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Summary of the survey/half year overview of the First year performance and well being: School of Architecture and Planning

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Summary of the survey/half year overview of the First year performance and well being: School of Architecture and Planning

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Home Page > Education > College and University > Summary of the survey/half year overview of the First year performance and well being: School of Architecture and Planning

Summary of the survey/half year overview of the First year performance and well being: School of Architecture and Planning

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Posted: Aug 04, 2009 |Comments: 0
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1.0 Introduction

Prof. Mfaniseni Sihlongonyane- Convener of the Undergraduate Planning Program, School of Architecture and Planning carried out a survey /half year overview of the first year performance and well being in order to assist the school in reflecting on their practice and planning forward. He then submitted the students’ response forms to my office for me (Liile Lekena) to summarize in my capacity as an Evaluations Consultant. This summary is in no way an exhaustive analysis of the data, it is just a preliminary presentation of the data as a thorough analysis would require more time than I have. I therefore highly recommend that the convener reads the data more in depth to extract more information for his purposes. I have prepared two separate summaries for Architecture and planning and they are contained in this report in that order as section 1 and section 2 respectively. The ordering does not presuppose any hierarchy; it is just a random arrangement.

Section 1 is the summary the Architecture survey in which a total of 23 questionnaires were submitted for analysis. Generally the responses were positive, the students are content that they chose to study Architecture, they are passing, and they are motivated to continue with their studies. However, they do have issues or concerns with the amount of time they have to do their studies well, and cost of material they use in the course among other things.

Section 2 is the summary of the Planning survey. For this survey a total of 37 questionnaires were submitted for analysis. The overall picture drawn out of this survey is that they are doing fairly well in their studies although financial problems and accommodation issues seem to need some attention for them to do even better. A summary of the responses is provided under each question below and the verbatim students’ responses are attached as appendices.

Section 1: Architecture

1.1 Where is your home?

Gauteng = 19

Kwa Zulu- Natal =2

Unknown = 2

1.2 Where did you spend most of your time when you were growing up?

Home = 19

Home plus elsewhere = 3

1.3 Which school(s) did you attend? Suburban, township, rural, other

All suburban schools

1.4 How did you get to know about architecture?

Family members and friends =10

Research (non specific) = 4

Internet, TV and newspaper = 3

Career day and career counseling =2

Work exposure and school work experience =2

Wits brochure/prospectus = 2

Life orientation course high school =2

General knowledge = 1

Visiting firms =1

Interest in the new bridge of Jerusalem = 1

1.5 What stimulated your interest in this field?

Design =9

Creativity =6

Exposure to different kinds of buildings and scale = 6

Travel = 2

Good in maths = 2

Love for art = 2

Engineering = 1

Failure in actual science = 1

Love for challenge = 1

Family member = 1

Money = 1

History of architecture = 1

Reading and TV = 1

1.6 After the first semester, has your understanding of this field changed?

All agree with the exception of 2.

1.7 In what way has it changed?

More understanding of the different components of the course =6

More design oriented = 1

Time, sacrifice and dedication very important = 3

Completely = 2

Technical intricacies of building construction = 2

Less naïve of architecture = 1

Manipulation of space = 1

N/A = 1

1.8 If possible would you like to change to a different field? (if yes, which one?)

All negated with the exception of two possibilities (may be) –one would be interested in Geology, and the other in Biotechnology

1.9 How are you doing in this course?

All are passing with the exception of 1. The other one passes everything but Maths. 1 incomprehensible-we are watering with techtonics

1.10 Are there any challenges in this course? (If yes, state them).

Time constraints and workload = 20

Understanding of basic concepts = 1

Strict marking and performance = 3

Cost of material = 2

Maths = 1

Unclear outcomes = 1

Nothing = 1

1.11 Are there any challenges with the finances of your studies? (Elaborate briefly)

No = 9

High cost of material = 8

Not necessarily/really = 2

Yes = 4

Delayed pay from SETA =1

Worried about paying back my bursar in the instance that I fail

1.12 Any disturbances you are experiencing in your family? (Elaborate briefly)

All said no except one who mentioned financial and time constraints

1.13 What kind of support would you like to get in order to improve your performance in your studies?

Time management support = 5

Tutor availability even after hours (one on one assistance) =5

Financial support = 3

Material subside/provision = 4

Nothing = 2

Accommodation = 1

Free programmes (Photoshop) = 1

Decisive answers from tutors = 1

Visits to firms/sites = 1

More prototypes = 1

Info on the cost of material prior for budgeting = 1

Clearer outcomes (expectation) from lecturers = 1

Maths support = 1

Mentor (from the field) = 1

Heating of the studio = 1

1.14 What do you think the school can do to improve your well being as a first year student in general?

More time = 3

Coffee machine in studio/free red bull/free antidepressants = 3

Course overview at the beginning = 2

Computer/ technology training e.g drawing = 2

Add technical drawing as a subject = 1

Better support-financial, tutorials, notes = 1

More practical projects = 1

Renovation of the studios = 1

1.15 Are there any comments you would like to make?

Students, staff ready for first day of classes

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:41:04 +0000

Students, staff ready for first day of classes

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New High School Is First in Arizona Schools to Have No Textbooks

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:39:39 +0000

Empire High School in Vail, located on the edge of Tucson, is the first in the Arizona schools to be all-electronic. Instead of textbooks, the 350 students use wireless, Apple laptop computers to research, organize their data, write and graph assignments, and create class presentations.

The Arizona schools Empire High is a new school with a blank slate. Arizona schools officials could hire new teachers committed to technology-based teaching and purchase computers instead of textbooks. The Arizona schools officials wanted to move teachers away from habitual teaching from textbooks, cover-to-cover, and gave area students the choice to attend Empire or another school.

Having researched schools in other states prior to the all-electronic decision, Arizona schools officials found students who were clearly more engaged in their studies and unusually enthusiastic about school. One reason was that they took a more active part in the lesson process, rather than everything being “fed” to them. Another advantage to laptops over textbooks is that groundbreaking information takes five to six years to get into textbooks, especially in the science fields. Of the few all-electronic schools across the nation, many are doing well from the perspective of both the students and the educators. The Arizona schools officials clearly felt they could enhance their students’ educational experience with technology over textbooks.

Replacing textbooks with laptops for other Arizona schools would prove expensive at $850 each. For Empire, they took the usual $500 to $600 cost per student for a complete set of textbooks for four years, as well as the cost of a computer lab, and used this money to purchase the laptops and added technology needs.

Some new challenges had to be faced by the Arizona schools’ new Empire High and research was done to address them. They had 350 students, who needed to be continuously and reliably connected to the Internet at high speed. All the laptops had to be configured to best suit the needs of the students for learning. The needed educational material had to be located on the Internet and integrated into lesson plans. A method for students to submit assignments across the Web was needed. These were problems they knew had to be resolved before the school year began.

What the Arizona schools officials had not planned on was a different sort of technological problem. It seems that many students who used home computers for gaming, surfing the Internet, and X-Box, had a difficult time translating these skills to those needed in school, such as using word processing software, saving documents to specific locations, and being able to retrieve the files later. Skills training had to be added to the lesson plans.

For other schools that are interested in setting up an all-electronic school, the Arizona schools officials advise that it must be a public choice. You cannot force such drastic learning changes. Include the parents and teachers in the planning at the ground floor.

After a year, the system is working well overall. The Arizona schools plan to increase enrollment at Empire High to 750 students in the near future.

This information on Arizona schools is brought to you by www.schoolsk-12.com.

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Patricia has a nose for research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more on Arizona schools visit http://www.schoolsk-12.com/Arizona/index.html

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