Teachers' perspectives about the content, context, and educational suitability of the GPS cows module for Australian teachers in New South Wales

Abstract

Technology Mandatory (Tech Mandatory) is a compulsory subject for New South Wales (NSW) Stage 4 students and aims to engage students in production and design activities applicable to Agriculture and Food Technologies (AFT), Digital Technologies (DT), Engineered Systems and Material Technologies. The GPS Cows Module, an agricultural education module focused on livestock and Global Positioning System (GPS) livestock data, was co-designed by the NSW Department of Education and CQUniversity Australia. Teachers had previously expressed concern about being able to successfully teach some content of the Tech Mandatory curriculum’s AFT and DT components. Accordingly, the GPS Cows Module focused on livestock production and using digital solutions to address real-world problems. To introduce teachers to the GPS Cows Module and increase Module uptake, several one-day professional learning workshops were run in 2018 and 2019 across NSW, Australia. A post-workshop survey was used to evaluate the GPS Cows Module and the suitability of content related to AFT and DT learning outcomes. Participants agreed or strongly agreed that the Module content would address some of the AFT (92.8% combined) and DT (95.5% combined) outcomes of the curriculum. Over 72% of participants felt their students would find GPS Cows engaging and were excited to teach the Module. However, there were some barriers to implementation including perceptions of student ability, access to technology, teacher confidence and time. Overall, the GPS Cows Module comprises of high-quality content to address some of the AFT and DT outcomes of the Tech Mandatory curriculum. Additionally, it reinforces the importance of authentic data, real-life case studies, and a variety of accompanying resources to effectively implement into a teaching program.