NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Personal Development
Practical Abilities
Student’s Guide
[HIGHER]
The Scottish Qualifications Authority regularly reviews
the arrangements for National Qualifications. Users of
all NQ support materials, whether published by
Learning and Teaching Scotland or others, are
reminded that it is their responsibility to check that the
support materials correspond to the requirements of the
current arrangements.
Acknowledgement
Learning and Teaching Scotland gratefully acknowledges this contribution to the National
Qualifications support programme for Personal Development.
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
This resource may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes by educational
establishments in Scotland provided that no profit accrues at any stage.
2
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
Contents
Introduction and overview
4
Practical abilities – a personal review
7
So far in summary…
10
Sudbury Valley and a Contract for Learning
11
Progress pathway for learners
13
Exemplar project activities
18
Thinking SMART – project theme, aims and objectives
20
Solid foundations and principles for learning
27
Learner information and guidance – Phase 1
29
Learner information and guidance – Phase 2
31
Learner information and guidance – Phase 3
33
Learner information and guidance – Phase 4
36
Learner resources
37
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
3
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Introduction and overview
Welcome to the Higher level unit Personal Development: Practical Abilities .
This first section of this Students’ Guide is designed to introduce you to some
key ideas behind the unit to get you thinking about ‘learning by doing’.
Your teacher/lecturer will guide you through this section, and you will have
opportunities for some lively discussion and/or research activity. You can
expect to spend approximately 6 hours working through and completing this
introduction.
We’ll start from the most important idea of all: you are the key!
You may be starting this as a standalone unit or as one of four units which
together make up the Personal Development Higher.
Either way, you are about to begin work on a kind of learning that will give
you a sense of ownership with your learning.
The focus of the Practical Abilities Higher is what we might call ‘active’ or
‘experiential’ learning; that is, learning by doing. While you will research
and discover new information and develop new knowledge, you will also
design and carry out a practical activity – something real – and will learn lots
about and from that.
Learning by doing!
For some people, learning by doing, or experiential learning, can be highly
productive.
Consider the words of Confucius, an ancient Chinese thinker and philosopher:
‘I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.’
It sounds very much like Confucius was an experiential learner!
4
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Now try to think of several examples where in your own life learning by
doing has really worked for you. This may include something as simple as
buying a new MP3 player where you have spent ages poring over the
instruction manual...only to find you learned much more quickly – and
confidently – when you switched it on and started to use it!
1.
2.
Discussion activity (i)
Now, with a partner or in a small group, take s ome time to share and compare
the ideas you have noted. What was it about learning by doing that worked
for you?
Discussion activity (ii)
Your teacher/lecturer will now review some examples and important features
of experiential learning with the class group.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
5
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
‘Behind the scenes’ (an example of experiential learning)
Let’s imagine you are fascinated by and have ambition to work behind the
scenes in the world of theatre. At the moment you have no real experience to
speak of, but would love to find out all that’s involved in the booking,
planning and running of a theatre production. You want to develop a real
understanding too of different job roles in theatre and all about the business
side of things.
How can you do this?
There are several options available, some involving traditional, others
experiential, learning, for example:
1.
2.
3.
4.
You might borrow some books on theatre studies from your local
library and read through these.
You might search online and read through a range of careers in theatre
websites.
You could make contact with the manager of your local theatre and
negotiate a behind-the-scenes visit in order to meet a number of theatre
professionals and possibly observe some of the work they do .
You might opt for a combination of the above : some initial research,
broadened and deepened by a behind -the-scenes visit.
And when your time behind the scenes is over?
Your research will provide you with new facts and knowledge. You will have
formed a real-life multi-dimensional picture of work behind the scenes.
Confucius would approve!
In the Practical Abilities Higher unit, the expectation is you will learn by a
combination of methods. It is hoped you will learn via research – and you
will learn by doing too!
...an added extra...?
In the course of this experiential learning you will find some extra learning
takes place, for you will, without doubt, become more aware of and become
practised in a number of useful skills. These might include communication,
organisation, time-management and so on.
You are also likely to find that even via short -term experience such as this,
your levels of self-confidence and initiative grow.
6
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
PRACTICAL ABILITIES – A PERSONAL REVIEW
Practical abilities – a personal review
‘Thinking-about-doing’, self-reflection
Those who recommend experiential learning stre ss it’s never enough to
simply do in order to learn and learn well. We also need to reflect (think
back) on what happened, how we did things, why we did them that way and
what we know now that is new. This kind of review, or self-reflection, makes
our learning work even better for us.
When you think back on your theatre experience , for example, you’ll be
aware of how you felt, how you coped with and managed those new situations
and new people; situations where you felt confident and others where you felt
less so and which you would have liked to have handled differently.
This kind of reflection helps you understand how best to prepare for and
approach the next new situation and/or people you meet.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
7
PRACTICAL ABILITIES – A PERSONAL REVIEW
Practical abilities review (a)
Take some time to identify specific practical abilities you know you have!
These don’t have to be complicated or advanced . You might, for example, be
someone who has plenty of confidence when trying out new things or meeting
new people. You might be able to record ‘I am friendly and enthusiastic in
new situations’.
You might be someone who when you have a task to do always approach that
task in organised ways. If this is the case, you might be able to record ‘I am
thorough and organised when I have a task to do – when I make a plan, I
follow it through!’
These are my strengths...
My practical abilities include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
8
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
PRACTICAL ABILITIES – A PERSONAL REVIEW
Practical abilities review (b)
Take some time to identify practical abilities you would like to develop.
Again, as with identifying your practical abilities strengths, you don’t have to
give complicated examples. In fact, often those that first come to mind are
simple ones, but they are important for you.
You might, for example, be a procrastinator: someone who has the best of
intentions about getting something done straight away, but who ends up
leaving things until the last minute then rushing like crazy! If so, you could
record something like: ‘I’d like to get better at managing my time – doing
things when I know I should.’
Or, you might recognise a tendency to be disorganised, especially when it
comes to sorting out and keeping your paperwork, study notes and so on in
good order. If this is you, you could record something like : ‘I’d like to be
better at organising the resources I a m in charge of.’
These are the areas I’d like to develop...
I’d like to develop the following practical abilities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
9
PRACTICAL ABILITIES – A PERSONAL REVIEW
So far in summary…
Practical abilities: a summary
 In this unit you will learn by combinations of meth ods, including learning
by doing.
 You will be encouraged to think about what and how you’re doing while
you’re doing it (and about how you did, once you’re done).
 You will gain new knowledge and understanding about a subject area that
interests you – and will have some real freedom to think up, design and
‘own’ a great deal of the work you do.
 You have identified practical abilities you’d like to develop and can keep
these in focus when working through your project and when you evaluate
how you’ve done at the end.
Your teacher/lecturer will:
 provide information, encouragement and opportunity for you to practice
and develop new skills and learning
 support you to think reflectively and develop new kinds of confidence and
competence (ability) along the way.
10
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SUDBURY VALLEY AND A CONTRACT FOR LEARNING
Sudbury Valley and a Contract for Learning
Sudbury Valley School – web research and discussion activity
Task
Think for a moment or two about an ordinary day in your school or college.
Now imagine the following very exciting changes have just bee n announced:
 From tomorrow, the syllabus and all subjects on the curriculum have been
cancelled!
 Instead students will take responsibility for their own learning and will
study only what they’re interested in and these will be practical subjects
(learning by doing).
 The teacher/lecturer’s role will be to support the students who want to
learn (by doing) and to encourage students to reflect on their learning .
Could this happen?
Use a search engine to investigate Sudbury Valley School, Massachusetts,
USA, 1968, with the following questions in mind:
1.
2.
What for you stands out in this study?
Why do you think all schools/colleges in Scotland today don’t run this
way?
Supported discussion activity
Together with your teacher/lecturer, discuss, compare and criticise your
findings.
1.
2.
Identify what you consider to be the main strengths and weaknesses of
the Sudbury Valley School experiment.
Identify what (for your practical abilities class) will need to be in place
in order to make sure your experiential learning works well.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
11
SUDBURY VALLEY AND A CONTRACT FOR LEARNING
Practical Abilities – a Contract for Learning
We’ve recognised that the Personal Development: Practical Abilities Higher
unit will involve real and experiential learning and self -reflection and how
important these are.
We’ve recognised how valuable, effective and enjoyable learning by doing
can be for learners. We are aware too, however, that experiential learning
must occur within a framework, albeit a simple one!
Put simply, where there is experiential learning, there must be some kind o f
structure and system in place to support this.
The next part of your introduction to practical abilities is designed to help
you identify and understand how the unit works and what you will need to do
(and when) in order to make your work a success.
12
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
PROGRESS PATHWAY FOR LEARNERS
Progress pathway for learners
Your progress pathway
The table on page 15 is your progress pathway.
Think of this as a kind of road map to the Practical Abilities Higher unit and,
more specifically, for the project you will be doing.
In the pathway, you will see your project is divided into parts or phases, with
timescales provided for how long you can expect to spend on each phase. The
pathway shows:
 the overall theme (or main idea) of each project phase
 what you can expect to be doing in each ph ase
 what parts of the Practical Abilities Higher unit are covered or evidenced
by each project phase
 any resources available/provided to support you with each phase
 what you can and should do as you go along to check your progress
 formally required checklists linked to each project phase.
On first sight, the progress pathway might appear a little daunting. It does
after all contain lots of information. Don’t worry though , you’re not expected
to pick up and run immediately with what it’s all about , but simply to get the
idea to develop what’s called an overview of the unit, your project tasks and
timescales.
Your teacher/lecturer will help by introducing and explaining the progress
pathway for you and, as with all tabled information, you will find things
become clearer and simpler when considered one section at a time.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
13
PROGRESS PATHWAY FOR LEARNERS
Interpreting the progress pathway
Down the left-hand column you will see that the unit is divided into phases
(or stages). These show approximately how much time you will spend on the
specific parts or phases of the unit. (Each centre will devise its own schedule
of working through the Practical Abilities Higher. This is only an example
and you might find the timescales are different in your school/college .)
Down the right-hand column you will see clear instruction on what you need
to have completed and can produce as evidence by the end of that phase.
The columns in between and from left to right identify and list the themes
covered and what you can expect to be doing in each project phase and so on.
Irrespective of timescales, however, you will find the unit runs in the
following order:
An introduction to the unit’s aims and processes – what’s required
Phase 1: Working on your project
Phase 2: Working on your project
Phase 3: Delivering your ‘output’ (the ‘event’ or ‘product’ you design, make
or arrange)
Phase 4: Reviewing and evaluating skills
Each project phase (1, 2, 3 and 4) is complete and ‘achieved’ when you have
done the work for that phase and have completed the relevant learner
checklist.
Your teacher/lecturer has a checklist to complete too – at the end of Phase 3 –
where s/he writes up the detail of your project output.
Your teacher/lecturer also needs to authenticate (in other words sign and
date) your checklist for Phase 4, to confirm its accuracy.
Hopefully by considering the whole unit in small parts like this, it won’t look
tricky at all!
14
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
PROGRESS PATHWAY FOR LEARNERS
Progress pathway
Project phase
and no. of
hours
Introductory
(6 hours)
Phase 1
(8 hours)
Phase 2
(8 hours)
Theme/s
What will I be
doing?
Introduction to
and overview
of Practical
Abilities unit
Getting to grips
with what I’ll be
doing, why and
how
Gathering,
interpreting and
organising
information
towards my
project
Communicating
with others
during my
specific
project/s
Choosing my
project idea!
Identifying kinds
of information
relevant to my
chosen project
Relevant
to unit
outcomes
1,2,3,4
(all)
Relevant
unit
resources
Student’s
Guide
Checking
my
progress
Via
discussion
with my
teacher/
lecturer
Folio
checklists
Outcome 1
Student’s
Guide
Via
ongoing
discussion
with my
teacher/
lecturer
To round-up
and complete
this section?
Via
ongoing
discussion
with my
teacher/
lecturer
To round-up
and complete
this section?
Gathering the
particular
information I
will need for my
project
Making sense of
and using this
information in
ways appropriate
for my project
Identifying the
complex relevant
information I’ll
be
communicating
to others in my
project
Outcome 2
Student’s
Guide
None required
Learner
checklist 1
with relevant
evidence
attached
Learner
checklist 2
with relevant
evidence
attached
Communicating
effectively with
relevant people
at appropriate
times and using
appropriate
methods during
my project
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
15
PROGRESS PATHWAY FOR LEARNERS
Phase 3
(14 hours)
Delivering my
project output
Identifying what
my special
project output is
to be
Outcome 3
Student’s
Guide
The resources I
will need to
deliver this
output
Via
ongoing
discussion
with my
teacher/
lecturer
To round-up
and complete
this section?
Learner
checklist 3
plus
Assessor’s
checklist
(provided by my
teacher/lecturer)
Identifying the
complex
activities I will
carry out
Using these
resources
appropriately in
order to carry
out these
activities
Phase 4
(4 hours)
Reviewing my
practical
abilities in
terms of my
project
Delivering my
project output!
Identifying
strengths and
weaknesses in
my practical
abilities when
carrying out this
project
Outcome 4
Explaining the
reasons why I
consider these
to be strengths
and weaknesses
Identifying areas
for further
development
Explaining the
reasons why I
chose these
strengths and
weaknesses
16
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
Student’s
Guide
via
ongoing
discussions
with my
teacher/
lecturer
To round-up
and complete
this section?
Learner
checklist 4,
authenticated by
my
teacher/lecturer
PROGRESS PATHWAY FOR LEARNERS
Practical Abilities – your progress pathway: an easy-read
summary
1.
In the Practical Abilities Higher you will work on designing and
carrying out a real project/activity.
2.
This is not a taught unit. Instead you will learn by researching, putting
together and doing an activity/project and by reflecting on and
evaluating what and how you’ve done.
3.
The work for your project/activity is divided into four parts (phases).
4.
For each phase you have specific work to do and a specific learner
checklist to complete.
5.
Your teacher/lecturer will contribute a checklist too (about your project
output).
6.
By the end of the Practical Abilities Higher you will have carried out
your project/activity and will have a folio that contains a detailed
record of all the work you’ve done for your project /activity, plus
checklists from you and one from your teacher/lecturer.
7.
Throughout the Practical Abilities Higher you will be supported by your
teacher/lecturer to keep to specific timescales.
8.
S/he will support you too, as you progress, to identify and work on
developing your skills and knowledge.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
17
EXEMPLAR PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Exemplar project activities
What kind of project or activity can I do?
Suggested examples of suitable projects might include the following.
Suggested project
themes
Research, arrange and
undertake a workplace
visit/experience
Research, arrange and
carry out a special event
Research, arrange and
launch a publicity
campaign
Write, publicise and
perform a short themed
drama or debate
Research and present a
biography of someone
whose life is of special
interest
18
More detailed examples
Negotiate with a local employer to join a
workplace short term
Arrange a series of visits to different types of
workplace to compare and contrast job roles
Arrange to shadow a professional for a period of
time
A fund-raising coffee-morning
An exhibition of photography or artwork
A conservation ‘clear-up’ activity
A talent showcase
A ‘freecycle’ exchange scheme (where people
bring items they no longer need to swap with
others)
A poster campaign to highlight school/college
anti-bullying/anti-discrimination policy to
promote responsible disposal of litter in your
community
To promote energy conservation or healthy living
Take an issue of particular interest, one which
others would be keen to see and hear explored ,
and turn it into a performance or establish
debating teams and argue the case ‘for’ and
‘against’
Every community has individuals who are unsung;
perhaps someone has established a small-scale
animal rescue project or provided foster care for
many vulnerable children – anyone whose story is
an interesting one to research and tell.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
EXEMPLAR PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Set up a special interest
magazine
An enterprise venture –
where you create an
item for sale
Research and present a
public information
session
Put together and distribute a single-issue
newspaper or magazine with a theme or message
(about your school/college, music, the arts,
exercise/healthy lifestyle, social issues, poetry,
etc)
Packs of desktop-published notepaper and
envelopes, special occasion cards
Plantlets from seed
Arrange and carry out a fund-raising business, for
example a day’s car washing to benefit a local
organisation or group in need of funds
Maybe you have special knowledge of a particular
social issue, or a real talent or interesting pastime
(martial arts/gymnastics/dance/DJing/befriending,
etc) that others would like to hear about
Maybe you have an unusual career ambition you’d
like to share
What you will have noticed from this list – and these are only some
suggestions to start you thinking – is that you have a broad area and great
freedom of choice. There are likely to be practical considerations (a trip to
Everest, for example, is unlikely to be manageable or appropriate) and issues
of health and safety must be carefully thought through where relevant.
Before moving on to exercises designed to he lp you think about and make
your project choices, it’s important to pause and think about a framework
issue, in this case smart thinking!
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
19
THINKING SMART – PROJECT THEME, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Thinking SMART – project theme, aims and
objectives
It’s important to be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timelimited).
As you begin to think about what you’d like to do and why, try to follow the
SMART guidelines.
 Specific – have a very particular idea in mind. Aim to avoid vague or
‘wandering’ thinking: go for a specific theme, idea, objective and result
for your project.
 Measurable – aim to design and carry out a project/activity that is in some
way ‘measurable’. By this we mean it’s easy to tell what your
aims/objectives are and when you have met these. You should be able to
tell whether or not you have achieved what you set out to by the end of
your project.
 Achievable and realistic – the project you have in mind is real, it’s
manageable, it can be done. I might like to make a million pounds, 6
weeks from now, but this could never be my pr oject/activity aim!
 Time-limited – check back to the progress pathway. You know each phase
has a certain length of time and when all phases must be completed by.
Make sure the project you have in mind is workable in terms of these
limits.
20
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
THINKING SMART – PROJECT THEME, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
An example of SMART thinking
Example project theme
Example SMART thinking
Here you should give a good allround idea of what you’d like to
do and achieve and why.
Here, you should think about each of the
SMART criteria and about making sure
the project or activity you have thought
about fits these criteria. For example:
For example:
I’d like to do a project where I get
to research and maybe meet and
spend time with someone who runs
or works for a group who rescue
and re-home retired racing
greyhounds.
Then I’d like to prepare and
deliver an information session for
my classmates about this.
If possible, I’d like to invite
someone from a greyhound rescue
association to school/college to
contribute to my information
session.
Specific
I’d like to know about why she does this,
what’s involved in this work, who pays
for it, how much it costs, the dangers
and benefits involved, why this work is
necessary, how big the scale of the
problem is, etc.
Measurable
I will be able to identify at the end
whether or not I have achieved what I
set out to do, ie people either will or
won’t know all about greyhound rescue.
Achievable and realistic
This project would need me to be
confident enough to make contact with a
stranger, to interview her, to visit her –
I believe I can do this. I would also need
to do a lot of research to find out my
facts. I’m confident about managing
this.
Time-limited
I would have enough time in Phases 1
and 2 to research, make contact and
spend time with her – if she’s agreeable.
Phase 3, where I present my findings in
a report to my classmates, would be
easy to manage in class time. No time
problems likely!
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
21
THINKING SMART – PROJECT THEME, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Activity: Two SMART ideas!
Take some time to consider the example above before getting personal and
starting to identify and think about two possible project/activities that would
be of interest for you.
Take time to do this exercise carefully and in detail .
My suggested project theme – 1
Project theme 1 – my SMART
objectives
Specific?
Measurable?
Achievable and realistic?
Time-limited?
22
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
THINKING SMART – PROJECT THEME, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
My suggested project theme – 2
Project theme 2 – my SMART
objectives
Specific?
Measurable?
Achievable and realistic?
Time-limited?
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
23
THINKING SMART – PROJECT THEME, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Formative Assessment 1: Two SMART ideas...discussion time!
Paired or small-group discussion
Remember the old saying, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’?
There is great truth in the idea that by talking our thoughts and ideas through
with other we can often benefit from each other’s feedback and responses to
our ideas, thoughts and suggestions.
You will have an opportunity to work with a partner or in a small group –
sharing, comparing and supporting each other to consider project ideas in
some detail.
Task
Working with one or two others, each person take s some time to talk through
both of their project ideas, together with their SMART thinking.
Look closely at and get involved with the ideas of your partner or others in
your group.
Review each idea by thinking and talking through in and around what the
project(s) are aiming to achieve.
The aim for these discussions is for each person to feel supported in really
thinking through and refining (improving or getting rid of the weaker or
unclear/unnecessary stuff) their project ideas.
You might find the following discussion pointers useful:
 What looks good and is workable about each idea? Identify any and all
project strengths.
 What kind of factors might be weak, difficult to achieve and/or affect the
workability of each idea?
You might find taking notes throughout these discussions helps, especially
points to consider that others raise for and with you.
24
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
THINKING SMART – PROJECT THEME, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Formative Assessment 2: Discussion time continued...
Discussion with your teacher/lecturer
Having completed first discussions, you will have made c hanges to your first
SMART project ideas.
For example, you may have changed your timescales, altered the number of
people to be involved in/invited to, your project, etc.
You will have decided which project idea seems the strongest and most
SMART and which ones to leave behind.
You should now have discussion time with your teacher/lecturer where you
present your project idea to him/her. Via this discussion and with your
teacher/lecturer’s guidance and support, you can work out and confirm the
details of what will be the best, most realistic and most SMART project for
you.
Again, you are likely to find making notes from this discussion useful.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
25
THINKING SMART – PROJECT THEME, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
My SMART project
Having completed Discussions 1 and 2 and finalised your project idea, you
should now complete the following table outlining your final project choice
and your SMART thinking.
My project theme
My project aims and what my project
output will be
My project SMART criteria
Specific?
Measurable?
Achievable?
Realistic?
Time-limited?
26
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
SOLID FOUNDATIONS AND PRINCIPLES FOR LEARNING
Solid foundations and principles for learning
So far, so good – solid foundations!
 You have now completed the Introduction to Personal Development –
Practical Abilities unit.
 Your teacher/lecturer has guided you through some initial discussions and
activities on experiential learning and the benefits for us as learners, of
‘owning’ (designing, creating and carrying out the work we do).
 You have been introduced to the phases and schedule ( progress pathway)
of the unit and know what parts of the unit are to be completed and by
when.
 You have been provided with examples and have had time and feedback
from others to help you decide on your final project idea.
 You have considered very carefully how to make sure your project will be
SMART!
In the same way a builder must have strong foundations to build a house, the
introductory work you have done so far has helped you establish strong
foundations for your practical abilities project.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
27
SOLID FOUNDATIONS AND PRINCIPLES FOR LEARNING
It’s now time to get started on this piece of work y ou have devised and
considered so carefully.
Before you move on to Phase 1 of working on your project, take some time to
consider the following principles or ways of working. These will support you
once you get started to stay focused and on track.
28
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE –PHASE 1
Learner information and guidance – Phase 1
You can expect to spend approximately 8 hours working towards and
completing Phase 1 of your project.
This phase is all about information gathering and is where you have the
opportunity to research any and all the information you will need to put
together an excellent project.
The following might be sources of information you will use:
The written word
Materials from:





web research
newspapers
books
special interest magazines
directories (ie something as simple as the local telephone directory or
Yellow Pages)
 research instruments (for example a questionnaire).
Technical/graphic data, eg information from:





diagrams
graphs
maps
charts
timetables.
The spoken word
You may prepare, carry out and write up an interview with one or more
people.
In total, you will need to show evidence that you have used at least four kinds
of information and have used four different methods or techniques to gather
information.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
29
LEARNER INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE –PHASE 1
This isn’t as complicated as it sounds – see the example provided below.
Remember the project idea for investigating then presenting a public
information session relating to greyhound rescue? Here are some sources and
methods that would be useful and relevant for achieving Phase 1 of the
greyhound rescue project:
Sources of information
(minimum four)
Methods or techniques of gathering
information
(minimum four)
Written materials from the internet
Using internet search engines
Written materials from specialist
magazines
Accessing back copies of magazines
from the Greyhound Awareness
League and other organisations
Technical data
Interpreting information on numbers
of greyhounds rescued each year in
Scotland from a diagram published by
the Greyhound Rescue Association
The spoken word
Preparing and carrying out an
interview with a founding member of
the nearest greyhound rescue
organisation
Remember that at the end of Phase 1 you will need to complete your first
learner checklist (Learner checklist 1) and have clear evidence in your folio
of at least four kinds of source information you used, plus four methods or
techniques you used for gathering this information .
30
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE –PHASE 2
Learner information and guidance – Phase 2
You can expect to spend approximately 8 hours working towards and
completing Phase 2 of your project. Much of your project will involve you
communicating with other people.
In Phase 2 you must evidence at least two instances where you achieved two
kinds of communication with others.
By ‘communication’ in this unit, we mean any way in which you gave/sent,
shared or presented information that involved at least one other person. This
can be at any point in your project.
The evidence you will provide should show:
 what you communicated (ie a copy of a letter or email you sent to someone
to ask them for information or assistance with your project, or a copy or
recording of an interview you carried out , etc)
 when you communicated this (include evidence, ie a postal receipt or dated
confirmation your email was sent or that your interview/questionn aire was
completed)
 to/with whom you communicated.
One frequently asked question is why 8 hours are allowed for this phase,
when all you have to do is evidence two kinds of communication, on two
occasions, with others? The answer is that time is allowed for you to design
the communication you will share (ie preparing the letter, email,
questionnaire, interview, etc)
Note that as Practical Abilities is a Higher level unit, the evidence you
include of communication with others must be complex. This isn’t as scary as
it sounds – ‘complex’ simply means that the information must be detailed: a
letter that makes several points and is formally structured, providing it is
accurately and professionally presented, is complex. A questionnaire or
interview you design and carry out is likely to have been carefully and
professionally prepared and show themes, detail and clarity of structure .
These too are forms of complex communication.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
31
LEARNER INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE –PHASE 2
Likewise, if, following your research phase, you design a graph or chart to
show some of your findings, this can be an example of complex
communication providing it is accurately designed and plotted out.
Remember, at the end of Phase 2 you will be required to complete and submit
Learner checklist 2, together with your evidence of two kinds of
communication, on two occasions, with others.
32
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE –PHASE 3
Learner information and guidance – Phase 3
You can expect to spend approximately 14 hours on Phase 3 of your project,
which focuses on your project output (event, result, activity, etc) , in other
words on what you do for your project.
As ‘evidence’ for Phase 3, you will need to show you have :
 identified an output (activity/product/event) relevant and appropriate to the
research you have done
 planned your activity/product/event, showing each stage or section
 identified the resources you will need to carry out/produce the
activity/product/event
 used these resources appropriately to carry out your activity /event or make
your product
 delivered your output (ie presented your product or carried out your
activity or event).
The above criteria, to be completed in Phase 3, look quite complicated when
written out like this in their official, formal ways. Don’t worry! You’ll find
these make much more sense when shown as a real -life working example.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
33
LEARNER INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE –PHASE 3
Remember the suggested greyhound rescue project? An example of the ways
in which a learner might evidence each of the communication elements for
Phase 3 using this project is given below.
Phase 3 – Example project: Greyhound rescue
Criteria for Phase 3
The evidence I will produce
Identify an output relevant and
appropriate to my project aims and
the research I have done
I will host and co-present an
information session on the topic of
greyhound rescue to an audience of
my classmates.
Plan this output, showing each stage
My project output will have two
sections:
1. I will present to my audience a
history and overview of the
greyhound rescue movement and
organisations in Scotland, using a
poster board as a prop.
2. I will introduce my guest speaker,
who will give a talk and show a
short DVD to illustrate her
involvement in and the work of
her organisation in greyhound
rescue work.
Identify the resources which will be
required to carry out this activity
I will need to have a number of
resources accessed and prepared in
advance for my project output. These
include:
1. A poster board made up showing
Scotland’s key greyhound rescue
organisations and the work they
do. The poster board will show
leaflets, magazine pages,
photographs, charts and
greyhound biographies etc that I
have accessed from various
organisations.
2. A DVD player and
laptop/projector or TV.
34
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE –PHASE 3
Use these resources appropriately to
carry out the activity
My teacher/lecturer will be able to
checklist this section for me,
evidencing that I have made a poster
board, well presented and with
suitable resources, and that I have
made sure a DVD player and screen
are available for my guest speaker.
Carry out the output or activity/event
as planned
My teacher/lecturer will be able to
checklist this section for me too,
evidencing I hosted and presented the
public information session as I had
planned.
Again, when criteria are separated out and considered one by one, they
become much clearer and easy to follow.
Remember that there are as many possible outputs as there are project
themes. The kind of activity/event/product you have decided on will of course
determine the kind of resources you will plan for and use.
Remember, at the end of this project phase you will need to have completed
and submitted Learner checklist 3 and your teacher/lecturer has to complete a
checklist too, evidencing that what you have done is what you had planned to
do.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
35
LEARNER INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE –PHASE 4
Learner information and guidance – Phase 4
You can expect to spend approximately 4 hours working towards and
completing Phase 4 of your project.
This phase is where, having carried out your activity /event or having made
and presented your product etc, you work on reflective thinking : reviewing
and evaluating your practical abilities.
It would be beneficial for you to revisit ideas of experiential learning and
reflective thinking from this booklet’s introductory section at the start of
Phase 4. In addition, you should revisit your Practical Abilities personal
review on page 8, for those areas you identified that you’d like to develop.
A Phase 4 worksheet will be issued to you by your teacher/lecturer. Your task
for Phase 4 is to complete this worksheet, carefully and in detail.
 The worksheet will ask you to consider a number of practical abilities and
your strengths in relation to each.
 You will also be asked to consider any areas of weakness, ie areas of
practical ability you would like to improve on and develop .
 You will be asked to explain why you have identified particular strengths.
 You will be asked to explain why you have identified particular
weaknesses/areas for development.
36
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER RESOURCES
Learner resources
The following section contains ideas and information together with practical
suggestions and measures to help you with:




designing and using your own questionnaire
writing a formal letter
designing and carrying out an interview
public speaking.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
37
LEARNER RESOURCES
Learner resource 1
Designing, implementing and collating your own questionnaire
If a researcher wants to find out lots of information fairly easily, quickly and
cheaply, a questionnaire can be a useful tool. You might be surprised ,
however, to learn just how much thought has to go into the design of the
instrument of research – that is, the questionnaire itself.
What’s involved in questionnaire design? Just write out some ques tions and
people answer them, right? It’s not that straightforward: questionnaire design
must follow some important rules. These are straightforward, but if ignored
can lead to a very poor instrument of research and one likely to produce
equally poor quality materials for the researcher.
Whether you consider carrying out your questionnaire orally (ie a phone
survey), person to person or via distribution (handing out or posting paper
copy of questionnaires to be completed and returned), you will need to spe nd
some time thinking carefully about what you’re asking, why and in what
ways.
The following activity about how not to design your questionnaire is fun, but
does show clearly some of the pitfalls for the questionnaire designer.
38
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER RESOURCES
Activity: The world’s worst questionnaire
What do you think might be wrong/misleading/unhelpful or just plain
pointless or daft about the following questionnaire? Look closely and think
carefully about the individual questions and the questionnaire as a whole.
How many problems can you find?
Aileen’s lifestyles questionnaire
Please answer the following questions:
1.
People with red hair have a bad temper.
TRUE or FALSE?
2.
How often do you cook a balanced meal from scratch?




hardly ever
sometimes
fairly often
always
You are likely to have uncovered the following difficulties :
(a)
(b)
(c)
The questions are all different types. This throws the reader off right
away, s/he has to spend time on each question working out what to do,
just to answer.
The questions are not in any kind of order; neither are they themed or
explained: ‘red hair and bad temper?’...‘home -cooking’...?
These may well have some link in terms of the overall purpose of the
questionnaire in the mind of the researcher, but these questions appear
entirely disjointed for the respondent (the person who is to answer
them).
There are problems with the core of the questions – what’s actually
being asked.
What does a ‘bad temper’ mean? What does the question mean by ‘red
hair’? Naturally red? Dyed red? Does ‘used to be red’ count?
What is a ‘balanced meal’? What does ‘from scratch’ mean – catching
the fish before cooking it?
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
39
LEARNER RESOURCES
Do we all understand the same thing by these questions? Almost definitely
not. Do we all have a headache trying to make sense of the m whilst reading
through poorly presented work (several fonts and font sizes)? Almost
certainly yes.
If the respondent doesn’t have a clear understanding of the question(s), if the
questions are of varied types and/or mixed up and without logical order and
meaning, if the work is poorly presented, how seriously is the respondent
likely to take the questionnaire and what quality of responses is the
researcher likely to receive?
Now to get it right.
Some key rules for good questionnaire design:
1.
Spend some time thinking very carefully about what you need or want
to find out via your questionnaire. This is never wasted time and does
help you identify and stick to focus areas.
2.
Spend some time thinking about what your target group will be,
considering the following questions carefully:
 Who will I be asking and why?
 How many people will I be asking and why?
 Do I want my questionnaire to reach and provide information from
one specific group (eg students at your school or college), from more
than one group (eg students and staff me mbers) or do I want my
questionnaire to be generalised, ie a random selection of people?
 If I’m planning a random sample, how can I achieve this?
 How do I plan to gather my questionnaire results?
 Is my questionnaire to be anonymous and why/why not?
3.
Once you have thought about what you hope to find out about, who and
how many people you want to ask (and the reasons for these choices),
you’re ready to start working on your questionnaire design. Take some
time to do rough drafts of questions you’d like to ask , making sure
these are focused. Don’t worry at this stage about how well your
questions read or whether they’re ‘open’, ‘closed’, etc. Go for a rough
draft only, but do aim for objectivity, that is fair questions that don’t
lead the respondent to answer in a particular way.
4.
Next, take some time to think about the order of your questionnaire.
Usually, questions are more general at the beginning, becoming more
specific toward the end.
40
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER RESOURCES
5.
Next, and with your rough draft to hand, revisit your original
objectives: what you hope to find out and what you hope to do with the
information you receive. Now you can think carefully about whether
mainly open or closed questions would work best. By ‘closed’
questions, we mean those which have limited possibilities for
responding – typically the respondent can choose from (or tick) a
selection given on the questionnaire. Often, closed questions are those
that can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Open questions are those
designed to encourage the respondent to give his/her own answer, for
example ‘What do you think of such-and-such?’.
Closed questions: Use these if it is more important in the questionnaire
that you receive a larger number of ‘answers’ from a larger number of
people and that these are easy to count and compa re (eg 20 people said
‘yes’ to question 6).
Open questions: Use these if it is more important that you get in-depth
and individual answers to your questions (ie you may chose to ask only
10 respondents, but are hoping for detailed and different answers fr om
each, recognising that whilst these open answers can be difficult to
compare or count, they do give good depth and breadth about how a
number of individuals think and feel.
6.
Having worked through steps 1–5, you should now begin to put together
your questionnaire.
Bear in mind that, as well as these carefully thought-through questions,
you should aim to make your questionnaire attractive and engaging for
the reader. Readability (the order and sense of your questions), overall
clarity and neatness of presentation are important. You might decide to
use colour or pictures to capture your respondents’ attention.
7.
Having designed the perfect questionnaire and before carrying out your
research, it’s important to test it out. Try your questionnaire out, using
your colleagues as ‘pilot respondents’. The results from this might
surprise you! You may, for example, find responses to the way you
have asked one question are too simple or too brief for your needs or
you may find you are getting too much detail and in formation, making
it difficult and impracticable to work with the answers. Either way, you
will probably find several areas of your questionnaire that you can
improve. Even the most experienced social scientist involved in
professional social research makes significant adjustments following
this piloting exercise – it is worthwhile!
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
41
LEARNER RESOURCES
Once you’ve tested it out, once you have these first results and you’ve
considered the answers the respondents have provided you with, and
once you’ve tidied up any questions, as a final check look back to your
original objectives. What were you trying to find out about? Does your
questionnaire meet these objectives? If so, following editing, you can
proceed.
Presenting your results
Think about how you will present your results. Clearly this depends on the
type of questionnaire you have designed. You c ould write up a short report
summarising what your questionnaires have shown. Alternatively, you might
design a small table to show your results. You might like to compile all yo ur
results into graphics form or perhaps an information poster. The results
format you choose is likely to depend on whom your questionnaire is
designed to reach and what it is designed to do or what question it is
supposed to answer.
Don’t forget…
Once you have put your results together, you should always keep a copy of
the completed questionnaires you have. If, for example, you have made up a
table and written a short report about the answers you received , you should be
able to provide your original questionnaires as evidence of this. Typically
these would be attached or included at the end of your report /table/poster etc.
as appendices.
And in conclusion
Good questions, good planning and good design lead to a good questionnaire
that leads to meaningful results, which greatly enhance the quality of your
project.
When working on a questionnaire, be prepared to spend more time on your
behind-the-scenes planning, problem-solving, organising, writing and rewriting of questions than on carrying out your qu estionnaire. This is entirely
normal – as any professional researcher will confirm.
42
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER RESOURCES
Learner resource 2
Writing a formal letter
When contacting a good friend, we’re likely to use text messaging or maybe
post on Facebook/Myspace/Twitter, saying something like ‘Hey Joe, been
ages, gimme a call!’
Many of us abandon the rules of punctuation, grammar and spelling in these
kinds of communication. Short-cuts, abbreviations and slang terms are widely
used and accepted (some key terms from ‘text -speak’ are now included and
explained in English dictionaries).
If, however, you wanted to write to a local employer to ask if she would
consider arranging a visit or work placement for you with her company, she is
unlikely to take you and/or your request seriously unless formal letter-writing
rules are followed. This means following certain rules for structure, content
and presentation.
Formal letter-writing, the rules
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Make sure you type or write on plain, self -coloured paper.
Write/type your address in the top right -hand corner.
Add the recipient’s address (the person for whom the letter is intended)
just below yours, on the opposite (left-hand) side of the page.
Skip a line (or a line equivalent, given you’re using unlined paper)
below the recipient’s address, then write the date, making sure to write
out the month in full (remember, no abbreviations in formal letters) .
Skip a line below the date to write an appropriate greeting, including
the recipient’s name and his/her designation (or job title) .
Skip a line or two and write your first paragraph, starting from below
the greeting. In this paragraph, you can introduce yourself and explain
clearly why you’re writing.
The next paragraph (or paragraphs) provides the body or main part of
your letter, where you add any relevant detail the recipient should
know. Make sure you are clear and straightforward here, stay focused
on the facts.
Your closing paragraph is where you identify and ask for any action or
response you’re hoping for from the recipient. This is also where you
express your thanks to the recipient for taking the time to consider your
letter, request, etc.
Write your closing statement, using ‘Yours sincerely’ if you know the
name of the individual to whom you’ve written or ‘Yours faithfully’ if
you don’t. It’s also appropriate (especially if your signature is
scribbled) to print your name neatly under your signature.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
43
LEARNER RESOURCES
Formal letter-writing: an example
3 Kennedy Road
Ayr KA10 1CZ
11 September 2010
Ms J Smith, Owner/Manager
Strawberry Fields Florist
14 Montgomery Street
Ayr
Dear Ms Smith
My name is Aileen O’Reilly, I am currently a student at xxxxxxxxx
school/college. Further to our recent conversation by phone, I’m writing
formally to ask if you will consider arranging and hosting a workplace visit
for me with ‘Strawberry Fields’.
As we had discussed, I aim to make floristry my career, although as yet I
have no relevant practical experience. I very much hope to spend some time
visiting two floristry businesses in Ayr as part of my learning and
employment preparation, with a view to meeting personnel and seeing daily
business first-hand. Based on these visits, I plan to write and present a report
for my classmates. These visits and my follow-up report will evidence the
new knowledge and understanding I gain and will contribute to my achieving
the Higher level unit Personal Development: Practical Abilities.
As we discussed, I hope to spend approximately half a working day in each of
the florists I visit and have permission and approval from senior school staff
to do so any Thursday afternoon (from 1 to 4pm) during November. I hope
these will prove suitable arrangements for you.
I am contactable at the above address, or by email on
aoreilly150@hotmail.co.uk, or by telephone on 0700007770707.
Thank you for taking time to consider my request. I very much look forward
to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Aileen O’Reilly
44
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER RESOURCES
Learner resource 3
Conducting an interview
The best way to learn about and understand an interview in action and to
consider the interview process is to take part in an interview and hear one.
The following is a fun exercise, although you will find you learn a great deal
from it.
Task
With a partner, take turns of maximum 10 minute s each as the interviewer.
(i)
Firstly, prepare for your interview by noting down a series of relevant
questions you intend to ask. Then begin the interview, trying as best as
you can to jot down notes of the other person’s answers as you go. You
can make the topic anything you like – their career ambitions, their
favourite holiday destination, etc. You have a maximum of 10 minutes
as the interviewer.
Then swap around and repeat this process, with the other person as
interviewer.
(ii)
Once you have finished, review each of the interviews with your
partner. How good, bad or indifferent was each interview ? Why and in
what ways?
Imagine the results were typed up and printed in a magazine or
newspaper – how would they read?
(iii) Now, take some time together to review one of the interviews in detail.
Consider the following factors:
 Did the interviewer introduce the interview and its topic or just
launch in with the first question? What was the impact of how the
interview was begun?
 How well-structured was the interview? Did it have a sense of
beginning, middle and end; did it flow (usually from fairly general
questions but becoming more specific as the interview progresses) or
was it a jumble of questions and answers?
 Did the interviewer ask clear, to-the-point questions or did s/he
ramble? What kinds of questions did the interviewer ask? Were these
mainly open or closed questions and what was the impact of this?
 Did the interviewer ‘run out of questions’ part-way through or did
s/he manage to fill the 10 minutes with appropriate questions?
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
45
LEARNER RESOURCES
 Was this interview a conversation or an interrogation? Who did the
most talking? What was the impact or effect of this?
 Review the environment in which the interview took place . Was it
suitable? Were there any environmental distractions ? If so, what
were these and what impact did they have?
What have we learned?
An interview is an excellent opportunity to get to hear and understand one
individual’s story. This exercise, however, will have shown clearly that it’s
not always as easy to prepare and carry out an effective interview as it looks.
There are a few important rules and techniques to bear in mind, particularly if
the interview you plan to carry out is a formal, business -like one with an
individual who is not a classmate! The following will support you in
organising and undertaking the best and most productive interview you can.
Effective interviewing: (i) Getting started
It’s important (interview ‘good manners’, if you like) to briefly state at the
beginning of the interview what the interview is for, together with any other
information the interviewee might like or might benefit from knowing.
It’s also courteous, especially if interviewing an individual previously
unknown to you, to ask for their permission to note down or reco rd their
responses and to explain what will happen to the information they give and
how you plan to use this.
In some situations you might have agreed to send a copy of the questions to
the individual before meeting with them to carry out the interview. This can
give the interviewee more time to prepare and enable them to give you their
best answers.
Effective interviewing: (ii) Kinds of questions
You are most likely to use an interview where questions are written in
advance and are a combination of open and closed questions.
Remember to use open questions where you are looking for a restricted
response. (‘Do you enjoy your job?’ guarantees a ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘sometimes’
response but only that.)
Use open questions where you are keen to invite the interviewee to expand
and to discuss their answer in detail. (‘How do you feel about the job you do’
is likely to encourage an in-depth response.)
46
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER RESOURCES
Effective interviewing: (iii) The words you use
You should always try to ensure your questions are simple and c lear, not
‘busy’ with words or too long.
Look out for any ‘weighted’ questions, where the interviewer’s own opinion
is apparent. This approach is just like leading a witness in a court case ; the
interviewer and the questions must be fair, with no opinions evident. Look at
the differences between a leading and a fair or objective question about the
same issue:


Leading or ‘loaded’ question: ‘Parents who separate or divorce ruin
their children’s futures and their own. What are your views on this
issue?’
Fair and objective questions: ‘Please explain your views on the
possible effects of separation or divorce on families and children.’
Effective interviewing: (iv) Results and conclusions
You may use the information gained via interview (or interviews) in several
ways. Some students, depending on the activity they are involved in and the
purpose of the interview, record the interview itself and rewrite /type out the
dialogue in full. This is called an interview transcript. Transcription is
exceptionally time-consuming and should only be used if considered vital for
your project output and achievement.
Good practice would be to have a rough transcript of the interview (note form
would be fine) and attach this to your project as an appendix.
Within the project itself, you can quote particularly important parts of the
interview or particular responses the interviewee gave. This, together with a
short summary of the interview as a whole, will be a good-quality addition to
your project whilst saving you the pain and time of full transcription.
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
47
LEARNER RESOURCES
Learner resource 4
Public speaking
Many learners will have a public speaking element as part of their practical
abilities project. Some examples of what’s meant by public speaking are:
 presenting information you have researched and put together to others
 acting as a master of ceremonies’, in other words the person who
welcomes people, makes announcements, thanks guests and so on at a
coffee morning or other event.
Public speaking has a fearsome reputation, with most of us having very
limited, if any, experience – and feeling panicky at the thought.
Some people feel extremes of anxiety: sleeplessness, trembling knees, shaky
hands, a dry mouth, an upset stomach and so on.
Many imagine they ‘just can’t’ and have nightmares , imagining themselves
tangling up their speech, developing a stammer when there was none before,
swearing accidentally and so on.
You may have noticed when asked to read aloud in class how differently
many students sound to their real selves. Some appear to trip over even the
simplest of phrases, others race through the passage as if their life depends on
getting to the end in record time.
Often individuals feel unable to speak publicly at all unless they have
carefully prepared notes to read from. They end up suffering from lack of
confidence and reading word by word from those notes. You may have seen
some presentations on PowerPoint where a slide is shown and the speaker
reads out line by line exactly what’s on the slide In these situations you are
likely to notice the audience struggling to stay ‘on board’ .
This resource is designed to support you with any public speaking element
you will do as part of your practical abilities project.
Let’s start by visiting the ‘horrible stuff’ and get ting some of those negatives
dealt with and out of the way. Then we’ll move on to some real tips that will
help and support you in your public speaking.
We’ll use the powerful images of ‘red cards’ for what not to do and ‘golden
rules’ for what you should do.
48
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
LEARNER RESOURCES
Three red cards
The entire time you are planning and preparing to deliver your public
speaking session, keep the image of a red card in your mind, in relation to the
following:
 Do not read lengthy passages or slides line by line and word for word to
your audience. The chances are, your audience will be able to read the
slides themselves and won’t need to be read to! Likewise, they’d prefer not
to hear you read word for word from a long essay. There are easier, better
(and more audience-friendly) ways of public speaking than this.
 Do not plan to use or rely on complicated props . Avoid the stress of ‘What
if I drop such-and-such?’ or ‘What if the such-and-such doesn’t work?’ At
public speaking events technological gremlins can appear on the day and
the audience are left twiddling their thumbs while very anxious public
speakers run around trying to find a technician having lost the sound on
their complex audiovisual machine or trying to locate a file that has
‘disappeared’ from their memory-stick. Props and technological resources
are great – but only if they work for you and you can have 100%
confidence in them. If not, avoid them altogether.
 Do not deny your anxieties. This might appear as strange or contradictory
advice, but it’s a fact of life that many in dividuals who have little
experience of public speaking imagine all kinds of things going wrong ,
often irrationally. Rather than ignore these fears, it can be a good idea to
take some time out to visit them and in the process ‘put them to bed’ or
‘kick them into touch’. Give yourself permission, therefore, to briefly
imagine and think past the very worst that can happen. This approach can
help you see how unlikely your worst fears really are.
For example:
 What if the audience are bored senseless and fall asleep? They won’t!
 What if the audience all get up and walk out? They won’t!
Spend some time thinking through how real your worst fears are, or aren’t ,
and laugh at the prospect of them. Laugh? Yes, by all means. Your audience
will behave perfectly, not least because in your presentation you will follow
the five golden rules...
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010
49
LEARNER RESOURCES
Five golden rules!
 Aim to do the best you can (and that’s good enough!). You won’t need to
be perfect (no-one is). Encourage yourself to believe that if you make
some mistakes, or forget some detail, or hesitate a little here and there,
that’s 100% perfectly normal.
 Keep things simple. Have a few important ideas sorted out, prepare these
in clear and straightforward ways and your audience will leave with a good
understanding of those ideas (not with a headache, having been drowned in
facts or blinded by science). Avoid detailed or complicated props; work,
for example, with small prompt cards which list your main points.
 Be yourself. Don’t try or think you have to ‘be’ a cert ain way or to
perform. Being honest can help. I’ve often mentioned to my audience
before I start that I’m feeling a little nervous. This (if it is how you feel) is
ok, natural and real; I guarantee you will be reassured by the encouraging
smiles you receive in response!
 Show your enthusiasm. By choosing something you’re really interested in
and care about for your project topic, you’ve given yourself a head start.
Remember my project on greyhound rescue? That’s an area of animal
welfare I care very much about, the passion I feel does help me speak
publicly about it.
 Plan, prepare and practise – but not too much. Don’t try to remember
huge volumes of words or try to be word perfect. Even the most
experienced senior politician, for whom public speaking is pa rt and parcel
of daily working life, regularly makes mistakes – they certainly are not
perfect. (Be mindful that the world’s media won’t be watching, waiting,
even hoping, you’ll trip up!)
50
PRACTICAL ABILITIES (H, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010