Lessons from the UTC model

At this point, the primary focus of this thesis has been on the learners and their

experiences. The structure of the Challenge projects, or their situation within the larger school context, has been largely peripheral to the discussion. This makes sense in terms of the focus of my research, but it is impossible to separate the learning from the context entirely. Indeed, the second research question (“what effects do different aspects of project learning have on the learning taking place?”) specifically focusses on the impact instruction has on learning, and certainly the Challenge model as a whole plays into this. Therefore, this next section will focus on the lessons to be learned from the UTC model as a whole, and in particular the benefits associated with this particular UTC’s model for the Challenge project.

As mentioned previously (§1.8), the UTC concept was developed in an attempt to prepare school leavers for the world of work, and to help students build the skills necessary for

university, apprenticeships, and jobs. Part of this preparation is the length of the school day: most UTC’s run a schedule similar to a full-time job, from 8:30 to 4:30, or similar. Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology (CAST) runs on this schedule, and unlike many nearby sixth forms, it does not allow students to be absent from the site when not in timetabled lessons. While some students such as Hamish bemoaned such restrictions, others felt it allowed them time to collaborate on work or ask for advice from their instructors. Indeed, Hamish too

appreciated having access to his instructors outside of class time, and Jane and Hannah frequently made use of their on-site revision periods to catch up on Challenge work.

Another benefit of the CAST setup is that the Challenge projects last for an entire school day. While the 7 to 8-hour school day is fairly standard across UTC’s, the full-day Challenge is unique to CAST. Other UTC’s offer projects as well, but the exact format of these is determined by the school, and so time allocation can vary anywhere from two periods per week (McCrone et al., 2019) to entire days. The CAST students appreciated the longer period of dedicated time for their projects, as a means of experiencing something a bit different from the experiences they had in their previous schools (J.18.06.08 lns 443-449):

R:…how do you feel about the Challenge Projects in general?

J: I like them it just expands your learning and your experience as well and in Year 12 they’re actually fun like cause you get to choose and even though I didn’t really kind of get to choose Computer Science it was still a fun project to do and I did learn a lot from it cause yeah and other schools don’t really have that and you’re stuck doing lessons for like five days a week and it’s nice kind of fun just having that day just to focus on one thing

R: Okay yeah

J: And you don’t really have to worry lessons or anything

For Jane, who felt that Challenge is “kind of greater than lessons” (18.06.08 ln 462), these projects offered an opportunity to unwind from the stress of her day-to-day coursework, and while some overlap might prove useful, she did not mind having an experience that was separate and unique. Hamish likewise enjoyed a bit of overlap, but was enthused by the idea of learning something completely new, as happened to him with the Water Management project.

One area where Hamish was less satisfied was the number of projects per year. While he did enjoy the break from his regular schedule and the chance to learn something new, he at the same time did feel the loss of revision time (Hs.18.04.27 lns 16-22):

Hs:…to be honest a lot of students A Level and BTEC alike we have so much work at the moment that a lot of us would rather just spend Wednesdays doing our own work and so what I think a better system would be if they were to well if I were to change it be like ‘it’s not compulsory to do every single one, it’s compulsory to do maybe a few

throughout the year but not every single one’ and so if you do get into a spot one term where um the work is just piling up and you have to option to not do a Challenge and catch up on work instead

This quote came from a point where Hamish had fallen behind on his coursework, which may have coloured his opinion, but it was not the only time he hinted for additional flexibility and autonomy. He did not disapprove of the opportunity to expand his learning outside his BTEC coursework, but did not want it to come at the cost of his revision. Neither Hannah nor Jane expressed such an opinion, though the demands on their time as A Level students varied

somewhat from Hamish’s. Regardless of any objections regarding time allocation, by the end of the project, all participants reported positive feelings towards their experiences with their

projects, and felt that it had been a good investment of their time.

Aside from the allocation of time for the projects, there is one other unique feature of the Challenge project: the involvement and input of local employers from local STEM-based

industries. This is not unique to CAST, but is one of the defining features of the UTC model as a whole (McCrone et al., 2019). Not every project is run by a local employer, but most projects feature significant input from local industry. This may look like the Computer Science project, where local companies ran a specific scheme and came in weekly to assist, or it may look more like the Water Management project, where input from local experts was supplementary and intermittent. In order to understand more what this dynamic looked like, I sat in on the strategy meeting for a third project47, which was held between the Challenge coordinator, primary instructors, and the appointed liaison from a local engineering firm. The focus of this meeting was very firmly on creating a realistic level of flexibility within each project to allow students to choose roles they were comfortable with. The engineering firm was as dedicated to creating a

47 _{This project is not featured elsewhere as none of the students in this project were available until well after the}

project had begun, and therefore no baseline data could be collected. One participant, pseudonym Hart, did have a number of opinions regarding Challenge in general which will be seen in the Conclusion

project where all students had a chance to contribute in different ways, as it closely mirrored the way a project team in industry would be structured.

It cannot be assumed that this same sort of meeting took place before the start of all the projects, but it is reasonable to assume that some consideration of the connection to industry formed part of the planning process for the Computer Science and Water Management projects as well. Informal conversations with the instructors who coordinated those projects confirmed this, with the CS instructor in particular looking ahead to the long-term implications of the project. He was a strong advocate of project-based learning in general, and was particularly invested in this project because it integrated several elements of the A Level curriculum with the skills and experiences authentic to industry. While the Water Management project had a wider focus and therefore less connection to any one career pathway, the instructor there likewise valued the input of members of local organisations and industry to add authenticity and variety to the project.

CHAPTER 8- Final thoughts and conclusion