I physically cannot do my coursework - Serious help needed.

To give some background information, i'm talking about A2 Digitial Technology coursework. Digital Technology is the a new subject and I will be apart of the first year to complete it as an A-Level. It is very similar to ICT but with more computing terms used. I've had this teacher for 3 years (2 years GCSE computing and 1 year at AS for DT) but he hates me, for good reason. I never do homework right because I genuinely don't know how and asking him is never a good idea because he only learned the subject himself over the summer of 2016 before teaching it in september 2017. The only resources we have for the subject is a few fact files that ccea made, however most things are spelt wrong in them which highlights the unprofessionalism of releasing this subject to learn so early. My teacher constantly slanders the fact files ccea has given us and persists to teach the subject his own way. We have coursework as well and its worth 20% unlike ICT which I think was 80% and with more of a overall effect on the grade the ones doing ICT were given more instruction on how to do their controlled assessments whereas we are thrown in the deep end with a new subject and no coursework guidance. I have read the synopsis of what I am supposed to do and I still don't understand it. What I am trying to ask is -- how do I possibly complete coursework that I don't understand and fail to understand even when he teaches me one-on-one?

Reply 1

ChocCheesecake

19

Original post by niallh1

To give some background information, i'm talking about A2 Digitial Technology coursework. Digital Technology is the a new subject and I will be apart of the first year to complete it as an A-Level. It is very similar to ICT but with more computing terms used. I've had this teacher for 3 years (2 years GCSE computing and 1 year at AS for DT) but he hates me, for good reason. I never do homework right because I genuinely don't know how and asking him is never a good idea because he only learned the subject himself over the summer of 2016 before teaching it in september 2017. The only resources we have for the subject is a few fact files that ccea made, however most things are spelt wrong in them which highlights the unprofessionalism of releasing this subject to learn so early. My teacher constantly slanders the fact files ccea has given us and persists to teach the subject his own way. We have coursework as well and its worth 20% unlike ICT which I think was 80% and with more of a overall effect on the grade the ones doing ICT were given more instruction on how to do their controlled assessments whereas we are thrown in the deep end with a new subject and no coursework guidance. I have read the synopsis of what I am supposed to do and I still don't understand it. What I am trying to ask is -- how do I possibly complete coursework that I don't understand and fail to understand even when he teaches me one-on-one?

Your teacher sounds like a jerk; he shouldn’t hate you because don’t know how to do the homework. If you can, I’d definitely recommend getting a tutor or going to other teachers to ask for help.

Reply 2

winterscoming

19

I had a quick search for CCEA A2 Digital Technology - Is this the course you're studying?
http://www.rewardinglearning.org.uk/microsites/digital_technology/gce/specification/index.asp

If your teacher isn't explaining the requirements of the course to you very well, then I think your best bet is to is very carefully and slowly read through the course specification and the other material on the CCEA website to understand exactly what it is that you need to do, so that you understand what the CCEA are expecting you to do to pick up the marks.

Assuming that this is the specification for your course, it looks like there's a bunch of bullet-points in section 3.4 of this doc:
http://www.rewardinglearning.org.uk/common/includes/microsite_doc_link.aspx?docid=18518-2

That looks to me like a good check-list for you to start out with, so that you know what the content of your report needs to contain, and evolve it from there.

Also, there seems to be information at the end of the CCEA scheme of work document which explains what they're expecting you to demonstrate as part of this project:
http://www.rewardinglearning.org.uk/common/includes/microsite_doc_link.aspx?docid=18263-2

As for getting specific help with different parts of this, your best bet is to at least make a basic start by using your best judgement. When you're stuck or unable to understand what you need to do (If you're unsure of terminology or which tools to use, what the deliverable work is supposed to contain, etc.), try to convey this into a some specific and detailed question(s) which someone can answer for you, or which you could get the answer from somewhere on google.

Asking for help on a really huge and broad topic is unlikely to get you a good answer because the only way to answer a broad/general question is with a broad/general answer. Asking for help on a smaller, specific topic when you've already spent a bit of time researching it will get you much better answers which you find useful, and it'll also save you from getting answers like "Just google it..".

Also, while your teacher may not have been very helpful so far, if you are approaching him with a detailed question which shows you've put some real effort in trying to understand what the CCEA are expecting then perhaps he's more likely to be able to help or even find somebody who can answer - that is his job afterall!.

Google should be a great resource for asking questions along the lines of "How do I do XYZ?" or - e.g. "How do I create a Gantt chart?" reveals a truckload of results for creating gantt charts, and this ticks one of the boxes in the CCEA specification. Hopefully you have some course text books and notes/slides which explain this too that you can review, otherwise perhaps you could convince your teacher to provide you access to more resources.

Good Luck!

Reply 3

billyjayxox

10

yeah its really tough. what did you get in your as grades. i got a d and an e. my teacher is the same he is awful. he doesnt know how to teach it. he also said about the factfiles being awful with their being too many mistakes.