Making Thank-you Cards – TEALS case study
Background
Gateways and learning outcomes
Defining the brief and establishing the attributes
The production line and quality control
The iced-biscuit production line
Visiting a shoe factory
Designing and selecting the card
Designing a production line
Assessment gateways
The production line and quality control
To introduce the concept of making something to an agreed standard and quality, the students, in groups of four, were asked to make four faces that were all the same using paper cutouts of facial features (ears, eyes, nose, or mouth). On the first attempt, each student worked by themselves to assemble a face. The four faces were quite different from each other. The teacher discussed how a "production line" approach might both speed up the face production and obtain uniformity of outcome.
In the second attempt, each group was given a completed face – a prototype – that set the quality. Within each group, different students took responsibility for placing one of the facial features in the correct place as per the prototype.
When all the faces were completed, the students compared them to the original face to establish how well they had met the standard. In all cases, the second attempt resulted in increased uniformity of outcome, thus reinforcing the advantages of production line manufacture introduced earlier.
This activity enabled the teacher to assess the students' developing understanding of production systems and to decide how many further activities of a similar nature would be required to help consolidate their learning.
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