2. What the syllabus says about project
work
Information on project work is embedded in
various parts of the syllabus.
In the preliminary course, the last unit “Personal
and Group Systems and Projects” contains the
first reference to mandatory project
requirements
3. What the syllabus says about project
work in the Preliminary Course
Notice on page 29 the requirement for TWO
projects in Year 11
One must be an individual project
One must be a group project
4. Could more than two projects be
carried out in the preliminary course?
The syllabus doesn’t say that this cannot be
done. However, given that:
there is only 3 terms and
Year 11 has a number of interruptions (excursions,
camps, etc..)
it is unlikely that you would get the chance to do
so.
5. What the syllabus says about project
work in the HSC Course
In the HSC course, the first unit “Project Work”,
contains the references to project work for the HSC
course
Notice on page 32 the requirements for projects in the
HSC course are:
One large project, or
A number of smaller projects
NOTE: if the smaller projects option is chosen, then the
projects must
“..take place over a significant period of time and involve sustained
work.”
6. What the syllabus says about project
work in the HSC Course
The syllabus stresses that the single project or
group of projects should:
“…allow the students to see an information
system in its full context”.
20% of course time is a suggested as a suitable
allocation for project work in the HSC course
Projects can be individual or group projects.
7. Quality Teaching
Project work is fertile ground for the application
of quality teaching principles.
While it is tempting to address as many QT
dimensions / elements as possible, it would be
better to restrict your self until you are familiar
with the course content.
All projects should address the “substantive
communication” element
8. Shortcomings of the Syllabus
Given the supposed emphasis and importance
of project work, it is a bit of a mystery as to why
the authors of the syllabus “buried” the
information on project requirements within the
introduction to the units “Personal and Group
Systems and Projects” and “Project Work”
The information should be published on a
separate page of its own as well as in the units of
work.
9. Short comings of the Syllabus
As well, given the structure of the syllabus, a teacher
could be forgiven for ignoring project work until almost
the end of the preliminary course!
Perhaps this could be rectified when programming the
course by moving material from “Planning, Design and
Implementation” and “Personal and Group Systems
projects” to earlier in the course
10. What we do at AGHS
After much experimentation, I eventually
decided on a 2 by 2 approach
Two projects in the Preliminary course
Two (and a half) in the HSC course
11. What we do at AGHS - Preliminary
Students do an individual project and a group project.
As well as the two projects, our students undertake a:
Half yearly exam, and
A yearly exam.
There isn’t really enough time to do more than this.
To do so would be onerous on the students and
teachers.
12. What we do at AGHS - Preliminary
The individual project is usually a written analysis of an
information system
Students are asked to analyse an example of a real
information system, as supplied by the teacher, in terms
of the components in the diagram (see lecture 1)
They prepare their answer in class time using whatever
research they require for the perfect answer
They are then required to write up the analysis in class
under exam conditions without their prepared answer
13. What we do at AGHS - Preliminary
The group project varies, however in recent years it
involves preparing resources for a simulated company
This involves the development of
• company logo
• client database
• employee database
• in house newsletter
• product spreadsheet
• web site
• mail merged invitation to company party for clients and
employees
• animation/slideshow for company foyer
14. What we do at AGHS - HSC
Students have to complete a half yearly exam
and a trial HSC.
I try to do two practical projects with the
students:
Multimedia Systems option
Decision Support Systems option
They also do a Communications Systems
assignment which is basically theory
15. What we do at AGHS - HSC
First, a long-term Multimedia Systems project is
begun in term 4 of Year 11: Making a Web-
based Year 12 Year Book CD
Initially they are only collecting resources
(photos, student details, etc) until we do the
Multimedia Systems option
This is a whole class project but each student is
assigned responsibility for individual tasks which
are marked separately
16. What we do at AGHS - HSC
The second project is a shorter project (in
allocated time)
This project is carried out at the end of the
Decision Support Systems option
In the past this has been to develop an expert
system using Xrules which is a HyperCard-based
application
Xrules is free but Mac-only. There other expert
system applications available for PC
17. What we do at AGHS - HSC
The Communications Systems assignment requires each
student to prepare an answer to a past Communications
Systems question (supplied by me, a different one each)
They have to present their question and answer to the
class using PREZI
I usually make this the last topic before the Trial HSC
so it is good exam preparation (as well as being quick to
mark before final assessment marks are due!)
18. What we do at AGHS - HSC
Because of plagiarism, or the suspicion of it, we
are careful to make sure each student has a
different theme or question or tasks of a similar
nature only to complete and that all work on
assessment tasks is done at school
19. “Enhancing Project Work in SDD
and IPT”
This document was released a few years ago
The document attempts to address the issue of
Quality Teaching in the senior computing syllabi
20. “Enhancing Project Work in SDD
and IPT”
It is a very thorough document and if you take
the time to read it , will give you a very sound
grounding in the requirements for project work
The most controversial issue surrounding this
document was to do with assessment
21. Controversy.
One of the report’s authors and a senior HSC
marker, suggested that if teachers set a project
for their class they were not compelled to mark
the entire project
Teachers can mark only certain components of
the project, if all they want to do is gather
assessment information on particular outcomes
I described this thought as “liberating”
22. Controversy.
Many expressed discomfort with the idea, stating that
we knew of many students who would baulk at
completing a project that wasn’t being completely
marked and that we must provide marking criteria so it
would be clear to them that this is the case
Teacher’s response was that “ it would then become a
disciplinary matter and if necessary appropriate
measures should be taken”
He was of the belief that it was like students not
completing an in-class task
23. Controversy.
Many remain unconvinced by his point of view
Based on my experience with senior students
and school principals, I am fairly sure that upon
receipt of the first complaint, I’d be directed to
mark the whole assignment
However, you may wish to adopt the previously
mentioned approach with your classes (but
probably only once!)
24. Striking a Balance
One of the main purposes of HSC assessment is to
rank students and space them appropriately on a scale
However, given the nature of project work, should we
view project work as a means for students to reinforce
and extend their learning, rather than a major tool used
to rank students?
Are exams better as the primary tools used to
determine a student’s rank or would this lead to too
great an emphasis on exams for determining a student’s
final ‘worth’ in IPT?
25. Striking a Balance
Bear in mind that IPT is an elective course and
if the assessment is made too tough, then
students will vote with their feet
A balance must be sought, that will enable
students to confidently tackle the HSC exam
26. Developing the project
Page 36 to 50 of the “Enhancing Project Work”
document provides outstanding information on how
this is done. Just a few tips…
Provide written documentation and a marking scale to
students (and record when they received it), that way they are
aware of the standard you are after.
Have some examples of past students’ work
I usually have the assignment specification and marking scale
on the “EDMODO” and pinned up on a notice board in the
classroom as 95% of students misplace the specification
within a week
27. Developing the project
If students want to work outside of class time restrict them to the
development of the documentation
All product development should occur in class time
Students often make special requests to develop a project using a special
kind of software that they have at home on their computer. Avoid
complying with these requests. It is usually code for “I know someone
who can help me develop or will give me a project already developed for
my use
This is an equity and fairness issue
I try to sell this to students as a constraint on the product development
and make sure it is spelled out in the documentation for the project
28. Developing the project
The other side of this issue is, of course, that the
school has a responsibility to ensure that all student
work is backed up and secure
Also, be aware of students with older siblings or
friends at other schools who may have done IPT
While I am in favour of teachers sharing resources
with other teachers, be aware that students “share”
assignments with students at other schools.
29. Developing the project
I suggest that projects be developed around a theme or a
scenario
They can still be open ended, however by placing the above
constraint on the project, you can be reasonably sure that the
students have developed the project by themselves
Some of the marks for the task should come from the
product and some from the accompanying documentation
30. Where to get ideas for Projects
“Enhancing Project Work in IPT and SDD”.
The IPT support document has some good
examples of projects
The CSTA syllabus document also has plenty of
good ideas.
All of the published text books I have reviewed
have some good ideas for projects
31. Draft Performance Bands
Included in the pp 3 space
These describe the typical performance by
students that attain each band
Useful for constructing marking rubrics for
projects
The can also be useful for student reports
