How to use it?

As the basis for a whole class teacher led discussion.

Some of the information in the case studies may be quite new to you and, as such, they provide useful insight in terms of subject knowledge. You can use the information and images in the case studies as the basis for a lesson in which you tell the story ‘from the front’, without giving the students the printed material. You can produce a series of overhead projector transparencies or PowerPoint slides from the printed materials and use these to construct a question/ answer based lesson that moves your class through the exposition.

This has the advantage of providing a completely customised approach although it might be difficult to keep the concentration of a wide range of ability through out the lesson with this approach. It also has the disadvantage that it requires a lot of preparation time.

As individual reflective reading and small group discussion.

You may wish to give each pupil a copy of a case study. If so it is important to explain the structure of the case studies to your pupils. Tell them that the studies are in two parts.

The first is about a product that was designed using systems engineering. It will describe some or all of the following:

• What it does
• How it works
• What it is for
• Who will use it
• How it is used
• How it is sold or marketed

By reading part 1 of the study they will gain insight and understanding of what is achieved by systems engineering. The second part is about how the product was designed and produced. It will describe some or all of the following:

• Which engineers and designers were involved
• Which engineering knowledge and skills were required
• How these were used to develop the systems
• How the project was managed

      Inception
      Development
      Manufacture
      Installation
      Training and support
      Eventual disposal

By reading part 2 pupils will learn what it means to do systems engineering and be able to apply these principles to their own project work. Explain that there are several devices in the studies to help them make reading active so that they are easier to learn from.

These are:

• Discussion points
      Questions for the reader to discuss with other pupils
• Research
      Opportunities to find out more outside school time
• Activities
      Specific questions requiring written answers
• Links
      Websites with more relevant information

Explain that using a Systems Case Study is not like doing a worksheet. It treats them much more like ‘grown ups’ reading an article in a magazine or a professional journal, expecting them to read carefully and use the questions and research sections to develop their understanding.

Tell them that it is quite alright to underline new words they don’t understand yet or draw circles around text they find difficult. The aim of reading the study is to increase their understanding and if they understood it all to begin with then reading the study wouldn’t be achieving that. You might find it useful to make an overhead transparency or PowerPoint slide of parts of the study and project it with annotations.