SECTION # 2: DEMONSTRATIONS ONTARIO

COMMUNICATIONS

Eleven feedback forms were returned by two research team members working together. All searches were considered successful. Each is described in detail on the following page.

Overview for Demonstrations Ontario – Level 5 Writing Skills:

Demonstrations Ontario Level 5 Writing Skills includes 11 Demonstrations. The researchers liked Demonstrations Ontario because it was easy to use.

The Demonstrations could be assigned in Level 5 and ACE and serve as ongoing or exit learning activities in both levels.

General Suggestions for Improving the Demonstrations:

The teacher support for each demonstration must be enhanced. The teacher files to be downloaded for each activity were very repetitive to the demonstration activity and in many cases not much more helpful. The website would be much improved if students received detailed information to complete each task. In every case, a sample of the final product would be very helpful for the student to use as a model. Students learn from example and if each demonstration provided concrete illustrations, this would vastly improve and clarify the tasks to be completed.

As with most of these resources, the more generic, and less single-text specific that can be made, the better to facilitate their timely use by many LBS programs. When a specific text is indicated, but no useful detail given as to the content of that text, the value of the demonstration is lost; in fact, such a “demonstration” would amount to little more than an idea which would then have to be developed by an instructor who works in a program that likely uses different texts from the one(s) specified for use in the demonstration.

The more information provided, (for instance, generic instructions, copies of relevant text sections, or recommended alternate textual resources, etc.) the easier it will be to use the demonstration.

Another gap which should be addressed is the need for teacher support for marking scheme purposes. A final evaluation rubric for each demonstration would be valuable. This rubric should be shown on a separate page that could be photocopied.