LEAP Term 1 & 2 Review 2013

         

w w w . l e a p . v i c . e d u . a u

LEGAL STUDIES WORKSHOP DAY ONE REVIEW

The first LEAP into…Law ‘Legal Studies and Australian Politics’ (LSAP) event ran on over three Saturdays (20th April, 4th and 18th May) at Victoria University (Melbourne). 28 students from seven LEAP priority schools arrived at Victoria University’s Queen Street campus eager to start the first day. After a few ice breaker activities students completed a quiz to test their memory, general knowledge and expertise in the legal and political arenas.Following lunch students were introduced to the various areas of law that can be studied and practised in, from contract and family to alternative dispute resolution. Students were then introduced to basic concepts relating to the Priestley 11, a set of 11 subjects all students completing a formal law qualification must study to be eligible to practise in Australia.Students also took part in debating workshops and were challenged to speak without notes or much preparation about simple topics, which will lead into more substantial debates later in the program.The final part of the day was devoted to one of the key parts of a legal professional’s job, negotiation. Acting for various villainous clients from the TV show ‘Captain Planet’, teams had properties and money to trade and negotiate with amongst each other, trying to get the biggest payday for their clients.Students returned to the second and third days, re-joining their teams for further activities. After the three days, 88.3% of students agreed that the found the activity interesting and enjoyable, while 70.6% of participants said that the LSAP had increased their interest in a career in the law profession. 100% of students were more interested in attending university after attending the event.Students commented that the LSAP was: ”really fun to learn without doing theory work”; and ‘a fun experience and insight into the study of law. Wish it were longer!’.

LEAP into…LawINTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION

On June 18th, students from Preston Girls Secondary College experienced an ‘Introduction to the Legal Profession’ workshop, in which the LEAP into…Law team ran at their school. During the workshop, students were introduced to the many different aspects of studying and working in and around the law.After the event, 91.1% of students who participated said that the activity had increased their knowledge of jobs in the law professions, while 64.4% said that their interest in a career in the law profession had increased. 84.5 said that they had learned about study options and pathways to the profession. When asked about the most important thing they had learned from the day, students commented that ‘no matter who we are we can still achieve our goals’ and that ‘before choosing a job, talk to people and get more information because jobs are different to what we see’.

ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE On June 7th, Year 9 and 10 students from schools in the Geelong area attended the Geelong ‘Engineering Experience’ day held at Deakin University's Waurn Ponds campus. Attending students learned about the diverse range of engineering careers and enjoyed some practical hands on workshops in electronic engineering, mechanical engineer-ing, software engineering and IT.The session concluded with current students from different partner universities speaking of their study experiences in their chosen engineering field and the decision making they went through in pursuing their education to university. They also spoke about what it is like to study at university and where they are headed after they complete their studies.Students commented:"Engineering seems fun and would be pretty good to have a career in.""There are a lot more career opportunities in engineering than I thought."

MYSTERY BOX CHALLENGES STUDENTS ACROSS THE STATE

Students from LEAP priority school Edenhope College participated in a ‘Mystery Box’ design challenge against a metropolitan Melbourne school, using Polycom video collaboration technology.From their school in Edenhope, Year 7 students linked with students located at the National Gallery of Victoria via video conference. Both groups were given a box of the same surprise materials and brief to complete a design activity.Students found it new and challenging to create and design using limited materials, with one students commenting “I could make something out of nothing by just being creative and using my imagination”.94.4% of students found that activity interesting and enjoyable, while 77.8% of students maintained or increased their interest in going to university. 22.3% of students reported an increased interest in a career in the design profession.Several students commented that this activity opened their eyes to using technology to interact with other schools, with one student saying “us country kids can keep up with the city kids and have as good facilities as in the city”.

LEAP into...Design

LINKING INTO ENGINEERING

Easter 2013 saw LEAP into…Engineering run the first Victorian ‘Engineering Link Project’ (ELP) event at the city campus of RMIT University.Over three days, 56 Year 11 and 12 students from twenty LEAP priority schools participated in a range of activities covering different fields of engineering designed to give students a taste of the working lives of engineering professionals.Each day, students worked in groups to address a model problem, consider the issues, test materials, design solutions and produce proposals. Students also had an opportunity to have their solutions assessed by real engineers, and then build and test the solutions to destruction. Each day also included presentations by local engineers, and about university life.Many students commented that teamwork was essential to the success of the problem solving, and that they learned about the ways different types of Engineers must co-operate in order to find the best solution.

One student described discovering links between their learning at school and future careers: “The most important thing I learned from the activity was the importance of my studies, particularly in Physics and Maths Methods. This activity has given me more motivation to become an Engineer and to get into university.”86% of students expressed that participating in the ELP has increased their interest in a career in the Engineering profession.

LEAP into…Engineering

HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE SUNSHINE HOSPITAL LEAP into... Health was extremely grateful to the Sunshine Hospital for hosting our first ‘Hospital Experience’ of 2013 on June 26th. The 63 attending school students from Catholic Regional College, St Albans; Copperfield College; Springside P-9 College and Sunshine College gained a unique hands-on experience in a real hospital setting.Students spent time in the teaching facilities of Victoria University and the University of Melbourne which are based in the hospital. These facilities provided an excellent space for students to interact and discover what the Health profession has to offer.A key part of the event was the high level of interaction the school students had with current university students, who spoke about their studies and their learner journey to their current course. Another highlight of the day was having a behind the scenes tour of the hospital lead by medical students. Following an imaginary patient from Emergency to a Ward gave students a real insight into all the different health professions involved in patient care and an understanding of the high level of teamwork required.Of the school students attending, 97% agreed that the event increased their knowledge of the different jobs in the health profession. 81% agreed they now had a greater interest in a career in the health professions. When asked if they had an improved understanding of what studying at university involves, 90% agreed.Students attending valued the opportunity to learn about options and pathways to the health profession, with 93% agreeing. Students commented that "the most important thing is that not everyone realises how many jobs there are in the hospital and in health professions" and “there is more than one pathway that you can go in the career that you want."

LEAP into…Health

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Check out the LEAP Engineering Activities pages for future events like these ones.

NEXT STEP HEALTH WORKSHOPS On June 9th and 10th students from 13 LEAP priority schools participated in the first ‘Next Step’ Health workshops for senior students as part of LEAP into…Health’s ‘Making It Happen’ focus.The two workshops, which took place at Deakin University’s Burwood campus and Victoria University’s Footscray campus, began with a broad look at studying health at university, and moved into a session on motivation and goal setting by Elevate Education. After lunch participants were joined by university students studying different health-related courses, where they had an opportunity to talk in small groups about the realities of university life and studying in the field of health, as well as go on a campus tour. Of the students who attended, 100% increased or maintained their interested in going to university, while 62.5% said that their interest in a career in the health profession had increased. Students commented that at this event they learned to ‘set goals higher’ and ‘be motivated’, and ‘that it’s never too late and I can’. One student said they learned that ‘even if you don’t get the score you want there are other alternatives to get into the course you want.’

What is LEAP? The LEAP Program aims to demystify the links between school, university and professions. LEAP seeks to encourage secondary students from low SES communities to consider higher education as a future option through a focus on the professions. By offering access to a range of university campus, workplace and school-based activities along with online resources, LEAP aims to help students learn more about their career options in selected professions, and the role of university study in attaining their career goals. Engineering, Health, Design and Law professions are the first four with other professional fields being added over time.

Australian Catholic University Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Deakin University Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Independent Schools Victoria La Trobe University Monash University RMIT University Swinburne University of Technology The University of Melbourne University of Ballarat Victoria University

Check out the LEAP Health Activities pages for future events like these ones.

Check out the LEAP Law Activities pages for future events like these ones.DRAWING SUMMER SCHOOL

During late January we ran a LEAP into… Design drawing summer school, over four days, at Monash University's Caulfield campus.Twenty-one school students from six LEAP priority schools attended this interdisciplinary drawing workshop, designed to give them a greater understand-ing of how drawing is used in many creative careers.Workshops saw students taking conceptual designs and recreating them in three dimensions, using string, cardboard boxes and a digital media.The summer school gave students a unique opportu-nity to experience the brainstorming of exciting new ideas that can emerge out of experimental drawing processes, expanding beyond what they may have done in the classroom. Feedback from attending students was extremely encouraging with 100% of students agreeing or strongly agreeing that they found the event interesting and enjoyable. 69% of students felt their interest in a design career had increased.

Check out the LEAP Design Activities pages for future events like these ones.