Macquarie University: Dr. Matt Bower, Amanda Stavert Makebook Pty. Ltd.: Mark Stanley, Lidija Loridon

Centre for Excellence Epping Boys High School

Makebook Project

Macquarie University: Dr. Matt Bower, Amanda StavertMakebook Pty. Ltd.: Mark Stanley, Lidija Loridon

During 2010, collaboration occurred between Epping Boys High School Centre for Excellence, Makebook Pty Ltd and Macquarie University to modify the Makebook program for use in secondary classrooms. The modifications took into account interventions which had been previously found to be effective in improving the quality of students’ written compositions. For example: Strategy instruction which requires that teachers systematically and explicitly

teach students strategies for planning, revising and/or editing their texts. Peer assistance which occurs when students work together to plan, draft and/or

revise their compositions Setting specific product goals for the text they are to write (for instance, “ add 5

items of information during the revision process’. Using work processing computer programs Pre-writing activities requiring students to generate and organise ideas for their

writing, for instance brainstorming activities Provision of good models of the relevant type of text (as well as opportunities for

the students to analyse the text and be encouraged to imitate its features) A process writing approach, including writing for real audiences, planning,

translating and reviewing, individual assistance and instruction.

Modifying Makebook to Improve Literacy

Macquarie University and the Makebook team collaborated with the Epping Boys High School Centre for Excellence to develop the Makebook writing project to extend the writing capabilities of students. The project ran in Terms 1 and 2 of 2011 and involved staff from all three “cluster” schools in creating and teaching units of work in which students collaboratively composed texts using the Makebook program.

The thirteen teachers who took part in the program taught across a range of subjects, including Drama, English, Geography, History, Japanese, Mathematics, Music, Personal Development Health & Physical Education and Science.

Using Makebook to Improve Literacy

A secure and easy to use online writing system that allows students to create text individually or collaboratively

Teachers are able to include a specific rubric (assessment criteria) for each task so that students understand exactly what they are required to achieve as well as models and scaffolds of the relevant text

It enables student-initiated collaboration, mentoring and marking. A student can invite a peer (or teacher) to collaborate on a text, or provide detailed comments as a mentor, or mark the text.

Teachers can share rubrics and tasks that they have created with other teachers.

What is Makebook?

Recent research has shown that the quality of students’ written compositions improves when they: Use a computer to compose text Work collaboratively to compose text Plan their written composition using models and scaffolds Are provided with feedback followed by opportunities to revise and edit their

writing

The Makebook program provides these interventions to enable students to improve their writing.

What are the advantages of Makebook?

This task involved two Makebook documents. The first included several pages of task instructions and information on performance styles and dramatic forms for students to read, covering:1. Greek Theatre

2. Roman Theatre

3. Medieval Theatre

4. Restoration Comedy

5. Melodrama

6. Realism and naturalism

7. Expressionism Symbolism – Non Realism

8. Epic Theatre

Students were then required to answer a series of Comprehension Questions, using full sentences.

Examples of Makebook UseExample Design 1: Theatre Task for Drama

Students were then required to answer a series of Comprehension Questions, using full sentences:

1. How important was religion to the beginning of Greek Theatre? Explain.

2. Who was Dionysius?

3. Describe the celebrations that tool place in the city of Dionysus every year?

4. Draw/up load different pictures of the Theatre of Dionysus.

5. How did the Greek actors and playwrights show the audience where the action or location was without creating sets?

6. Name four Greek writers?

7. Name a Greek tragedy play like?

8. List the problems you would encounter performing outdoors, inn front of 15 000 to 100 000 spectators?

9. How did the Greeks overcome the challenges?

10. Explain the role of the chorus and why they were important.

Example Design 1: Theatre Task for Drama, cont’d

Once Comprehension Questions were completed students moved onto the Performance Activities.

The Performance Activities Workbook provided a space which students could respond to a series of questions based on the information that they had read. The teacher had intentionally used pictures in the first document to engage students, but had left the workbook relatively plain sp that students would not be distracted from the task. The approach enabled the information to be immediately disseminated to all students and for them the complete the task in one centralised online space. This way the teacher could easily track student performance and provide them with feedback.

Example Design 1: Theatre Task for Drama, cont’d

This design used Makebook to provide Year 11 students with principles for how to write an environmental case study. This included embedded files in the Makebook document that linked to real life examples of environmental case studies, on which students could base their own case study. The teacher’s approach deconstructed the case study genre for them in an authentic, situated and meaningful context. Students could then complete their case-study of the local environmental area using the online system.

Example Design 2: Writing an Environmental Case Study

IntroductionThe Lower Hawkesbury River Estuary is a drowned river valley, which was incised into Hawkesbury sandstone bedrock during the historical ice ages, when ocean levels were much lower than present. There are a number of major tributaries to the Lower Hawkesbury Estuary, including Berowra, Mangrove, Mooney Mooney, Mullet, and Cowan Creeks. With its tall, highly weathered vertical sandstone cliffs and gorges, open waterways, secluded bays and expanse of natural vegetation, the Lower Hawkesbury Estuary is oneof the most visually spectacular waterways in New South Wales. The Lower Hawkesbury catchment is unique in that is the foreshore areas containsignificant forested areas and with relatively little foreshore development. The majority of the foreshore and adjacent land is national park. Those foreshores that are relatively flat are mostly occupied by private development ornatural mangrove barriers. The large extents of national park and the steep topography which has limited access and development on the foreshore have preserved the natural character and beauty of the estuary. The Lower Hawkesbury supports the 2nd largest estuary fishery and the 2nd largest oyster farming industry in NSW although in recent years an outbreak of QX disease has greatly affected local oyster production .

Example Design 2: Writing an Environmental Case Study, cont’d

The TaskPrepare a case study of the Lower Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment explaining how riparian ecosystems in the area have been affected by water quality and changes to flows over recent years. You should refer to the mangrove and associated ecosystems which you observed on your field trip to Gibberagong and the effect on aquaculture in the river such as the oyster industry. Include maps and photographs to substantiate any claims and present scientific evidence such as that collected on your field trip. Read the guide towriting a case study. One of the important articles you will need to read is the Lower Hawkesbury Estuary Management Plan. A link is provided

Lower_Hawkesbury_Estuary_Management_Plan.pdf

riparian: of or relating to or located on the banks of a river or stream


How to Write a Case Study:Writing an interesting environmental case study is a bit like writing a detective story. You want to keep your readers interested in the situation.

There are three basic steps in case writing: research, analysis, and the actual writing. You start with research, but even when you reach the writing stage you may find you need to go back and research even more information.

The Research Phase:Find out what has been written before, and read the important articles about your case site. For example, your case study might be on a National Park where there have been so many visitors that the park's eco-system is in danger. Then the case problem would be to figure out how to solve this so the park is protected, but tourists can still come. The link below takes you to your Fieldwork Journal

CS2_Shoalhaven_Land_Water.pdf

Gibberong.pdf


Writing the Case Study:Describe the problem or case question you want the reader to solve.In a detective story, the crime happens right at the beginning and the detective has to put together the information to solve it for the rest of the story. In a case, you can start by raising a question. What your introduction does is give clues to the reader about what they should be thinking about. Organize the sections of the case.

You will probably need to organize your information under topics like the following:a. Introduction to the problemb. Background on the place -- where is it, how big, what climate, etc. – this part should bea brief, overall description. Think about having 2 pages of written material, photos, or evena video, so that your readers can really get a feel for what the place looks like. Summarize the main features of the place. What makes it special?c. An analysis of the pressures causing the problems in the catchment.d. Government Policy -- include information about what government policy is with respectto this place. What is allowed, what is not allowed. Can policy be changed, and by whom?

Conclusion.Your case will need a conclusion. Rather than putting in your answer in the case, leave the reader with some more questions. By ending your case like this, you let your readers discuss the situation themselves. If you have written a good case, they will have enough information to understand the situation and be in a position to debate the issues.


The design of this unit initially used Makebook to provide Year 9 students with introductory information on advertising and persuasive writing techniques. Students were required to complete activities to ensure their comprehension as they read through information, for example, highlighting adjectives in various sentences followed by adding adjectives to sentences. For example, 1. The luxurious seats make cinema viewing a pleasure.2. This exclusive, gold locket would be a wonderful Mother’s Day present.3. This giant, polished oak table would suit any dining room.

1. Our new car has a ____________ and ________________ exterior, and a booming sound system to make a _____________________ drive.

2. It’s an enjoyable holiday experience. We offer ____________ service, ________________ views, ________________ accommodation and an _________________menu.

Example Design 3: Redesigning an Advertisement

Colour is used to promote aesthetic appeal. The students main task was to redesign a bland car advertisement (see next page) to make it more appealing. When students were designing their advertisement, the teacher used the side panel on the Makebook screen to provide students with persuasive writing strategies as well as technical instructions on how to insert images. Thus this design scaffolded students from skills-based comprehension tasks to more creative design based thinking.

Example Design 3: Redesigning an Advertisement, cont’d

Car Advertisement

The advertisement below needs help. It is too plain and unappealing for its target audience.

First, decide who the target audience would be.

Then, rewrite the ad using persuasive language to make it more appealing.

Once you have finished your ad you need to share your work with your partner who will edit and improve on your ad.

This new car from a world's leading car Manufacturer is a car with four doors and wheels. It comes in seven different colours. It is better than our competitor's car. The car has good brakes and can stop quickly if it needs to. There is room for seven people and a dog. It also has a CD player.

Re-write the ad on the next page

Remember to appeal to your target audience by using persuasive techniques:

AdjectivesPersonal PronounsConnectives to link paragraphsRhetorical questionsHumourTriplesAlliterationFacts & FiguresEmotive languageExaggerationRepetition

How to add an image:Close this help screen and underneath it these will be a tab that says ‘My images”. Open it and then at the bottom click ‘Upload’. Follow the drop down menus to get an image from your pictures folder . Click ion the picture you want, once you come back to the Makebook page, click on ‘go’ on the prompt, wait a few seconds and our image will be uploaded. Now just drag it where ever you want it to go on your ad.

Example Design 4: Writing a Biography of a Scientist

Your taskYour task is to write a biography about a scientist who discovered something about the nature of electricity (Year 8) or disease (Yr 9) from the following lists (scientists will be allocated randomly):

Year 8Benjamin Franklin, Andre-Marie Ampere, Alessandro Volta, Thomas Edison, Michael Faraday, James Clark Maxwell, Georg Ohm, Hans Christian Oersted, Luigi Galvani, Guglielmo Marconi, JJ Thomson, James Joule, Edward Norton, Alexander Graham Bell, Lee de Forest, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Francis Hauksbee, William Shockley, Lewis Latimer, William Gilbert, Elizabeth Kenny, John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, K Alex Mueller, Otto von Guericke, Heinrich Hertz, Joseph Henry, CF Du Fay, Stephen Gray, Robert Millikan.

Year 9Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming, Florence Nightingale, John Snow, Gertrude B. Elien, Robert Koch, Frank McFarlane-Burnet, Gerty Theresa Cori, Frederick Hopkins, Felix Hoffman, Louis Pasteur , Joseph Lister, Erika Cretney, William Morton, James Blundell, Fiona Wood, Edward Jenner, William Harvey, Galen, Rhazes, Hippocrates, Anita B. Roberts, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Paul Broca, Andreas Vesalius, Harvey Cushing, Claude Bernard, Nikolai Korotkov

This design first used Makebook to provide Year 8 and 9 students with task instructions about writing a science biography.

Students were provided with a list of scientists whose biography they could write. This enabled them to complete the writing task and review each others work without the potential for plagiarism’. The design of the task enabled students to compare and contrast each others’ work so that they could learn from each others strengths and help to correct each others’ mistakes. Being able to compare and contrast works of the same genre but different topics supported abstraction of writing concepts, such as the structure of such compositions.

Example Design 4: Writing a Biography of a Scientist, cont’d

Your group will be given a number of biographies to do based on the number in the group.

Research these people as a group to find out information such as their educational background, when and where they did their research, what specific scientific contribution they made and any other interesting trivia about them.

Choose which one you will prepare. When your draft is done, share it with the rest of your group and edit each one as a group.

Each group will then submit a biography of each of your scientists.

Make sure you include :•Date and place of birth and death•Family information•Lifetime accomplishments•Major events of life and very importantly•Effects/impact on society, historical significance

While this information is necessary to your project, dry facts on their own, don't reallymake a very good biography. Once you've found these basics, you'll want to dig a littledeeper. Don't burden your biography simply with an inventory of boring facts. Your goal isto impress and interest the reader!

Example Design 4: Writing a Biography of a Scientist

The teacher also provided the students with an example biography so that they had a clear indication of what was expected of them.

A biography is given below as an exemplar.Nikola TeslaThe Nikola Tesla is likely to summon up the image of a nutter rather than an influential scientist. He was possibly the greatest inventor the world has ever known and without doubt a genius. You will discover the he is credited with many devices we use today. Telsa was born at precisely midnight between July 9th and 10th, 1856, in a small Hungarian village. His father was a priest , and his mother, an unschooled but extremely intelligent woman.Training for an engineering career, he attended the Technical university of Graz, Austria. And was shortly employed in a government telegraph engineering office is Budapest, where he made his first invention, a telephone repeater. Tesla sailed to America in 1884, arriving in New York City with four cents in his pocket and a few great ideas.He first found employment with a young Thomas Edison in New Jersey, but the two inventors didn’t really agree on anything. Because of their differences, Telsa left Edison an din May 1885, George Westinghouse, head of Westinghouse Electric company in Pittsburgh, bought patent rights to many of Telsa’s inventions. After a difficult period, during which Tesla invented but lost his rights to many inventions, he established his own laboratory in New York in 1887, where he was free to do what he wanted. In 1895, Tesla discovered X-rays after hours and hours of experiments. His experiments included work on different power sources and various types of lightning.The Tesla coil, which he invented in 1891, was widely used in radio and television sets and other electronic equipment for wirelesscommunication. That year also marked the date of Tesla's United States citizenship. Brilliant and eccentric, Tesla was then at the peak of his inventive powers. He managed to produce new forms of generators, transformers, he invented the fluorescent light, and he becameextremely involved with the wireless transmission of power. During the 1880a and 1890's Tesla and Edison became rivals, fighting to develop there inventions as quickly as possible. In 1915 he was disappointed when a report that he and Edison were to share the Nobel Prize proved to be a rumour. Edison went back on a promise to pay him money for a particular inventions and Tesla broke off relations at once. The biggest race against Edison was Tesla's development of alternating current which conflicted with Edison's use of direct current. This great power struggle between Tesla and Edison's use of electricity practically ended when Tesla's alternating current won out and was most favoured and ruled most practical. Tesla's alternating current was used to light the Chicago's World Fair. His success was a factor in winning him the contract to install the first power machinery at Niagara Falls, which bore Tesla's name and patent numbers. The project carried power to Buffalo by 1896.

Example Design 4: Writing a Biography of a Scientist, cont’d

Nikola Tesla, cont’dIn 1898 Tesla announced his invention of a remote control boat. Many people have called Tesla "a man out of his time" because his astonishing experiments. In Colorado Springs, where he stayed from May 1899 until early 1900, Tesla made what he regarded as his most important discovery, terrestrial stationary waves. By this discovery he proved that the earth could be used as a conductor and would be as responsive as a tuning fork to electrical vibrations of a certain pitch. He also lighted 200 lamps without wires from a distance of 40 km and created man-made lightning, producing flashes measuring 45m. He was fond of creating neighbourhood threatening electrical storms in his apartment laboratory and once nearly knocked down a tall building by attaching a mysterious "black box" to its side. He claimed hecould have destroyed the entire planet with a similar device. Criticism greeted his speculations concerning communication with other planets, his assertions that he could split the earth like an apple, and his claim to having invented a death ray capable of destroying 10,000 airplanes, 400 km away. Because of a lack of funds, his ideas remained in his notebooks, which are still examined by engineers for unexplored clues. Many of these were eventually inherited by Tesla's nephew, and later housed in the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. However, a major portion of his notes were impounded by the US Government, and very few of those have surfaced today. Because he kept so few notes, to this day we can only guess at the details of many of the fantastic scientific projects that he occupied. Many questions have raised concerning his confiscated notes, although, the government regards some as never existed and declared others as "lost". Was he working on particle weapons and cloaking devices for the United States Government when he died? Was Reagan's Strategic Defense program known as "starwars" the result of secret research based on Tesla's discoveries half a century before? Nikola Tesla allowed himself only a few close friends. Among them were the writers Robert Underwood Johnson, Mark Twain, and Francis Marion Crawford. In his later years, Tesla was alone with only his inventions and calculations, although he did bred pigeons later in life, who he gave all the affection to that he was unable to give human beings.Telsa's name holds over 700 patents. He died privately and peacefully at 87 on January 7, 1943 New York hotel room from no apparent cause in particular. Hundreds filed into New York City's Cathedral of St.John for his funeral services, and a flood of messages acknowledged the loss of a great genius. Three Nobel Prize winners in physics (Millikan, Compton, and W.H. Barton) addressed their tributes.Tesla is one of the outstanding intellects of the world who paved the way for many of the technological developments of modern times,

Example Design 5: Writing a Profile of a Musician and Analysis of a Musical Work

In this design Makebook was initially used to present introductory information on Australian music to Year 10 students. A range of sources, including sound and video files, were presented to enrich students understanding of the material. The approach created integrated multimedia exposure that could not have been integrated into one document using standard word-processing software. Students were then provided with an example profile of a musician. Colour and labelling has been used to explicitly deconstruct the structure of the model for students. Following this students were provided with task instructions which included them selecting a musician of choice and writing not only a profile but also analysing one of their musical works. Once again this enabled students to compare and contrast their peers work, learning from them and providing feedback. The design also enabled them to practice two text types, a biography and an analysis, so that they may explore (individually and in class) differences between two genres. The system enabled them to embed audio and video files, enabling them to create a multimedia biography and analysis. The results of students’ work could be combined to form an integrated multimedia corpus of Australian musicians and their work.

Australian Composers and ArrangersThere are many Australian composers and arrangers who write for different reasons, such as ceremonies, films, documentaries, television, musicals, jazz, rock and so on. All these compositions give us our "australian sound".Two examples of "Australian Sounds":1. Sydney Olympics 2000 - opening/closing ceremoniesAustralians had a wonderful opportunity to show their music, including soloists, composers, ensembles to the world. With the music and visuals, Australians were able to demonstrate a flavour of Australian Sounds through this ceremonial extravaganza . Below are some examples of music that revealed a collective Australian music flavour to the world through the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.2000 Olympic Band James Morrison with Swing city

performing Fanfare

Human Nature, Julie Anthony and Choir –Australian National Anthem (including Fanfare)

Bruce Rowland's Man from Snowy River

Tina Arena -The Flame

Nikki Webster -Under the Southern Skies

Example Design 5: Writing a Profile of a Musician and Analysis of a Musical Work, cont’d


Vanessa Amorosi - Heroes Live Forever

Christine Anu -My Island Home

Johnny Farnham/Olivia Newton-John- D are to Dream

Midnight Night Oil - Beds are Burning

Tap Dance - Eternity


2. An Australian ComposerNigel Westlake - PROFILE

Nigel Westlake, born 1958, studied the clarinet with his father, Donald Westlake (a professional musician) and began his own professional musical career at age 17. He performed with ballet companies, a circus troupe, chamber music groups, fusion bands and orchestras around the world. He began writing compositions at an early age and later received commissions to compose for TV and film. He also joined Australian classical guitarist John Williams' group Attacca in 1992 as a performer and composer, choosing then to give more time to composition.

He has written for feature films, documentaries, telemovies, news themes and station "idents". His well known documentary scores Antarctica and Solarmax use a very wide range of genres in scoring. In Antarctica Nigel is able to capture both playfulness (eg percussion in Penguin Circus ) and desolate feelings (long low sounds in Last Place on Earth). He can cleverly mix raw and ethereal sounds through his fusion of genres in the Missa Solis from Solarmax using traditional percussive sounds with quasi religious sounds.He has studied performance, composition, screen composition, orchestration and conducting. He conducts orchestras for film scoring sessions. His conducting debut began with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in 1997.

Skills/strengths of musician[right click to edit]


2. An Australian ComposerNigel Westlake – PROFILE cont’d

Westlake's work has been widely performed and he has earned numerous awards, including awards for his film and concert music.Some of his other works and film scores are:1. Babe, a feature film won the Golden Globe Award, 1996 for 'best feature musical/comedy'.2. Miss Potter is a romantic score that has won him awards and world acclaim.3. Omphalo Centric Lecture Opus 1,(1984) for percussion quartet has become one of themost frequently performed and recorded works in the percussion repertoire by groups inthe USA, Japan, Europe and Australia, and,4. Moving Air for percussion is well known by many Australian school students.

In 2004 Nigel Westlake was awarded the HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship at theAustralian National University and in 2008 he formed the Smugglers of Light Foundationin memory of his son Eli. Westlake has written a 45 minute Requiem also in memory of his son.

Nigel Westlake's career in music has spanned more than three decades and has givenworkshops demonstrating how he approaches composing to music teachers and youngmusicians.


Samples of some of Westlakes film scores:

Last Place on Earth fromAntarctica (Documentary)

Miss Potter (Feature film) If I had Words from Babe

Children of the Revolution The NuggetBabe: Pig in the City Step Father of the Bride

Missa Solis from SolarmaxDocumentary


Analysis of Missa Solis from Solarmax by Nigel WestlakeSolarmax is a 40-minute giant-screen documentary that tells the story of humankind's struggle to understand the sun. The film takes audiences on an fasinating adventure from pre-history to the leading edge of today's contemporary solar science.

Nigel Westlake wrote the music score for Solarmax which is in many movements including Missa Solis - Hymn of the Sun. This short movement is thought-provoking as it uses 3 distinct genres capturing the essence of and glorifying our existence under the sun.

The instrumentation - traditional sounding flutes, percussion (traditional and modern sound), choir and orchestra - allowing diverse musical material to support the massive imagery of the sun and its relationship with mankind.

The structure - 3 sections with a coda.Section 1 - begins with a very soft, breathy almost delicate solo on a traditional flute with sustained sounds rising in pitch and dividing into several layersSection 2 - a complex percussive section. The texture of this section is homophonic with layers of tuned, untuned percussion pulsating a forward rhythmic drive.Section 3 - a slow moving four part chorale (choir) sounding rich tone colours with strings and brass aurally demonstrating the might and power of the universe and the sun emphasised by a very wide pitch range.Coda - return to the initial delicate traditional flute sounds.Westlake presents this work as a long powerful crescendo. He said "my intentions were to celebrate the miracle and power of a star we rarely think about, yet is the essential engine of all life on earth. Our sun."


Music Assignment

Stage 5 - Yr 10

Sounds Australian !Choose one Australian musician from either of the two lists below. N.B. all students are to make different choices. Discuss and make your choice with your classmates.

For your chosen musician you will:1. Write a Profile :

- read and collect information on your chosen musician. Sort and order your information for the profile while discovering their music world. Write the profile giving music facts, music influences and the music world your musician has embraced, and

2. Analyse a work : give a brief analysis of a work composed by your musician.a) select one work for analysis.b) upload a clip of this work, and state the music style and the ensemble type,c) through your analysis of this work (half a page) write about its features and impact.

N.B. Get your class mates to read your analysis


Music Assignment, cont’d

LIST 1 - Art MusicPeter SculthorpeSarah HopkinsMatthew HindsonCarl VineElena Cats-CherninPercy Grainger

LIST 2 - Rock, Popular, Country, Folk, Traditional, JazzJohnny O'Keefe AC/DCMidnight Oil James MorrisonTommy Emmanuel Men at WorkYunupingu Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu – Wiyathul Silver ChairCold Chisel‘ Kate CebranoJimmy Barnes Yothu YindiJohnny Farnham Iva Davies (ex EBHS)Slim Dusty John Williams (classical guitarist)Richard Tognetti

Did you know......Master and Commander - Music is by Iva Davies (ex EBHS), Christopher Gordon and Richard Tognetti(Australian violinist)

Analysis Guide


Music Assignment – Analysis Guide

Prepare to write a profile of a composer and make analytical comments on oneof your musician's works

1. Choose a musician from the given lists - discuss your choice with the class -remember each student is to have a different musician.

2. In the Profile – introduce your composer/musician, when did he live and how did his music life develop, etc.

3. Write about his own music skills - what are/were is music skills and what influenced him as a composer.

4. Define his achievements - what is it that makes him part of our Australian music scene.

5. Write a short conclusion.

6. You will gain a grade mark for your analysis on working collaboratively with your classmates to help write your analysis. Choose a short work as they will have to take time to listen to it.

7. Remember to mention the instruments and how they are used for the purpose of your chosen work.

8. Use the concepts of music as a guide for your general analysis

Example Design 6: Perceptions of Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Australia

For this task an English teacher and a Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) teacher collaborated to use Makebook for a cross disciplinary assignment. The essay task related to perceptions of alcohol and tobacco use in Australia. An annotated model was provided with colour used to help students understand how the essay had been deliberately structured. A side pane was used to provide point of need to scaffolding for how to write their essay.

Perceptions of alcohol and tobaccoThe aim of this task is to examine the social perceptions of alcohol and tobacco over a designated decade and compare them with your own perceptions.

You will be in groups of 3-4.

In your task:- Include the effects of alcohol and tobacco on individuals living in your given decade,- Use statistics and what they reveal- Use examples of visual media related to your given decade.- Create a glossary of key words related to your given decade.

To conclude, give your perception on tobacco and alcohol and discuss how and why itdiffers to your given decade.

Example Design 6: Perceptions of Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Australia, cont’d

Introduction - give a brief outline on the decade you have been given.- Discuss the use and abuse of tobacco and alcohol in Australia.The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the Roaring Twenties or the Jazz Age, when speaking about the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom. In Europe the decade is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Twenties" because of the economic boom following World War I. The 1920's were a time of unbelievable prosperity. The stock market was skyrocketing and the United States seemed to have the formula for limitless prosperity. Society changed dramatically. Consumerism increased greatly as industries and technology flourished. Many households bought consumer goods such as washing machines, radios, motor vehicle. This led to more leisure time and the opportunity to indulge in new fads such as smoking and alcohol.

Alcohol ExampleParagraph 2 - Topic sentence - Alcohol had a profound influence on individuals duringthe 1920's that led to changes in social behaviour in most countries.- Discuss the effects of alcohol use of individuals living in your decade- Discuss social influences of alcohol (advertising, movie stars etc)The 1920's was also known as the era of Prohibition. With the passage of the 18 th Amendment to the Constitution in 1919, the selling, creating, and moving of alcoholic beverages was made illegal in the U.S. Intended to lessen the "evils" of alcohol, the movement created new ones instead. For instance, organised crime escalated of the illegal sale of alcohol, and notorious names such as Al Capone appeared. People began to look for other ways of obtaining alcohol, despite the established law. Although it was a dangerous practice, they began to make their own drinks with wood alcohol and medical supplies, sometimes causing blindness, paralysis, or even death. Around this same time one writer stated that excessive drinking was similar to "Grappling with the Monster" and called abusing alcohol the "Curse." According to this writer, the only cure was total abstinence. http://www.enotes.com/drugs-alcohol-encyclopedia/prohibition-alcohol . Alcohol was being sold illegally in speakeasies (illegal drinking venues). However in other countries such as Australia, alcohol was legal.

Introduce your decade (talk about major incidents that happened,what was your decade known for?)Introduce tobacco and alcohol

Paragraph 2 – Topic sentence – Find and insert statistic on effects of alcohol consumption (include morbidity and mortality rates as a result of alcohol consumption such as fights, car accidents, pedestrian accidents and liver disease)

Example Design 6: Perceptions of Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Australia, cont’d

Tobacco ExampleParagraph 2 - Discuss social influences of tobacco (advertising, movie stars etc) For example:During the 1920's there was an enormous growth of cigarette smokers as cigaretteswere made easier to inhale because of the high acid content in the tobacco paper.Generally, statistics showed that men smoked more cigarettes than women. However,cigarettes soon found their way into the hands of women throughout Europe and theUnited States in the 1920s. The changes in society during the 1920s brought femalesmoking into the open, and in the following decades advertising began specifically totarget women. The increasing engagement of women in society, particularly during theFirst World War, led to greater social and financial freedom for many women, which in turn fuelled higher smoking rates. By the end of the war, more than a quarter of Australian women were smokers, along with almost three quarters of adult males.Effects of nicotine such as lung, throat and mouth cancers and emphysema take a long time to be noticed, as a result, people who had been young in the 1920s and were using tobacco product, didn't become evident until 40 years later.

Paragraph 2 - Topic sentence- Discuss the

effects of tobacco use of individuals living in your decade.

- Find and insert statistics on effects of tobacco use (include morbidity and mortalityrates as a result of tobacco use such as cancers, emphysema, bronchitis).

For this design a History teacher used Makebook as a platform to investigate the conscription debate. This teacher used Makebook to provide students with an explicit description of how to structure their essay, using colour to clearly delineate various sections. The inline explanations also included generic heuristics for writing (such as ”Point, Evidence, Explanation, Relevance”. )

Example Design 7: The Conscription Debate

Group Writing Task: Extended Response on the ConscriptionDebate in Australia

This task is to prepare you for the examination

Question: Discuss why there were two referendums on conscription in Australiaduring World War 1, and how did the conscription debate divide Australian society?

INSTRUCTIONS:

- This extended response will be written in groups of three. These groups have alreadybeen assigned.

- Each group member will have to complete a section of the essayWriter 1: Introduction, and Argument 1 & 2Writer 2: Argument 3 & 4Writer 3: Argument 5 & Conclusion

Click "NEXT STEP" for more instructions

Example Design 7: The Conscription Debate, cont’d

INSTRUCTIONS CONTINUED...

Your response must address these points

- Reasons as to why the Prime Minister Billy Hughes wanted to introduce conscription

-The two referendums and their outcome (dates and results)

- Divisions in Australia:Political (Labor and Conservative politicians),Social (Trade Unionists, business leaders, women, and soldiers),Religious (Protestant and Catholic - Archbishop Daniel Mannix)

- The sources below must be directly referred to within your response and discussed inrelation to their perspective. Click on the link below to view the sources.

Click "Next Step" to view an essay guide to help you. Writer 1 must write theintroduction and Argument 1 in their own words. Writer 3 must write the conclusion intheir own words.

Conscription Sources


Introduction

Contextualise the historical period (i.e. dates) and then directly answer the questionby outlining the arguments to follow

Australians contributed throughout the duration of the First World War which began in 1914 and ended with the signing of the armistice in 1918. Australian volunteers fought in the war as members of the British Empire. As the years progressed feelings of excitement and patriotism waned as casualty figures rose within the Australian Infantry Force (AIF). It is within this context that Prime Minister Billy Hughes attempted to introduce military conscription through two unsuccessful referendums in 1916 and in 1917. The conscription debate caused much division within political, social, and religious sectors of Australian society. Both sides of the conscription debate used rigorous forms of propaganda to promote their case.

Body

Think PEER: Point, Explanation, Evidence, Relevance

Writer 1Introduction:- Remember this must be inyour own words- Contextualise thehistorical period (i.e. datesand situation)- Outline the mainarguments of the essay

The side panel was not only used to guide students on what to include in their essay, but also to coordinate the collaborative writing process by including specific instructions on each student's role. Students were required to author their compositions in groups so that they could identify best practice and offer each other suggestions. Teacher scaffolding also included specific questions for students to ask themselves as they wrote to make sure that they appropriately referred to sources in their argument. This supported higher order writing processes such as evidence based argumentation.


Paragraph 1: An explanation of why Billy Hughes wanted to introduce conscription in1916

Topic Sentence (Point): In 1916, after returning to Australia from the Western Front, Prime Minister Billy Hughes announced his plans to introduce military conscription in an attempt bolster the Allied force.Explanation and Evidence: By June 1916, voluntary enlistment in the AIF was less than half of the 16 5000 men per month who were needed to sustain Australia’ fighting capacity. The battle of the Somme in 1916 had resulted in a significant loss of Australian lives, and as men returned with horrific stories from the front, voluntary enrolments drastically decreased.Relevance: To address this issue of declining enrolments Prime Minister Hughes introduced the first conscription referendum on the 28th October 1916.

Paragraph 2: Details about both the 1916 and 1917 referendums i.e. results and outcomeTopic Sentence: By introducing conscription through a referendum Hughes sought the power to conscript men for military service outside AustraliaPEER - Statistics about the first referendum- Why the second referendum was introduced- Results of the second referendum-Lead into sentence about the political divisions

Writer 1Argument 1Paragraph 1:- Read over the sampleparagraph-Now construct your ownwhich explains why PrimeMinister Hughes wanted tointroduce conscription

Paragraph 2:-Read the sample topicsentence and key dotpoints which must beaddressed- Remember to includestatistics representing theresults of both referendums


Paragraph 3: Political division and reference to Source A and Source BTopic Sentence Theme: Formation of the Nationalist Party 1917PEER - Conservative political parties’ support for conscription- Labor Party’s opposition to conscription- Lead into sentence about social divisions

Paragraph 4: Social division and reference to Source CTopic Sentence Theme: Trade Unionists and Conservative business leadersPEER - Trade Unionists fear of cheap labour and female labour-Conservative business leaders supporting the British Empire

Writer 2Argument 3Paragraph 3:- Construct your own topic sentence, explaining how Prime Minister Hughes left the Labor Party in 1917 (before the 1917 referendum)- Explain Conservative Politicians' support for conscription:Refer to Source A: When did Hughes present this speech? Significance?What is he arguing?Explain Labor Party’s opposition to conscription Refer to Source B: Who isthe Labor Party targeting in this poster? Support your discussion with examplesfrom the visuals (pictures) and statements-Remember to introduce social divisions

Argument 4Paragraph 4:-Construct your own topic sentence referring to Trade Unionists being against conscription and conservative business leaders (wealthy) supporting conscription Trade Unionists Refer to Source C: Which paper is this extract from and when was it written? What is the writer’s main argument against


Paragraph 6: Social Division and Reference to Source DTopic Sentence Theme: Social Division amongst women and soldiers

PEER-Women some for and some against conscription- Soldiers some for and some against conscription

Writer 2Paragraph 5:-Construct your own topic sentence outlining divided attitudes amongst women and soldiers

Women supporting conscription Refer to Source D: What is the message of the poster? How have the visuals (pictures) been used to convey (express) this message?-Remember to discuss divided attitudes amongst soldiers. Refer to specific attitudes to strengthen your argument.

Writer 3Argument 5-Construct a topic sentence outlining the Protestant Church support for conscription and the Catholic Church being against conscription-Protestant Church: Remember to emphasize their pro-British stance-Catholic Church: Remember to emphasize the link between many Irish Catholics being against supporting the British Empire and the role of Archbishop Mannix in the anti-conscription campaign-Select from sources E, G, and F (include all or acombination) Source E: How does Mannix perceive conscription? Who are the supporters of conscription according to Mannix?When and where were his comments published?Source F: How does historian O’Farrell describe Mannix? Who does O’Farrell identify as pro-conscription in Australia?Source G: Where and when did Mannix make these comments? What is he arguing? What was his aimin expressing such strong words?

Paragraph 5:


ConclusionSum up the argument in relation to the question and re-state the main arguments using different wording to your introduction

Therefore it becomes apparent that the conscription debate of 1916-17 resulted in much political, social and religious based division in Australian society. During the conscription campaign various forms propaganda composed by both for and against parties fiercely circulated with the assistance of leading figures such as Prime Minister Billy Hughes and Archbishop Daniel Mannix. Although both referendums were unsuccessful in introducing conscription, the close results reflected the large degree to which this issue deeply separated Australian society.

Writer 3Conclusion-Remember this must be inyour own words.

Suggestions ofwords .............

-Re-state the mainarguments using differentwording to yourintroduction and do notraise new points withinyour conclusion

Makebook Key Features

Teacher Dashboards

Student Dashboards

On-line editor

Document history tracking, and roll-back capability

Alphabetised Bibliography Generator

Bi-directional mentoring

Document Collaborative View

Peer-invited mentoring, collaboration and marking

Task Builder – Guided Step

Task Builder – Example Step

Task Builder – Instructional Step

Rubric Editor

Rubric Marking

Teachers generally found the Makebook program: Made it easier to provide students with examples and suggestions, for students to

provide one another with feedback, for them as teachers to provide feedback to their students.

It simpler for students to make several revisions, Increased their enjoyment of and confidence in teaching sustained writing. Increased their confidence in using technology, Increased the likelihood that they would provide their students with opportunities to

make revision to their writing and would attempt to provide students with more feedback about their writing in future.

Specific feedback included: “I found the guided task very helpful in scaffolding student work and explicitly outlining

my expectations” “the guided task where students could view the instructions and see how examples

were written is helpful for students, as it keeps them on task and on track; these instruction and examples are always there so that students have access to them anytime they log into Makebook and the specific task.”

‘the side panel was great in reinforcing demands of the task and reminding students of the key features which need to be included within their writing”

“having a step by step side bar in guided tasks was excellent.”

Teachers Feedback

Teachers reported some differences in the extent to which students had been able to effectively use the Makebook program. One teacher reported that her high ability class managed the program well but that her low ability class had struggled with the technology, and had performed better with a pen and paper version of the task. Another teacher, however, said that there were benefits of the Makebook program for low ability students, including assistance with presentation skills and keeping track of their work.

Teachers reported that individual differences in the extent to which students are able to effectively use technology can sometimes lead to what they labelled a “technology two-speed classroom”, where some students steam ahead while teachers often lose control over other sections of the class that may have been more engaged with paper and pen tasks.

Teachers also reported some difficulties with using the Makebook program to engage students in the collaborative writing process. Teachers reported concern over the fact that only one student was able to work on the document at one time, reporting that students could become distracted when they were not actively engaged in the task. Students reportedly had mixed reactions to collaborative writing using the Makebook program. Some students had enjoyed it, but other students had experienced difficulties, including not wanting to chare their work with others, and becoming frustrated by not being able to see what others were doing and the length of time they were spending on the program. (See Suggested Changes below.)

Teachers Feedback, cont’d

The learning designs that teachers created demonstrated that the Makebook program both facilitated a range of pedagogies and enabled others. These included:

1. Specification and efficient dissemination of explicit task instructions

2. Construction and distribution of exemplars (or ‘models’) by teachers

3. Simple creation of aesthetically appealing resources (by both teachers and students)

4. Provision of scaffolding about how to write effectively (both specific point-of-need scaffolding as well as more general writing principles)

5. Relevant integration of audio and video to provide students with multimedia instructional materials

6. Provision of scaffolding about how to use the technology to support multimedia construction\

7. individualized tasks that enable students to critically reflect upon one another’s work and to provide suggestions to help improve the quality of the text.

8. Collaborative writing tasks that enable students to learn by negotiating the best structure and syntax for their compositions.

9. Scaffolding to support effective group work interactions (such as turn taking and approaches to providing feedback). Tasks involving more than one text type to enable comparison and contrast of different genres.

Conclusions from Research Study

The learning designs that teachers created demonstrated that the Makebook program both facilitated a range of pedagogies and enabled others. These included:

1. Specification and efficient dissemination of explicit task instructions

2. Construction and distribution of exemplars (or ‘models’) by teachers

3. Simple creation of aesthetically appealing resources (by both teachers and students)

4. Provision of scaffolding about how to write effectively (both specific point-of-need scaffolding as well as more general writing principles)

5. Relevant integration of audio and video to provide students with multimedia instructional materials

6. Provision of scaffolding about how to use the technology to support multimedia construction\

7. individualized tasks that enable students to critically reflect upon one another’s work and to provide suggestions to help improve the quality of the text.

8. Collaborative writing tasks that enable students to learn by negotiating the best structure and syntax for their compositions.

9. Scaffolding to support effective group work interactions (such as turn taking and approaches to providing feedback). Tasks involving more than one text type to enable comparison and contrast of different genres.

The quality of the learning designs were also observed to be enhanced by incorporating authentic, meaningful, and relevant tasks that support students to shift from lower order comprehension-based thinking to more higher order analytic and creative thinking. A fading approach to scaffolding whereby the amount of instructional guidance is gradually reduced (enables students to become more autonomous creators of extended compositions.

Learning Designs

Improvements to the program were suggested in a variety of areas. One important change was suggested to the way in which collaboration was organized as a series of individual contributions, since students tended to be disengaged while they were waiting to make their contribution to the task. Students revealed that they would often prefer to discuss their writing and write together. The program’s designers have responded that they will amend the program to allow for chapter based collaboration. This will underscore the social networking aspect of the program and would allow for international collaboration such as a Japanese class in Japan mentoring a Japanese class in Australia. They also plan to include a notepad in the program which will allow students to note down ideas and research information.

Teachers also commented that they encountered some problems with the technology itself and suggested the provision of clearer instruction booklets and more user friendly prompts and other facilities to make the program simple and easier to navigate, which the designers have undertaken to do.

Suggested Changes

The use of an online collaborative writing program to develop boys’ writing capabilities was perceived by teachers to be effective in a variety of areas. Use of the Makebook program enabled teachers to gain more confidence and enjoyment in their teaching of sustained writing and made the teaching of sustained writing easier. Students both liked and made use of the exemplary models and scaffolds which the tea~E1iers created to support their sustained written composition. The program also had a positive impact on teachers’ confidence in using technology in their teaching, although lack of technology resources both at school and at home remained an issue. Other positive impacts were made on the teachers’ attitudes to providing more examples and suggestions (e.g. models and scaffolds), providing opportunities for collaboration when writing, allowing students to make several revisions when writing and the provision of on-going formative feedback. These last four are all treatments which have been shown to improve the quality of students’ sustained writing and the Makebook system intrinsically delivers them to students.

The teachers in this study came from a wide range of key learning areas and a number had never thought of themselves as teachers of writing. The study asked them to use research-based treatments such as the use of models and scaffolds, peer-collaboration and technology to support their students’ creation of sustained written compositions. The task of creating the units of work was challenging, especially for those teaching in areas not traditionally associated with the teaching of writing such as Science, Mathematics and PD/H/PE. The units they produced are exemplars of how to explicitly and systematically teach students to produce authentic written texts.

Conclusions

Documents

Macquarie University: Dr. Matt Bower, Amanda Stavert Makebook Pty. Ltd.: Mark Stanley, Lidija Loridon