Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford UK Centre for Materials Education: Supporting teaching and the Curriculum Presented by: Chris Taylor Johanna Kehusmaa

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford UKCME – Our Mission UK Centre for Materials Education supports high quality student learning in Materials Science and related disciplines. We promote, encourage and co-ordinate the development and adoption of effective practices in learning, teaching, assessment.

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford UKCME – What we do 1.Help support the change of practice in learning & teaching through educational development activities 2.Offer an information and advice resource for all staff and students involved in Materials education 4.Work with HEIs to increase the quality & quantity of students applying to study Materials disciplines 3.Disseminate good / effective practice and innovation in learning & teaching, principally across UK

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford UKCME – How we can help UKCME Project Funding: (e.g. Teaching Development Grants, and Materials Awareness Grants) Awareness-Raising Events: (e.g. Workshops, Conferences, Courses) Departmental Support: (e.g. Supported Change Programme, Visits) UKCME Information & Resources: (e.g. Website, Database, Publications) Example Activities: Recruitment booklet Taster Courses Public Understanding Example Activities: Database of Resources ‘Materials Interactive’ ‘Why Study Materials’

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford Our Rationale Materials Science is a strategically important yet vulnerable subject Our primary role is to support those teaching in Higher Education However, unless the problem of dwindling student numbers is addressed, and reversed, there won’t be anyone to teach… Therefore, assisting with Outreach has become a core activity of our centre

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford UKCME Involvement with Outreach

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford Activities Guide to attracting Materials students Materials Interactive CD-ROM Why Study Materials website Supporting the Curriculum How you can help

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford Guide to Attracting Materials students Part of a set of 12 guides for lecturers Contains information on: Resources Workshops Open days Careers Who you should target Available to order from our website

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford UK Centre for Materials Education

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford Materials Interactive CD-ROM A set of resources designed and created to help increase the awareness of Materials Science and Engineering, both as a discipline and a degree option. Includes several interactive simulations, rolling movies and PowerPoint presentations, which demonstrate the diversity and importance of materials in everyday use and the careers available. CD is freely available. Over 5,000 copies of the CD have now been distributed worldwide.

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford

Based on content from Materials Interactive CD- ROM Created to increase awareness and understanding of the discipline, targeted at Designed to be used as a teaching aid, partly due to increasing requests over the last 2 years from teachers

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford

www. Why Study Materials.ac.uk Students pages: Careers information Courses Competitions Fun Stuff Videos News Ask a Question Quizzes

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford

Ask a Question You can help!

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford

www. Why Study Materials.ac.uk Teachers pages: Database of Resources School Packs Open days News Ask a Question

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford

The centre employed 2 students to produce videos for the website: Recruitment : Advert by to UoL 2 nd and final year students. Interviewed all interested candidates Students trained to use the camera equipment and editing software by the University’s media dept Filming in Tower of London, Silverstone (formula competition), Cambridge (student interviews) Student Summer Project

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford Student Summer Project 3 complete videos, each approx. 3mins: Summer 2008 – new project: Employing another 2 students to produce interactive (Flash) content for the website

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford User Testing Testing the design and content on the website One 15-year old boy on work placement Four 14-year old girls from local school (Archbishop Blanch) Reward - £10 Amazon vouchers

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford User Testing Likes: That featured up-to-date objects (football boots etc) Exploring things (i.e. camera) “Easy to go around the site” “the way you can ask questions” Areas for improvement: More quizzes, for different levels (ages) More interactive stuff The text (‘voice) could be more ‘child friendly’

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford Curriculum Resources: for Teachers Joint initiative between Oxford Materials, IOM3 and UKCME: Developing relevant and up-to-date resources in Materials Science for teachers and pupils Mapping resources to the revised Curriculum in schools Involving teachers in both resource development and resource testing in the classroom ‘Exploiting Materials Science’ project – Overview

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford Curriculum Resources: for Teachers From discussions with teachers, the following resources identified: Properties of Materials: Mechanical Properties Properties of Materials: Mechanical Testing Nanotechnology Biomedical and Biomimetic Materials Intelligent Packaging Smart Materials Materials Used in Sporting Contexts ‘Exploiting Materials Science’ project – Demand

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford Curriculum Resources: for Teachers PowerPoint presentations for classroom lecturers (Complementary) Experiment and teacher info pack The Next Stage of development: Converting resources into a ‘storyboard’ interactive format Extending the outputs into electronic games for pupils ‘Exploiting Materials Science’ project – Outputs

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford New Content Materials Timeline Smart Materials game Games/activities developed from forth- coming Curriculum-based resources New articles/features and news items

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford How you can help AaQ volunteers Article contributions to the website Suggestions for news items Storyboards for games/activities

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford

Materials for the Curriculum, 26th March 2008, University of Oxford UK Centre for Materials Education : Supporting teaching and the Curriculum Presented by: Chris Taylor Johanna Kehusmaa