Education Services
As a consequence of the exceptionally high rate of technical advances in IT these days, the exam board content, learning outcomes and assessment methods are constantly being updated to reflect these changes. Practitioners are expected to keep pace with these technical advances and the new computer languages and design methodologies that accompany them.
Computing courses bring their own particular challenges that set them apart from courses in other subjects. For example, in writing a computer program, progress is extremely hard to measure, both from the point of view of assessment, and from the perspective of students themselves. It is not enough simply to read computer code to know whether or not it works, it has to be to be tested.
Furthermore, the workings and correctness of interim code does not always indicate that the final program will work as expected. In point of fact, it is sometimes not until quite late in development that it can become clear that the foundations of the entire structure are flawed, with potentially far reaching consequences for the whole program.
All this can be extremely problematic and time consuming for the teacher when it comes to assessment. In addition to these difficulties, the teacher need to be able to advise students who are expected to report on their own progress and to estimate the time they need to complete interim tasks.
Here is a selection of the services I can provide
Individual tutorials where specialist teacher unavailable
My experience includes stepping in to provide continuity as a supply teacher, temporary lecturer or tutor.
Help for those covering computing classes
I have experience of training and supervising staff including teaching and technical support staff as well as mentoring newly qualified teachers.
Help for managers of computing lecturers and teachers
Help with approach to course design
I have wide experience of course design ranging from the whole design and implementation of completely new University course modules to the production of interactive course materials for Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) for Schools, Colleges and Adult Education and Training.
I can advise on how to create materials that take into account the needs of students, teachers and the learning institution.
Help where inadequate exam board or on-line support
Help with the aspects of study that are poorly supported by exam boards, books and on-line tutorials (e.g. Problem Solving and Project Management of small projects).
Topics that have not yet been covered in the course
Students that are 'high flyers' often need more advanced tuition, especially when they encounter the more advanced topics that have not yet been covered in the course.
Exam Technique
Having marked exams and coursework from many exam boards, my familiarity with marking schemes enables me to help students concentrate on the most relevant things that examiners are looking for to get the top marks.
Management of programming projects
Assessing progress is particularly challenging as it is not easy for the students themselves to report on their own progress or to estimate the time required to complete intermediate tasks.
Whilst some broad aspects of project management may be covered in theory, students are rarely given the opportunity to practice the techniques themselves before being expected to use them in projects that will be assessed as part of their qualification.
The management of group projects is also problematic as it requires careful coordination of many participants each with their own differing needs. Effective organisation and communication methods are even more important with inexperienced project teams.
Expert advice is required to choose appropriate project management techniques and communication methods to maximise outcomes and benefit all participants.
I have very wide-ranging experience of supervising, assessing and marking projects, coursework and exams.
Programming in different computer languages
To add to the number of computer languages that student may have to use, some exam boards are even specifying their own additional computer language variations.
Advising students on the essential aspects of multiple languages can be difficult. For example, continual assessment of work-in-progress requires both the student and the tutor to be able to read unfamiliar code.
My experience of teaching a wide variety of computer languages includes Python, C, C++, Java, Visual Basic, Pascal, JavaScript, HTML and CSS amongst others.
I can help in all of these situations on a temporary, part time basis as a tutor or consultant.