Literacy and Numeracy

Literacy and Numeracy

Nā Marius Cilliers -
Number of replies: 1

Literacy

During the first sessions the students were divided in groups of two to three each. Each group was given a portion of a building to identify, ie roof structure, support structure, foundation structure. They went on a walkabout through the campus – outside and through empty classrooms, finding and identifying the components of the portion assigned to them. Each group then described their findings to the rest of the class, who was encouraged to comment, ask questions and make adjustments. The objective was to position the students in a situation comfortable enough to translate their observations into words with follow-up discussions without negative feedback.

Numeracy

The students received an exercise - posted elsewhere in this forum - in which they had to give advice to a young married couple. The bride enjoys wearing thin high heeled or flat soled platform shoes. The students calculated the pressure of each type of shoe on a kitchen floor. They then explained to the couple, in writing, the different effects the shoes have on soft and hard floor surfaces. The aim was to create a practical situation in which the students could exercise practical numeracy skills within the subject of construction fundamentals. 

In reply to Marius Cilliers

Re: Literacy and Numeracy

Nā Anne Webster -

Literacy: getting the students to work together and using diagrams and technical terms to identify real structures, is a  very authentic activity. Giving and receiving feedback with others is also a safe way students can really engage with the content in a  class situation where questions can be considered. In their future work environment, they are likely to be working with people, problem solve, discuss findings and so on, so doing this kind of activity prepares them for the real world.  A really good "hands on" activity, student-led and I'm sure they could see the value in what they were doing. (Did you ask them this too?).

Numeracy: this is a good example of numeracy embedding as your learners had to use calculations to apply to a real-life scenario and report their findings in writing (more literacy embedding - did you help them with how they should write their report eg the type of language they should use, the structure of the report). Did the class get the chance to work together and did they read each others' reports? Sometimes I give my class a model report - this could even be one that a student has written but that depends on my class dynamics.

Look forward to hearing from some of you others about how you weave in literacy and numeracy focus activities. This is part of Unit 5 on the moodle academic induction moodle site.