C2 Conduct effective research.
Initial knowledge/skills rating *
September 2011
I feel my ability to carry out research is effective as I have successfully designed products for both pleasure and employment purposes. My research has enabled me to make good effective products that have served the purpose for which they were designed, for both personal use and public use.
I have accessed knowledge from many sources:
- From observations.
- Suppliers and catalogues.
- Through study and lectures.
- Books and the internet.
- By experimentation.
- British standards.
- Peers and specialists.
However, I would like to widen my resources to include the use of journals and publications used for schools as this will help me to understand the areas I would need to teach in.
Secondly I generally need to gain confidence. Initially I think it would be helpful to acknowledge my successes and to realise that accessing knowledge is not about being thick because you do not know everything but conversely is an intelligent approach to finding solutions.
29th October 2011
I have been researching plastics in preparation for a presentation I am due to give in a couple of days. We divided areas for research between our group and initially mine was to be manufacturing processes.
I started with BBC Bitesize which covered a few basics. I found some really good diagrams but the width and depth of knowledge was not great enough for me.
I soon found myself hoping from sites like Wikipedia and Plastipedia and across to manufacturing websites to cross check my facts. Plastipedia was an interesting site as it was sponsored by manufacturers. Although manufacturing websites will be written with a bias as they want to sell how good their products are, I did find them a useful source of facts.
Youtube was great fun, I watched an entire tour of the Lego factory and am now full of interesting facts like Did you know the Lego die used in the injection moulding process is used 5million times before it needs replacing? Or that over a billion pieces of Lego are produced each year. Little facts that young people may be able to relate to as I think everyone has played with Lego at some time.
I assumed responsibility for smart materials and the future of plastics. I came across a really interesting article on memory plastic activated by specific light wavelengths and its potential for use in the medical profession. Although too late for my presentation, my next step is to locate the journal containing the original article. I hope this will increase my knowledge not only in this specific subject but also my awareness of journals likely to carry relevant information to stay updated with the developments in the field of Design and Technology.
23rd December 2011
Wow, lovely tutor in the library gave me a clear idea of how to search for journals. I learnt so much about doing advanced searches! My next step is to give it a try. I never knew by putting quotation marks around several word when putting them in a search bar meant that the hits you get would have to contain all of the words and not just one.
Wow, lovely tutor in the library gave me a clear idea of how to search for journals. I learnt so much about doing advanced searches! My next step is to give it a try. I never knew by putting quotation marks around several word when putting them in a search bar meant that the hits you get would have to contain all of the words and not just one.
11th February 2012 ***
I have widened my resources when searching for knowledge but I think other people may carry out more effective research then I do when it comes to using the internet especially when it comes to teaching resources. I will talk to them about it and see if there is any advice they can give. Although I would be happy to share my knowledge I want to feel more confident around teaching resources before I increase my star rating.
I have widened my resources when searching for knowledge but I think other people may carry out more effective research then I do when it comes to using the internet especially when it comes to teaching resources. I will talk to them about it and see if there is any advice they can give. Although I would be happy to share my knowledge I want to feel more confident around teaching resources before I increase my star rating.
Questionnaire
6th March 2012
I have created a questionnaire in order to obtain quotes for the video I am making as part of a group for Using and Applying. I know we want to capture the thoughts of people already working and studying in the field of Design and Technology, from education to engineering and design. I feel sure that most of these people would think the Design and Technology they were taught at school was a good thing. It is these people that we want to represent to help promote Design and Technology in our video. I thought about my contacts and their ages and then devised questions that I felt would give me the relevant response I want.
As Design and Technology was introduced just after I took my O' levels I know anyone over the age of 47 would not have studied it. As we wanted to include people over 47 in the survey,so that we have as wide an age and experience range as possible, I have included woodwork and metalwork as subjects studied at school. Sometimes I get the feeling that woodwork and metalwork are almost a swear word and a bit oh it's not woodwork and metalwork any more. Well it is true Design and Technology is so much more and has a much wider scope for design . I can remember the year it was introduced and being so jealous that I had not had the opportunity to study it. But I think we should not underestimate the value of woodwork and metalwork which for me allowed the scope to design but did not celebrate the process of design quite to the same depth as Design and Technology does today. I don't know why but I feel I must mention the incorporation of currant technologies including electronics. Probably just because I don't want my tutor to think I have forgotten them. It is true Design and Technology is a wonderful subject but lets appreciate its fore runners too.
So apart from wording the questions in away I think will gain the type of answers I want. What other considerations have I made? I kept the questionnaire short. I wanted everyone to feel they were not being asked to do a lot which would make them more likely to complete the questionnaire.
I have created a questionnaire in order to obtain quotes for the video I am making as part of a group for Using and Applying. I know we want to capture the thoughts of people already working and studying in the field of Design and Technology, from education to engineering and design. I feel sure that most of these people would think the Design and Technology they were taught at school was a good thing. It is these people that we want to represent to help promote Design and Technology in our video. I thought about my contacts and their ages and then devised questions that I felt would give me the relevant response I want.
As Design and Technology was introduced just after I took my O' levels I know anyone over the age of 47 would not have studied it. As we wanted to include people over 47 in the survey,so that we have as wide an age and experience range as possible, I have included woodwork and metalwork as subjects studied at school. Sometimes I get the feeling that woodwork and metalwork are almost a swear word and a bit oh it's not woodwork and metalwork any more. Well it is true Design and Technology is so much more and has a much wider scope for design . I can remember the year it was introduced and being so jealous that I had not had the opportunity to study it. But I think we should not underestimate the value of woodwork and metalwork which for me allowed the scope to design but did not celebrate the process of design quite to the same depth as Design and Technology does today. I don't know why but I feel I must mention the incorporation of currant technologies including electronics. Probably just because I don't want my tutor to think I have forgotten them. It is true Design and Technology is a wonderful subject but lets appreciate its fore runners too.
So apart from wording the questions in away I think will gain the type of answers I want. What other considerations have I made? I kept the questionnaire short. I wanted everyone to feel they were not being asked to do a lot which would make them more likely to complete the questionnaire.
13th March 2012
I have made an amendment to the questionnaire after thinking about how this information is going to be used. I realise I do not have the right to quote others and identify them without their permission so I have added a permission box at the end. Now to circulate, stand back and wait to see if any of what I thought was correct. I cannot remember the last time I created a questionnaire. I think it was probably when I was at school.
I have made an amendment to the questionnaire after thinking about how this information is going to be used. I realise I do not have the right to quote others and identify them without their permission so I have added a permission box at the end. Now to circulate, stand back and wait to see if any of what I thought was correct. I cannot remember the last time I created a questionnaire. I think it was probably when I was at school.
The questionnaires I have had back have been just the sort of thing I was looking for. Filled with confidence I have handed them to the workmen working on the university campus. So far I have not had any responses. I am concerned they may feel awkward about writing but I hope not. I think I may devise a new questionnaire aimed at students just about to take their GCSE's and ask an old colleague of mine to circulate them. I am not sure where this would stand with permission slips. Maybe theirs should be anonymous to enable quick responses. Ah another member of my group has a partner working as a technology teacher maybe they could circulate them at his school to?
Working in a group and using social media
17th March 2012
I have been working as part of a group for our using and applying module. I am working with the same group of students that I worked with earlier in the year. During our first project we allocated areas to research, split up and met again on a specified date to share our findings. We were all equally conscientious and returned with far more information then we had set out to find, unfortunately overlapping each others work. I remember thinking what a waste of our time resource. I realise how fortunate I am to be working with a good team but wanted not to repeat the overlap in our research for our second project. This time when we split up to find information independently I started to post my findings using our closed group on Facebook. The result meant we became very efficient in our research. Whenever we accidentally came across good information more relevant to someone else's section we instantly handed it over to the relevant researcher. This way we all saved time and good research was not misplaced, wasted or replicated.
I have been working as part of a group for our using and applying module. I am working with the same group of students that I worked with earlier in the year. During our first project we allocated areas to research, split up and met again on a specified date to share our findings. We were all equally conscientious and returned with far more information then we had set out to find, unfortunately overlapping each others work. I remember thinking what a waste of our time resource. I realise how fortunate I am to be working with a good team but wanted not to repeat the overlap in our research for our second project. This time when we split up to find information independently I started to post my findings using our closed group on Facebook. The result meant we became very efficient in our research. Whenever we accidentally came across good information more relevant to someone else's section we instantly handed it over to the relevant researcher. This way we all saved time and good research was not misplaced, wasted or replicated.
ED616 Design innovation
I have carried out lots of different types of research for this project from books and the internet, from shops and suppliers as well as the investigation into materials new to me. The main difference from the earlier design and make project was the first hand research I did by visiting two very different schools and then by working with my client. I listened to problems they wanted to overcome. I listened about where they wanted things to go but most importantly I learned as much as possibly about the people going to use the product.
I chose to design and make an activity board for use by the students with severe autism. I had gathered enough information in my first school visit to go away and do some independent research in the library, on the internet and in shops. As the design process progressed I often wanted answers to specific questions that only the client could answer. I would line up several questions, sometimes it was about choices and then I would phone my friend to discuss the options. One evening I had so many questions while we sat and talked I decided to record them in the form of a questionnaire.
I chose to design and make an activity board for use by the students with severe autism. I had gathered enough information in my first school visit to go away and do some independent research in the library, on the internet and in shops. As the design process progressed I often wanted answers to specific questions that only the client could answer. I would line up several questions, sometimes it was about choices and then I would phone my friend to discuss the options. One evening I had so many questions while we sat and talked I decided to record them in the form of a questionnaire.
ED505 New and future developments *****
July 2012
For one of my other modules on this degree course I researched new and future developments. I soon found, for me, it was not so much what I found out that was important but where I was finding my information. I learned that journal published annually and bi-annually were very academic compared to regularly published magazines that contained light snippets of information and lot of pictures. Then there were all the publications published at frequencies in between, containing technical content and imagery in-between. this may be a quick rule of thumb guide and I am sure there will be exceptions to the rule.
I realised I could access relevant websites from images more quickly then I could identify them from text. Partly because searches bringing up texts often require you to visit the website before you can establish which website is useful. I know about page ranking bringing up the sites that have the most academic links first and the largest number of 'hits'. But for me I discovered by using Google images with a whole page in one go I could pick the images that were most likely to bring me the relevant website. I am not sure this would work of everyone but it was good for me and I would use this method again.
I realised the value of museums and trade exhibitions. Libraries both public and university. I am getting better at typing in words that bring good results when using the Internet something I was not very good at eight months ago. I think my list would go on but what I am trying to say is my confidence has definitely grown.
I definitely think I am becoming more competent. Maybe competent enough to give myself that final prised star?
For one of my other modules on this degree course I researched new and future developments. I soon found, for me, it was not so much what I found out that was important but where I was finding my information. I learned that journal published annually and bi-annually were very academic compared to regularly published magazines that contained light snippets of information and lot of pictures. Then there were all the publications published at frequencies in between, containing technical content and imagery in-between. this may be a quick rule of thumb guide and I am sure there will be exceptions to the rule.
I realised I could access relevant websites from images more quickly then I could identify them from text. Partly because searches bringing up texts often require you to visit the website before you can establish which website is useful. I know about page ranking bringing up the sites that have the most academic links first and the largest number of 'hits'. But for me I discovered by using Google images with a whole page in one go I could pick the images that were most likely to bring me the relevant website. I am not sure this would work of everyone but it was good for me and I would use this method again.
I realised the value of museums and trade exhibitions. Libraries both public and university. I am getting better at typing in words that bring good results when using the Internet something I was not very good at eight months ago. I think my list would go on but what I am trying to say is my confidence has definitely grown.
I definitely think I am becoming more competent. Maybe competent enough to give myself that final prised star?
ED505
As part of module Ed505 we had to pick a part of our audit that we had preferable no understanding of. I chose to research New and Future developments in Design and Technology. I soon came to realise that I was never going to know about many new developments compared to all those that exist because: the topic is so wide, developments are happening at such a fast rate and with the development of the internet access to such a phenominal amount of information is readily available at the touch of a button. I also became to realise that when I left university I would no longer have access to the same resources and therefore wanted to establish good methods and sources of information so that I can stay well informed and up to date when I leave University.With this new insight I changed the focus of my studies and instead concentrated on where and how to research.
I started by investigating all of the different resources that I could think of such as the internet, YouTube, the local library, online journals. I came to reflect on my learning experience and how much I had gained from peer learning. I started to look at less obvious sources such as museums and online competitions.
As a result of this module I now feel much more competant to research anything. Putting it to the test I have been researching into brain damage and MS. Looking for resources beyond the most obvious place, the MS society and started finding information about working with people with brain damage. I have also been researching teaching and learning methods of dyslexics. My research into these new areas is flowing easily and productively. This gives me great confidnce that I am now able to research far more effectively then I could at the beginning of the year.
I am very happy with my progress. *****
I started by investigating all of the different resources that I could think of such as the internet, YouTube, the local library, online journals. I came to reflect on my learning experience and how much I had gained from peer learning. I started to look at less obvious sources such as museums and online competitions.
As a result of this module I now feel much more competant to research anything. Putting it to the test I have been researching into brain damage and MS. Looking for resources beyond the most obvious place, the MS society and started finding information about working with people with brain damage. I have also been researching teaching and learning methods of dyslexics. My research into these new areas is flowing easily and productively. This gives me great confidnce that I am now able to research far more effectively then I could at the beginning of the year.
I am very happy with my progress. *****