Ria Symonds, AC for Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
As we embarked on a new school term, 12 local teachers from the East Midlands sought to improve their skills and knowledge in mechanics topics at Derby University. The one-day course was split into three sessions covering Kinematics in 2D, Newton’s Laws & Friction and Rigid bodies (including moments). Chris Luke, our Northampton AC, made a special trip over to Derby to deliver the course and he did not disappoint.
Teacher feedback suggests that the practical and “real life” context of the questions were well received and many teachers could visualise how this could easily be incorporated into their lessons. A particularly good example was when teachers were asked to study the moments of a Cherry Picker machine. The only resource to hand was a photograph of a Cherry Picker (taken by Chris the previous day), and some minimal information on the back of the photo. This example prompted great discussion and some very interesting answers.
If you are interested in similar professional development for you, or your department, please contact me at [email protected].