The Technological Knowledge Strand Explanatory Papers Updated May 2010
Technological Products
Senior Secondary (Years 11-13)
Possible learning experiences
The learning experiences suggested below have been provided to support teachers as they develop their understandings of the Technological Products component of the Technological Knowledge strand and how this could be reflected in student achievement at various levels. There is no expectation that these would form the basis of any specific unit of work in technology. The learning experiences have been written in such a way as to support student learning across a range of levels. This stance reflects the majority of classrooms where it is expected that students will demonstrate a range of levels of achievement.
Students could explore the different types of lighting products available on the market today and identify the properties of the materials used in their development. These could be compared and contrasted with lighting products from the past and/or those used in different cultures to determine how different materials have impacted on the performance of lighting products and their fitness for purpose across a range of purposes and environmental conditions.
They could then investigate lighting products that have become available due to the development of new materials. They could explore the knowledge and techniques required for the development of these materials, including new evaluation procedures to ensure product designs were both technically feasible and socially acceptable. The product could be critiqued in terms of wider social and environmental considerations regarding the availability, production, modification, usage, and disposal of the materials used in the products. The students could then use these understandings to inform their own conceptual design of a lighting product for an identified client. They could present their design effectively through the use of specialised language and drawings to clearly communicate how materials would need to be selected and manipulated to ensure they upheld the design’s feasibility and acceptability.
Students achieving at level 4 could be expected to:
- describe how the formulation of new materials allowed lighting products to be developed for different purposes;
- explain how materials used in a particular lighting product were manipulated to ensure the product functions in a safe and reliable way; and
- communicate material related details of a conceptual design for a lighting product, using specialised language and drawings, that would allow others to create a product that meets stated technical and acceptability specifications.
Students achieving at level 5 could be expected to:
- explain why particular materials were selected for use in relation to the desired performance criteria of lighting products developed for differing purposes and environmental locations; and
- discuss examples to show how the composition of a material impacts on selection decisions.
Students achieving at level 6 could be expected to:
- explain the composition and structure of the materials used in lighting products;
- explain how existing materials have been manipulated and/or transformed to increase their suitability for lighting products in particular contexts and/or for specialised functions; and
- describe how the evaluation of different materials has informed their own conceptual design.
Students achieving at level 7 could be expected to:
- explain the concepts and processes involved in the objective and subjective evaluation ;procedures used to determine the suitability of different materials for a range of reliable and safe lighting products;
- explain how material evaluations influenced the initial design ideas and life cycle decisions, ongoing development, maintenance guidelines and disposal of lighting products; and
- critique the selection of materials for a range of lighting products, on the grounds of material sustainability, user-friendliness and disposal.
Students achieving at level 8 could be expected to:
- explain the concepts and processes involved in the development of a new material that provided an opportunity for an increase in the type and nature of lighting functions;
- explain how new materials were evaluated to ensure they would met feasibility and acceptability related specifications; and
- discuss how new materials have influenced the development of new lighting products in terms of expanding initial design ideas, influencing life cycle decisions, enhancing ongoing development and evaluation, ensuring effective maintenance and acknowledging issues associated with the ultimate disposal of products.
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