The
National Centre of Science,
Information
and Communication Technology,
and Mathematics
Education
for Rural and
Regional Australia
Mission Possible
| Project Title | Mission Possible |
| Project Team | Dr Debra Panizzon (UNE), Gordon McLennan (TAS), Dr Terry Lyons (UNE), Dr Keith Fleming (UNE), Mr Kel Hardingham (TAS), Mrs Robyn McCarthy (TAS), Mr Tony Marjoram (TAS), Mr Wally Richards (TAS), Mr Jamie Moore (TAS), and students enrolled in Bachelor of Education (Primary) programs from UNE. |
| Period | Yearly |
| Funding Agency | Sponsored by: SiMERR National Centre and School of Education, UNE |
| Organisational Base | SiMERR National Centre |
Mission Possible is based on a problem-solving strategy developed originally by Jenny Feely (1991). We develop our day around two stages. First, students attend four training workshops in the morning based around the following six themes: Bridges and towers, Electricity, Using elastic energy, Falling and flying, Time, and Floating and sinking. Second, the afternoon session involves students being placed into groups of 20 to undertake a relay that incorporates five science and technology tasks based on the morning training sessions. The winning team is the group that completes the relay in the shortest time without penalties. Finally, the reinstated President of Elbissop Noissim offers a vote of thanks to all students and presents them with a Certificate of Appreciation for their efforts.
Throughout the day, students enrolled in the Bachelor of Education (Primary)
program from UNE act as leaders by working with small groups of students
to ensure that everyone is kept on task. As the program links strongly
with NSW syllabus aims and outcomes, our students are provided with
realistic,
hands-on exemplars for teaching contemporary science and technology education
in primary schools.
Each year approximately 200 Year 6 students from local schools are involved
in the day. In recent years Mission Possible has involved schools from
as far away as Gunnedah, Tenterfield, and Coffs Harbour.
The day represents a collaborative effort between The Armidale School
(Gordon McLennan and teachers) the SiMERR National Centre (Debra
Panizzon and Terry
Lyons) and most importantly, our UNE students. A web site is available
giving further details along with a range of action photographs (see
http://mp.tasarm.com)
