this level and, beyond incorporating the new content (listed above), I have no current plans to change them.
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