This is a full size Practical for the Competency, ‘Constructing Timber External Stairs’. In teams of two the students have to design, draw, calculate and build stairs, including a landing and handrail.
Do you work closely with the students as they move through each step - I can imagine an extreme case where students move forward with mistakes in their design, or their calculations and the whole project is a mess. Although I guess it would make for excellent learning - they'd certainly check it more thoroughly next time. What are your thoughts about leaving the students to learn through their mistakes?
Hi Susanne, I tell the students that the only person that has never made a mistake is the person that has never attempted anything. I do not ride the students for a fantastic project but I do look for engagement and the best effort that they are capable of. I believe it is important for a teacher to have expectations but these must be supported by solid learning material that the students must be able to review and realise where they went wrong. You can learn a lot from your mistakes but if an apprentice carpenter makes to many they will not have a job.
do you only build straight stairs or even the more complicated round ones? how do the students draw before starting? do they use Auto CAD or something compareble? do they have to calculate by themselves or do they work with a instruction / drawing?
Hi Nils, We teach the competency 'constructing timber external stairs' so we keep it pretty basic. We have the section from the 'national construction code' that has all the regulations on stairs so we ensure the students have an understanding of the regulations and where they come from. We draw with drawing boards and squares etc as we find there are to many varying ability levels when dealing with auto cad. Once the students understand the regulations we give them each different calculations regarding stair construction.
Hi Jesper, We do you use treated pine but we are stepping away from this. We are having great difficulty selling the amount of stairs that we produce so we re-cycle the treads and the stringers are used for blocking etc.
Do you work closely with the students as they move through each step - I can imagine an extreme case where students move forward with mistakes in their design, or their calculations and the whole project is a mess. Although I guess it would make for excellent learning - they'd certainly check it more thoroughly next time. What are your thoughts about leaving the students to learn through their mistakes?
ReplyDeleteHi Susanne,
ReplyDeleteI tell the students that the only person that has never made a mistake is the person that has never attempted anything. I do not ride the students for a fantastic project but I do look for engagement and the best effort that they are capable of. I believe it is important for a teacher to have expectations but these must be supported by solid learning material that the students must be able to review and realise where they went wrong. You can learn a lot from your mistakes but if an apprentice carpenter makes to many they will not have a job.
I do agree with Barry. Making mistakes is a part of the learning process and I think students learn a lot from them.
ReplyDeletedo you only build straight stairs or even the more complicated round ones? how do the students draw before starting? do they use Auto CAD or something compareble? do they have to calculate by themselves or do they work with a instruction / drawing?
ReplyDeleteHi Nils,
DeleteWe teach the competency 'constructing timber external stairs' so we keep it pretty basic. We have the section from the 'national construction code' that has all the regulations on stairs so we ensure the students have an understanding of the regulations and where they come from. We draw with drawing boards and squares etc as we find there are to many varying ability levels when dealing with auto cad. Once the students understand the regulations we give them each different calculations regarding stair construction.
Do you use treated timber for the stairs?
ReplyDeleteHi Jesper,
DeleteWe do you use treated pine but we are stepping away from this. We are having great difficulty selling the amount of stairs that we produce so we re-cycle the treads and the stringers are used for blocking etc.