Rationale

Our initial focus for the maths strand of our project was to explore the use of visualisers in providing effective demonstrations for learners of how to approach multi-step questions.

Visualiser Project Padlet

Many learners seem to tend to lack stamina when answering this common exam question type and would frequently give up. This had been identified in the previous academic year as an area of weakness, with our current cohort also displaying a very similar trend. This weakness in problem solving could of course be attributed to the fact that exams across Functional Skills and GCSE maths had not taken place in the academic year of 2019 -2020 and teaching time had been heavily curtailed.

Within our ESOL team there was a recognition that learners often come to the college with no knowledge of the English alphabet, and some are unable to even write in their native language (See appendix 6). Getting used to writing the English alphabet can present a huge challenge, and we were keen to see if the modelling of some of the basic skills of writing and letter formation could be demonstrated effectively using a visualiser.

Approach

After an initial joint planning meeting we worked collaboratively throughout the project, meeting regularly in a three-way dialogue involving English, Maths and ESOL teams, using Padlet (Appendix 3) and Google Drive to share our findings and resources. Each team also held half termly reflection and evaluation sessions.

At the start of the project, we arranged for ESOL tutors to have training sessions in using a visualiser and set up peer observation opportunities with those members of the English team who had become confident in using visualisers so that we could build on their expertise.

In the maths department, we decided to run a CPD session at the start of the project which was led by our co-ordinator and aimed to upskill staff in teaching the problematic multi-step questions. To measure the success of this training and to monitor the impact of the use of the visualisers in maths we decided to record question-by-question tracking (see Appendix 5) to measure improvement in the learners’ ability to improve their approach to these questions.

However, whilst we set out to evaluate the use of visualisers in face-to-face teaching in the classroom, as the year progressed, we realised that our plans would be affected by the various levels of lockdown and by the decision to move our maths and ESOL teaching programmes to online delivery.

In the maths department we reconfigured our classrooms with dual monitors and cameras to aid in online delivery which meant that there was much less of a need to use visualisers as many of the online learning platforms contained applications such as Jamboard, Google Docs for live marking, and PowerPoint which could be annotated at the point of exemplification. We found using these platforms covered the scope of what a visualiser could be used for and therefore it added unnecessary technology to the online lesson. One teacher commented:

“They add another piece of technology to the lesson that becomes clunky as switching between cameras can be tricky”.

In light of the move to online delivery our Skills Facilitator and Head of Maths began to utilise visualisers to create a bank of video resources that students could use to revise key calculations. These video resources featured demonstrations of how to tackle multi-step exam questions and were made available in a resource bank on Google Classroom.

In contrast, for a period in the autumn term our ESOL lessons continued to be offered in the classroom under social distancing restrictions and we were able continue to trial the use of visualisers. We found that one of the benefits of using visualisers was that they enabled teachers to provide detailed demonstrations of basic writing skills such as how to hold a pen and construct letters but without the need for teachers to work closely with a learner at a desk.

Evidence of improved collaboration and changes in organisation practices

There has been a notable increase in the use and expansion of modelling using a visualiser since the project’s inception, and this is now a key feature of our ESOL and Pre-Entry ESOL lessons which are delivered both remotely and in person. The Head of ESOL has also been talking to colleagues in the SEND department as there are similarities in the range of basic writing skills that sometimes need to be modelled and developed in additional learning support provision. We intend to collaborate with the SEND department in the near future and share what we have learned during the project.

We learned a great deal from the English department’s involvement in the original OTLA 6 project and have been able to build on their expertise, and the three-way collaboration between teachers in the maths, English and ESOL departments has been invaluable in sharing good practice and exploring different ways in which visualisers and digital technology can be used.

Evidence of improvement in learners’ achievements, retention and progression

Maths teachers involved in the project used a tracking spreadsheet to measure progress between assessment points and allowed teachers to log marks per question on assessments, which then break down the skills into individual area for feedback (see Appendix 5).

Data captured as part of the initial assessment

Data captured as part of the initial assessment (assessment point 1) indicated that only 19% of learners had gained marks on multi-step questions. In comparison, assessment point 2 (October half term) indicated that 84% of learners had gained marks on multi-step questions. This increased further at assessment point 3 (December) which indicated that 97% of learners had gained marks on multi-step questions. It should also be noted that as the assessment points progressed, the complexity of the multi-step questions increased (see Appendix 4 for sample questions).

Learner feedback was also useful in measuring and gauging the effectiveness of the visualiser use in classes. Such comments as ‘It is so much easier to follow the stages of a question when you show us with the visualiser’ and ‘I find it so helpful with the diagram questions on area and perimeter’ reinforce this. Within ESOL the learners quoted ‘I like to see the teacher write’ and ‘All the class see my work and I was happy’.