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This report on the power of the student voice at the Australian Science and Mathematics School (ASMS) provides an insight into the curriculum plans of the ASMS. These plans aim to enhance student motivation and commitment to learning through the creation of a senior secondary learning environment, with an emphasis on individual learning plans, the development of interdisciplinary science and mathematics, and innovation in teaching and learning through an ICT-rich learning environment.
The ASMS is in a unique position as a public senior secondary school located within a university and aims to influence schools and classrooms throughout the State of South Australia, and Australia in general.
This discussion of the school ' s innovation in education, through the tutor group program, the development of individual learning plans, the structure of the Central Studies, the development of enrichment subjects and the contribution of student public presentations, is meant to raise awareness of the extent to which the school makes use of the student voice in developing the curriculum to meet student needs.
This paper provides a brief summary of the curriculum plans and facilities of the school. More detailed information on the school ' s vision is available on the ASMS website at: www.asms.sa.edu.au.
As well as outlining the innovative curriculum, material collected through student interviews is used to illustrate the extent to which students feel their opinions are valued by teachers, and the extent to which they can personalise their curriculum at the ASMS. The capital letters ( ' DD ' ) indicates a student ' s own words, while the single letter ' J ' is a reference to a teacher. It is significant that students refer to all of the administration and teaching staff by their first names.
School context
The Australian Science and Mathematics School is located within the Flinders University of South Australia. Flinders University promoted the concept of a senior secondary school devoted to maths and science because it wanted science and maths teaching to have a higher profile in schools. It also wanted to make the students ' transition to university life easier and was keen to develop participatory science that involved students in constructing new knowledge. This third aspect strongly suggests that the development of the ASMS curriculum had to have a strong student voice. The ASMS is a new school. The school ' s first student intake of 178 students was in January 2003. The vision statement of the ASMS included an interdisciplinary science and mathematics curriculum that emphasised authentic learning tasks, recognised different learning styles, was enquiry-based and student-centred.
Tutor group sessions and the student voice
Tutor group runs for forty minutes of each day. In groups of approximately twelve students, the time is used to develop close personal ties between the vertically grouped students and the teacher. Part of the forty minutes is used to record attendance and to read school notices. However, the major function of tutor group time is to develop the students ' sense of involvement in ASMS programs. This may take the form of discussion about how the school is evolving but it is also about individual learning plans, where students work from their interests and ambitions, become aware of their strengths and plan their work in Central Studies, Supplementary school subjects, and University Modules. It is intended that tutor group sessions transform traditional student-teacher relationships, moving towards the teacher being a mentor or coach, who assists students to learn through developing an awareness of personal needs and interests.
I asked students to comment on the importance of tutor group.
' I ' ve been able to talk to our tutors about problems that we ' ve had in lessons and how the school has been set out. We talk to the Central Studies teachers about the work. On the reporting format J has asked me to give feedback on that last semester ' . (DD)
' With P, he really wants our opinion; the dress code he said: “this is what I ' ve got so far, what ' s your opinion?†' (SJ)
' I know they listen when they make changes with the school, such as when we gave comments about the reports. The next reports had more detailed comments from teachers about how we were going. ' (LD)
Tutor group sessions are an opportunity for all of the students in the school to contribute to decisions that affect them. While the student directorate (SRC) formulates ideas about such topics as the dress code and the structure of the school day, tutor group discussions ensure that all students can participate in the development of the school.
The Tutor also works with students to develop Individual Learning Plans (ILPs), which are based on students discussing their strengths and interests, their immediate and longer-term ambitions and developing strategies that will help the student be successful. This include matters such as helping students meet assignment deadlines but also can include using online tools to assess preferred learning styles, to discover career preferences and pathways beyond school. Students seem to be most engaged in this process if their ILP is developed as an electronic portfolio. Students have created web-based portfolios, which cover their skills, interests and ambitions. Many visitors to the school have been impressed by the detailed electronic portfolios that represent the students ' work at the school and their plans beyond the ASMS. Several students have presented their folios at conferences and seminars.
The quotes below are evidence of student approaches to planning their learning pathway:
' I ' m planning to go to uni and do an engineering degree but I am also considering medicine and I ' m thinking about the 5th Year 12 subject to get me there. I ' ve got four pretty much decided. ' (TF)
' Well, I ' ve come in at a high level. Last year I did a lot of Year 11 work, so this year I ' ve been able to branch out into stuff which interests me. I ' m doing a Year 12 subject this year. '
' I know I ' m listened to…two main projects this year, the robotics we ' ve been given financial support. That makes people know. General subjects, such as the Japan trip. We know that people are interested in what we are doing and teachers have been willing to discuss ways to embed into the curriculum and get credit for what we want to do. There is a willingness from teachers to negotiate through a task so that I can get my Year 11 credit. This semester I am doing a Year 12 subject and half of a central study. It means I have got frees to do the Year 12 course. Overall, it ' s been a really good opportunity to progress toward projects and it ' s fairly loose and broad. Everyone can go off in their own direction and sometimes we get very different results. ' (LK)
' We ' ve been able to approach projects from different perspectives and put our own personal traits, by customising work. We don ' t have to follow the exact, black and white path: it ' s fairly loose and broad.
' I want to end up doing either engineering or computer science . . . something along those lines, so being able to direct some of the projects toward those areas has sort of helped. It can help me confirm where I want to go. Some of the teachers have been very supportive and personally interested. They will come up to you and ask how the project is going, what we are thinking about and what did we get out of it. That ' s fairly positive.
It ' s not just our ideas that we can see, it ' s what other people ' s ideas are. Someone else looks at the problem. Our maths work is an enquiry project, so everyone ' s using a different perspective and we ' re doing processing and I ' ve been able to work in a group. We ' ve written our own program that ' s made us look as a backup to the sort of degrees.
I spoke to a university lecturer last holidays and sat with him for half an hour and worked out some stuff. I caught up with him at the open day and had a personalised tour of the faculty. He is planning to set me up with some honours students who will help me with my work.
I think it is good that the school has lots of people with varied ideas, so we ' re not all exactly the same type of person. So people look at different approaches or have different opinions because in that way you can get into debates. On the bus we talked about the ethics of nanotechnology. It was a very interesting trip. It was a student from this school. I didn ' t know who it was ' (LD)
However, at this stage of the ASMS, not all students in all tutor groups have developed learning plans. When asked about an ILP, one student commented that:
' I got the impression that we ' d have a really defined set out plan that we would be following. I ' ve done one or two sheets and haven ' t gone back to it. ' (NF)
While students are aware of the intention behind the learning plans, more work is needed by the school to involve all students in their learning plans.
The school ' s curriculum for Year 10 and 11 students is based on three central studies per semester. At the moment, students are studying Maths and Abstract Thinking, Biotechnology and Earth, Space and Cosmos. Year 10 students can choose to be assessed at Year 11 level. A significant feature of assessment is the use of rubrics to give detailed feedback to students on what they have achieved and how they can improve their work.
The following comment by a student represents an awareness of the way in which teachers seek to develop deep subject understanding.
' I think that if we say we are really interested in biology and we really want to do something, we want to go in depth in something specific, they ' ll say do that in your enquiry and they will help you to do that. They won ' t dismiss what you want to do, they ' ll encourage you. ' (DD)
However, for some students, the choice of level of assessment is not a new idea.
' For Year 10s, they ' ve got the opportunity to really excel themselves and get used to the work load. In my old school we were often assessed at a Year 11 level. You did get the SACE marks. ' (NF)
The ASMS seeks to provide a range of assessment tasks to cater for a range of student interests and abilities. The easy access that students have to digital technology at the ASMS is a powerful way of engaging students. The following comments by students typify the way students are able to customise their work.
' This semester we ' ve had a lot more freedom with the style of presentations lately and I ' ve been doing my project as a website, which is one of my interests. Having the freedom to present the project as you want. It allows you to expand. It gives you something to look forward to. You ' re not just doing a project. ' (SD)
' We have facilities here that we get to use that you don ' t get in other schools and our Central Studies teachers give us a chance to go down and use them to extend our skills in areas and they listen to what you want to do. They give you the chance to put those ideas into practice. For example, the website we ' re doing at the moment we ' re using Photoshop on the Macs and not many schools have that opportunity and we can create a much better final product than if we were at a normal school. The teachers give us the chance to do that and express our ideas in the way we wish to. ' (TF)
' Choices in Central Studies, that really helps. In my enquiry project in science week, there was a presentation in the field that we were doing (El Niño) and so the Bureau of Meteorology was holding a presentation so we went off to that and I organised for our group to do that. We ' ve been studying uni textbooks and went to the uni of SA and we talked to Maciej Henneberg, one of the world leaders in anthropology. That ' s pretty cool. It ' s good to do that. ' (NF)
' At the ASMS the students shape the school, while teachers assist the students to be knowledgeable, creative and independent. The ASMS curriculum encourages students to be creative, critical, informed and motivated learners, responding to professional, personal and social issues. ' (RL)
The flow of ideas between students and Central Studies teachers is indicated in these two comments.
' Just lately, while researching my eESC task, I read some really interesting ideas about black holes and I wasn ' t sure about some aspects. S (a science teacher) and I have had some really interesting conversations about that,' (SD)
' With the enquiry project assessment rubric, D came up and said, “Have a look at this because, if you think there ' s anything that needs to be looked at, let me knowâ€. ' (SJ)
The two quotes point to the existence of a close working relationship between teachers and students. Teachers are seen as coaches, who take into account the interests of students.
Students use two one-hundred-minute sessions to do enrichment subjects, such as music, web design, first aid or cryptography, based on their interests. University-based enrichment sessions, such as cryptography, robotics or brown red wine, give students access to lecturers and university equipment. While the school is a specialist Maths and Science school, we seek to engage the wide range of talents and interests in the students who choose to attend the ASMS. The comment below illustrates how students appreciate how we cater for the diversity of interests.
' I ' m doing music, that ' s something I really enjoy: it gives us a chance to do something outside of just the science and mathematics banner and also with cryptography I find that pretty interesting to find out how computers talk to each other. That gives you a chance to choose what you ' re interested in. ' (TF)
Public presentations are part of our assessment plans. We want assessment to be authentic, to create opportunities for students to obtain feedback from many sources, not just teachers. Demonstrations of learning have included students displaying their work and having university lecturers question students about their projects. There have also been many opportunities for students to talk to adult visitors to the ASMS and for students to present their work to teachers at conferences. The comments below show the power of real audiences in helping students reflect on their learning and plan for future presentations.
' I really enjoy presentations. I enjoy them…it ' s a skill I ' ll continue to use. They give me a chance to test myself and how much I know and how to relate to other people and tell them about what I know. ' (BF)
' I ' ve had a chance to talk with visitors who have toured the school. They ' re really interested in what you think the school ' s like and why you came here and why you find it a good learning environment. I have had lengthy conversations with the visitors. They make you think about why, what you actually do think. Normally you just take it for granted. It makes you stop and think about. Yes, you are lucky to be here and why you enjoy it here. ' (TF)
' For me, I ' ve recently discovered that if I can explain something to someone it helps me understand things a lot better, which was quite a big shock because quite often I have trouble with my maths test and as soon as I would be semi-OK with it and someone would ask me and I ' d explain it and by then I would understand better what I was doing. ' (NF)
' We ' ve had a few meetings and with the new kids about leading them around ourselves instead of the principal ' s guided tour. We think that might get them more involved. ' (EW)
It is quite significant that students who act as guides for visitors or as presenters at seminars are not just representing the school but are also heavily engaged in reviewing and refining their understanding of learning.
I would argue that the ASMS has created an innovative and engaging curriculum because it has explicitly sought to include the student voice in the development teaching and learning programs. One student commented that, to get the most out of their time at the ASMS, all students have to be ' proactive… you can ' t just sit around…you have to talk to people ' . (SJ)
The ASMS makes significant demands on students to be involved in the school community, to make decisions about their education and to be involved in public presentations of their work. Finding ways to encourage all students to participate in their education is a very demanding task but the ASMS has made significant progress toward reshaping the approach to senior secondary schooling.
Mr Thom Burns is coordinator of interdisciplinary science and ICT at the ASMS, a role that involves the development of new ways of learning, using a range of technologies, from databases to digital film and website production. The emphasis of the role is encouraging students to use new media technologies (websites and quicktime movies) as a way of developing fluency in Maths and Science. Projects that he is presently working on include developing an online learning management system, videoconferencing and developing thinking skills through new technology, such as computer games.
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