Reply: YEP.
I've guided the team into taking control of the project as much as possible. This is not without its' risks, but long term it forces the guys to Think ahead, Communicate, Record actions and materials etc... The challenge is theirs, not mine.
I see some good progress.
The LO "Plan the building process" therefore requires some hindsight/reflection of a prior experience in boat building. Ideally this would come from the small craft build experiences, because it is hard to plan with out some experience.
Unfortunately for some participants the small craft projects were anything but smooth sailing experiences as far as working in a team, may fractions and in-fighting had a devastating effect upon the teams. Not all was lost... just some growing up to do in one or two cases. Fortunately this did happen and some deep soul searching redirected these members back on track.
Perhaps the recognition that we seldom chose who we directly work with is a timely eye opener.
This difficulty aside, it has still placed some students behind 'where I would have hoped' in developing their construction skills.
The experience has happened now (partly in the Boat Construction project) and the planing is now over to the students. A good facilitator should 'back off' in order for the independents to be allowed to happen. A nervous time to be sure. Experiencing the chaos is a term often heard. It actually is a valuable part of the learning process.
The final foam cores and outer laminates for the side decks are urgent, as is the window flange secondary laminates.
Some initial fairing of cabin surfaces has started and this I hope will be shared around, as "real world" grunt work is the reality for many starters in the marine industry.
One frustrating area is around student attendances, or lack there of.
This can mean the difference between success and failure of the project goals we have set ourselves.
In general we have some guys arriving late every day, some absent without even informing fellow students that they will be away.
Fortunately we have a nucleus of guys that are regularly here and it shows in their attitudes and abilities. Good for you guys, you know who you are.
Time for all to dig in and stop mucking about. There are few if any of the processes between now and the end of the year that are new to any of you.I get very impatient when I know the tasks are do-able by the students' without my regular input, but I still get guys asking questions they know the answers to. Hmmmm?
The photo to the left is early afternoon, the guys, (without much input from me) have finally set themselves to task. The sidedeck foam core and vacuum bagging. Only about 2 hours late.
We have three weeks including this week to complete the project.
That equates to only 7.5 days plus any time saved in the Wednesday FRP practicum work which is only piecework from here. I have outlined the processes now we just have to do it.
