Subject Overview:

As a non-externally assessed course we have developed a program that is specifically tailored to the unique nature of the students of CCS. The course aims to build a level of technical expertise in areas related to Product Design and production as well as developing the entrepreneurial skills of marketing and introducing the concepts of business development.

The course brings together all the skills and knowledge necessary in order to design and make a meaningful product while keeping in mind potential marketability. These different areas of expertise include computer aided design (CAD), technical drawing, electronic products, materials, visual communication, applied sciences, computer aided manufacturing (CAM) and manual manufacturing skills. The course encourages students to design with sustainability in mind, offering a unique opportunity to develop long term environmental awareness.

The course is built around 3 focussed projects:

Project 1: A Flat Pack Product.

This project is an exercise in Product Design and Visual Marketing. Following the design process learners will research, design and build a laser cut flat pack product. From here they will revisit skills learnt in the middle school by developing a visual marketing campaign for their product. These products will then be produced and sold at school events, implementing both the skills of design and production as well as marketing in a real life context. The intention of this first project is to reinforce the design process of Research, Develop, Make and Reflect. By the end of Project 1 students will be familiar with the digital formats of Vector drawing, Photo manipulation and CAD (Computer Assisted Design) development in both 2 and 3 dimensions.

Project 2: The Wind Turbine Challenge

Competition breeds success, this is the underlying concept of the Wind Turbine Design Challenge. Students will follow the design cycle to research, design and build a functioning wind turbine device. These will then be connected to a generator and tested to see how much energy each turbine produces, the winner being the most successful energy generator. This task is designed to improve problem solving in both theoretical and practical sense. The students will be faced with many challenges in building their turbine using the available resources, this will help develop resilience while improving their practical workshop skills.

Project 3: The Independent Project

This will make up a big part of the 2-year program. In this students will research, design and build a solution to a local social, environmental issue or other ‘real world’ problem. These may take the form of green energy development, waste management solutions, energy efficient water cleaning and supply models or something completely original. The aim is to build and implement functioning designs that present realistic solutions to the issue which is being addressed. Students may choose to explore an area of special interest to them which may include programming, electronics or robotics to create their project. At the end of this project students will get the opportunity to utilize the marketing skills they have learned earlier in the course by developing and implementing a marketing plan for the project that they have produced. The last part of the project will be starting to look at costing for mass production, practicality of their solution in a real life context and the development of a proposal that could be presented to potential investors. Within this project the students will need to work cooperatively, utilising the skills and knowledge of any available experts in the quest to achieve their goals. This project will also be documented and presented as a short documentary to share their learning.

D&T is a unique opportunity to bring art, science, business and technology together in order to solve real world problems. Similarly, controlled assessment allows for exploration and developments of a real life, working solution where students can see and evaluate a product of their own design. In addition to the theoretical content, students are also rewarded for practical prowess. Due to the wide skill set necessary in order to succeed in D&T, the subject is challenging yet equally rewarding for students of a technically creative nature.

Assessment

This is not an externally assessed course. This gives the course a unique opportunity to focus on the practical process of creating solutions. Through taking ownership of their main projects students will develop their ability to self-direct and sustain momentum on a large scale project.