Research on Student Liesure Time
Research on Student Liesure Time
Melbourne Girls College is a new school formed from a merger of two smaller schools in 1994. Enrolments are growing rapidly, particularly in the junior years.
Two classes operate each term using two teachers, so naturally we developed this unit as a team. One of us has a pure computer background, while the other has taught social education and commerce classes in the past. Increasingly, we see our role as teachers becoming more that of a coach or facilitator. This requires a change in the way classes work and the relationship between teacher and student.
The school emphasizes the use of computers throughout the curriculum, teaching of science and technology and leadership for girls. Competency in the use of information technology is pivotal to the achievement of these goals.
In a teaching team of two, we decided to integrate aspects of the Technology course with Health, by having the class (year 7/8) conduct a survey on leisure. The aim was for the students to gain a clearer understanding of the purpose of information technology as a tool. Skills in the use of information technology would be developed while simultaneously addressing the theme through analysis and discussion of the implications of the data. All students were involved fully with the work and were just as interested in the reports of others as well as those in their own small group. This resulted in both personal and educational growth for the students as their information technology skills were developed, as well as their ability to interpret, analyze and discuss results.
As a class we discussed what sorts of things the girls did in their leisure time and found that there is a great deal of variation in activities due to family background, personal interests and age. A number of common sets of activities were agreed to by the group, following lengthy discussion about the categories into which the activities of individuals would fit. For example, if two of the agreed categories are Shopping and Socializing, then where would going shopping with a group of friends fit? This process of making judgments and defining categories can take a long time to complete, but it is important for all students to understand the process and for all to be comfortable with the categories chosen. In our experience somewhere between five to eight categories is manageable, in terms of getting...