Faculty of Technology

Technology Taster Days for Colleges’

Introduction

The Faculty of Technology have devised a series of Taster Days for Colleges’ which are available to local college students to help them with the transition into Higher Education.

The aim of this unit is to give students a taste of teaching and learning in a University context by encouraging the development of their academic and practical skills.

We are keen to promote the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects in colleges. We also hope that this will help to build stronger links with local college staff.

The unit will be delivered as 4 x 1 day sessions to be held at the University of Portsmouth.

The days are designed to be stand alone sessions, so students are able to link in with any one of the sessions, as part of a rolling programme of delivery.

Target audience

Students who are studying courses in the following subject areas should be encouraged to participate in the Technology Taster Days for Colleges’:

• Engineering - general/mechanical/electrical
• IT and/or Computing
• Maths and/or Physics

We can take a maximum of 40 students at each session.

Schedule of dates for 2012

Wednesday 18th January 2012: Visual Programming

This session will involve students working in pairs to produce a simple game. The students would have to acquaint themselves with the programming environment (a basic "wrapper" for OpenGL using VisualStudio) and use graphical software in order to design their graphics. The game can be specified as anything they like but they must get user feedback somehow (possibly by taking the game away at the end of the session and asking people to play it). Some example games will be provided to that students do not have to do all of the programming from scratch.

Wednesday 2th May 2012: Java Programming

This session will involve students working in pairs to develop a classic arcade game such as PACMAN. The students will use the GreenFoot package which provides a relatively simple graphics programming environment. Students will familiarise themselves with Greenfoot and Java programming through studying and running existing programs. They will then develop their own game. The games produced by students will be demonstrated to staff who will feedback not only on the quality of the game but the quality of the programming. No previous programming experience is required.

Wednesday 26th September 2012: Property Development and Construction

More details to be announced.

Wednesday 12th December 2012: CAD and Product Design

Students will design an everyday product to a design brief using design software (Google Sketchup Pro and Keyshot) and present their findings to the group.

Sample Session Timetable

Benefits of attending the Technology Taster Day for Colleges’

• A ‘taster course’ of a first year Higher Education (i.e. University) programme.
• Encouraging familiarity with the University environment.
• Assisting with students' skill development to facilitate them as ‘independent learners’.
• Motivation to study the STEM subjects and pursue engineering based careers.
• Extension of subject knowledge pre entry to University.
• Building links with staff and other students at the University of Portsmouth.
• Knowledge of progression routes to University courses and available course options.

How to enrol for the sessions

Places will be allocated on a ‘first come first served basis’. Application forms will be sent out to colleges in advance of each event. The closing date for applications will be 10 working days prior to the date of the session.

Further information

Further information about any aspects of the Technology Taster Days for Colleges’ can be obtained by emailing the Technology Admissions team at the University: technology.admissions@port.ac.uk