ECITB commissioned Think Up to investigate how a new set of energy-themed teaching resources could be designed that would help to raise the profile of the engineering construction industry among thirteen to sixteen-year-olds. We started by researching how energy is currently taught in schools, what support materials teachers already find useful and what resources they would like to see.
From this research and our experience of creating learning resources we have written the following set of design requirements for a set of energy-themed teaching resources that would both meet the aims of the project and the needs of teachers.
Our recommendations are that the new teaching resources should:
- Make an impact – word-of-mouth seems to be one of the best ways of disseminating new teaching resources.
- Relate the science to real-life and to application in careers – teachers tell us this is one of the easiest ways to get students engaged in difficult topics.
- Be suitable for a wide range of audiences in order to maximize use.
- Allow teachers to introduce students to new topics and get them quickly engaged.
- Be easy to deploy (requiring no special software or training).
- Be flexible to use and easy for teachers to slot into existing plans of work.
- Give users access to more structured activities if that is what they are looking for.
- Be easy to find online (many teachers look for resources by searching for keywords).
- Exist in a framework that is easy to adapt and add to.
- Be presented in a high-quality visual format that will capture the attention of modern learners.
The research report is accessible below. Based on these recommendations we developed proposals for the Power Station.