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KS4 Classroom Evaluation by Tom Sparrowhawk
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This software was used as a whole class demonstration aid (in conjunction with an interactive whiteboard) to show the principles and theories involved in enlargement and triangles. As a whole class teaching aid in experienced hands, it was a very useful tool and generally all the objectives of the lessons were achieved satisfactorily. It was also used to investigate positive and negative correlation, with the students working on individual machines. This aspect of its use was not as good as whole-class demonstrations. Many students found it difficult to manipulate the data (plots and coordinates). Some students also tried to run their own investigations into shape and size and found the software very difficult to use.
I would strongly recommend using the title as a whole-class demonstration aid, in conjunction with an interactive whiteboard. The teacher must spend a lot of time practicing the manipulation skills required. Resources, including
lesson plans and demonstrations, can be found on www.crocodile-clips.com and are very useful as practice and lesson material. I would not recommend using the software with one student per machine, especially when lessons require the students to manipulate objects.
The demonstration abilities of the title are very good, but they fall down on the display: a demo will not all fit on the screen, it cannot be printed, and Help is difficult to use as it often disappears from view or covers most of the demonstration screen.
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Teaching with this Product |
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This title was evaluated both as a teaching tool (demonstration) in the maths classroom on an interactive whiteboard and in the ICT suite where the students were encouraged to use and manipulate the software. As a demonstration tool it was used with Year 10 and Year 11 to introduce the topic of enlargement. The objectives were to find the centre of enlargement and examine the properties of enlargement. It was also used in the maths classroom to revise angles in triangles, and to describe the properties and rules of angles in a triangle.
Year 10 Top Set and Year 11 Middle Set also used the title in the ICT suite (one person per machine) to examine positive and negative correlation and how it can be graphically shown and examined on a Cartesian graph. To make preparation easier, all lesson plans and demonstrations were downloaded from www.crocodile-clips.com (Ref. LA0110, LA0135, LA0098)
Lesson 1 consisted of a whole-class demonstration of Enlargement (Years 10 and 11). The objectives of the lesson included finding the centre of enlargement and examining the properties of enlargement by intersecting the centre of enlargement. The software allowed the teacher to demonstrate the centre of enlargement of a pentagon. This object could then be enlarged so that vertical lines and the centre of enlargement could be drawn. The variables could be changed by entering new coordinates or by clicking and dragging on the original pentagon. This procedure required a reasonable amount of skill and practice on the teacher's part. The students were then encouraged to use the interactive whiteboard and demonstrate how to find the centre of enlargement on a range of triangles. This proved more difficult, and many students found it difficult to manoeuvre the objects and extrapolate their variables. Often the demonstration went off the screen so that it could only be viewed in two parts.
Lesson 2 was a whole-class demonstration of properties of triangles (revision for Years 10 and 11). Using the interactive whiteboard, students were
asked to identify a range of triangles and define their properties (angles,
sides and area). The teacher then demonstrated how these triangles could be
modified and converted into different types of triangles and again their
properties were examined. Students were then encouraged to manipulate the
triangles to change them into various other types of triangles. This was generally a simple procedure, which required skills involving click and drag.
Lesson 3 consisted of whole-class use of scatter graphs to investigate positive and negative correlation (Year 10 Top Set and Year 11 Middle Set). Students worked on their own to design two scatter graphs to investigate both positive and negative correlation. This involved moving points onto a scatter graph, finding a line of best fit, and examining the lines to see if positive
or negative correlation could be seen. This procedure was made difficult
because the points and chart axis could not be viewed at the same time.
Students also found it difficult to accurately plot the points as the axes
were not very accurate.
In general, all three lessons were successful in their aims, but it must be pointed out that a lot of skill and practice is required to master the manipulation of objects, and the demonstration and Help could rarely be displayed in their entirety. The title does not allow the user to print the outcomes, unless you use Screen Print and paste the window into MS Word.
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This title was evaluated both as a teaching tool (demonstration) in the maths classroom, used on an interactive whiteboard, and in the ICT suite, where the students were encouraged to use and manipulate the software. As a demonstration tool it was used with Year 10 and Year 11, and it was also used in the maths classroom for revision. Year 10 Top Set and Year 11 Middle Set also used the title in the ICT suite (one person per machine).
The use of ICT to manipulate and change the properties of various objects was very good when used in conjunction with the interactive whiteboard as a whole-class demonstration and when the user was able to suitably manipulate the objects.
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Use of ICT to Achieve Objectives |
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This title was used in two different ways to achieve learning objectives: as a
demonstration tool (in conjunction with an interactive whiteboard) mainly
controlled by the teacher, and for individualised learning on the school's
network. As a demonstration tool used for whole-class demonstrations it was
a very efficient way of experimenting with many difficult aspects of
mathematics, particularly the properties of shape and size.
As a demonstration tool it is excellent at allowing the teacher to demonstrate a difficult principle and then ask students to come up and use the software to
demonstrate their knowledge to the whole class. When demonstrations fit onto the display screen, these are clear and often support many of the learning objectives in a graphical way. Characteristics such as size, shape,
area and enlargement can be demonstrated in a clear manner and are supported by numerical calculations and variable changes being shown on screen. A pity these cannot be printed.
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To use this software you do not need to be particularly gifted in the use of ICT, but it is important to stress that it is very difficult to move and manipulate objects and that a lot of practice in this area is required. Even confident ICT users found this aspect of the software difficult and frustrating.
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The software did not have a print function, so students' work could not be viewed and marked in the normal way. To monitor and assess students' knowledge, the teacher has to be confident in asking the right questions: 'What happens if?' 'How would you show this?' 'Please demonstrate to the class how to…'
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This title does not specifically relate to any area of Special Needs. But it is very good if used as demonstration software for students who are specifically able at learning through the use of diagrams and visual displays and to some extent kinaesthetic learning, as objects and properties move and can be changed onscreen.
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This product is distributed by Crocodile Clips Ltd. (Tel: 0131 2261511)
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