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In the classroom
Misconceptions
Pupils' misconceptions regarding database related
concepts can be found on the page for "Planning
'finding out' lessons at KS 3 and 4".
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Classroom examples
If the only database you have used is Access, you
may find the booklet
Afroja Rahman produced to introduce her class to PinPoint useful - not
least in letting you compare the relative ease of setting up simple systems
in both applications.
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Teaching point
In this session - like many others, you have worked
in groups. The IT PGCE cohort, like most classrooms, contains people of
differing abilities. How are such classes best grouped? What are the advantages
and disadvantages of different ability groupings? What ways are these
to ensure that pupils get the help that they need (differentiation by
support)?
Groupings: Two extremes are to group pupils
on a mixed or similar ability pattern.
Mixed ability groupings: many people feel that these
are inherently 'more fair' than grouping by ability. There is also a belief
that in mixed ability groupings the less able benefit from the expertise
of the more able and the more able benefit from having to explain things
to the less able. However, in practice what often happens is that different
members of the group are allocated different kinds of task so that the
less able may spend their time copy-typing while the more able plan the
database.
Similar ability groupings: in these there is often
less of the task differentiation mentioned above and hence more true cooperative
working. However the different groups will almost certainly need to be
set different tasks or will produce very different products from the same
task and (in some cases) this may be undesirable.
My belief is that there is not one 'best way' and
that during your PTE you try a variety of forms of groupings to develop
your understanding of the circumstances in which each form of ability
grouping is appropriate.
Support: In addition to any printed or on-line
materials, pupils have two other main sources of support - themselves
and the teacher. Two ways in which a teacher can ensure that s/he gives
help where it is needed are:
Moving around the classroom in a regular pattern.
This has the advantage of reducing pupils movement and of being easy to
manage. It has the disadvantage that the order in which pupils are seen
by the teacher bears no relationship to the order in which they asked
for help - and some pupils may think this unfair.
Having a 'ticketing' system. Some teachers use a
ticketing system similar to that employed in supermarkets - when pupils
need help they take the top ticket from a book on the teacher's desk and
the teacher simply deals with each pupil in order. This has the advantage
that it is transparently fair but the disadvantage that it involves substantial
pupil movement, which you may not be happy with until your classroom skills
are better developed than at present.
You could try both of these - the important thing
is to have a system which is understood by the pupils and not to leave
pupils for a long time with their hands in the air (or sitting doing nothing)
because they need help - they are not learning and are likely to cause
trouble.
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Other Resources
The DfEE Schemes of Work
You should look at the following units of the DfEE
schemes of work:
Key Stage 2: unit 3C, Introduction
to databases; unit 4C, Branching
databases; unit 5B,
Analysing data and asking questions;
Key Stage 3: unit 5 Data
: designing structure, capturing and presenting data; unit 11 Data
: use and misuse.
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Books/Papers
David Squires and Anne McDougall's book 'Choosing
and using educational software : a teacher's guide' (IoE library reference
Loz SQU).
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