Assignments

Assignment to finish before the course

Familiarise yourself with the Motivation underlying this study unit, as well as the sections on Sustainable lifestyle and Pedagogical background. Write some notes on what thoughts came to your mind and what your expectations are of this course.

1. Am I a threat or an opportunity?

Complete this Lifestyle test by Sitra and contemplate on how environmentally friendly your actions and choices are at present. Then take this circular economic test and find out how you could help save the Earth. Get acquainted with Sitra’s list 100 ways to be smart & sustainable and select a few you could improve on.

2. Most interesting in circular economy

Sitra publishes a list called The most interesting companies in the circular economy in Finland, which features interesting businesses following the principles of circular economy. Pick one and try to identify which principles they follow and how they go about it.

3. Analysing the National Core Curriculum

Read the summary on the website to get an idea of how circular economy is present in the National Core Curriculum. Pay particular attention to the objectives and content area descriptions corresponding to the group you will be teaching, and observe the objectives of transversal competence in relation to circular economic themes. Write down some concrete examples of how you might approach circular economy as instructed by the Core Curriculum.

4. Circular economy in Maker Culture and in the Innovation Process

Read the relevant sections and discuss how circular economy manifests itself in Maker Culture. How are these two connected? How are they conflicted, or are they? How can circular economic thinking be taken into account at different stages of the innovation process? What types of approaches could be employed at which stages?

5. Pupils’ opinions on inventing

Go to the Inventing tab and watch the video with pupils’ opinions and thoughts on inventing. Answer the following questions. What do the pupils consider to be an invention? What characteristics do they associate with inventing? How do they see themselves as inventors? Are their opinions of themselves in conflict with their ideas of what an inventor should be able to do?

6. Learning journal

After each lesson during your teaching period, write a short (maximum 1 page) journal entry reflecting on how the lesson went, whether you met your goals, and what you need to pay attention to next time.

7. Presentation

The students should prepare to present their teaching period. The presentation should include a description of the planned module and how it was carried out. What challenges and moments of success did you experience? What were the pupils’ artefacts like?

8. Reflective essay

Finally, a reflective essay will be written. The essay will be assessed. You may employ some of the following viewpoints.

• Discuss circular economy and your personal attitudes towards it.
• What are your thoughts on invention pedagogy?
• Describe your teaching period and the planning process leading up to it.
• Did the teaching period follow the plans you had made or did you alter your plans mid-way?
• If you decided to alter your plans, why was this?
• To what extent did the pupils act according to the circular economic principles?
• Do you feel that the activities inspired the pupils to think about circular economy?
• Give a concrete example, if you can.
• How did the pupils participate in the invention process?
• Finally, reflect and discuss how your teaching period could be improved.

A suitable length for the essay is 5 pages. In addition to the learning journal, you may use the sources in the materials.