Curriculum Guidelines

STRANDS IN THE TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM

The overall and specific expectations for each course in the technological education curriculum are typically organized in four distinct but related strands. As students move up through the grades, the expectations within these strands will increase in complexity and depth. These strands are as follows:

A: Fundamentals

Students develop foundational knowledge and skills related to the design and fabrication of products or the provision of services in the particular broad-based technological subject area.

B: Skills

Students develop the technological skills required for responding to a variety of practical challenges.

C: Technology, the Environment, and Society

Students develop an understanding of the interrelationship between the technology or industry sector and the environment, and between the technology and various aspects of society. (In subject areas that relate to services, this strand is entitled Industry Practices, the Environment, and Society.)

D: Professional Practice and Career Opportunities

Students develop an understanding of health and safety standards in the industry, professional concerns and issues, and the Essential Skills and work habits valued in the sector, and explore career opportunities and the education and training required for them.

The Design Process

In many technological fields, open-ended problem-solving processes that involve the full planning and development of products or services to meet identified needs are often referred to as the “design process”. A design process involves a sequence of steps, such as the following:

1. Analyse the context and background, and clearly define the problem or challenge.
2. Conduct research to determine design criteria, financial or other constraints, and availability of materials.
3. Generate ideas for potential solutions, using processes such as brainstorming and sketching.
4. Choose the best solution.
5. Build a prototype or model.
6. Test and evaluate the solution.
7. Repeat steps as necessary to modify the design or correct faults.
8. Reflect and report on the process.

Categories of Knowledge and Skills

The categories, defined by clear criteria, represent four broad areas of knowledge and skills within which the subject expectations for any given course are organized. The four categories should be considered as interrelated, reflecting the wholeness and interconnectedness of learning. The categories of knowledge and skills are described as follows:

Knowledge and Understanding.

Subject-specific content acquired in each course (knowledge), and the comprehension of its meaning and significance (understanding).

Thinking.

The use of critical and creative thinking skills and/or processes, as follows:

• planning skills (e.g., identifying the problem, selecting strategies and resources, scheduling)
• processing skills (e.g., analysing and interpreting information, reasoning, generating and evaluating solutions, forming conclusions)
• critical/creative thinking processes (e.g., problem-solving, design, and decisionmaking processes)

Communication.

The conveying of meaning through various forms, as follows:

• oral (e.g., role play, discussion, presentation)
• written (e.g., design briefs, work orders, technical reports)
• visual (e.g., technical drawings, flow charts, graphics)

Application.

The use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts.

Teachers will ensure that student work is assessed and/or evaluated in a balanced manner with respect to the four categories, and that achievement of particular expectations is

considered within the appropriate categories.

EXEPECTATIONS

A: Fundamentals

• UNDERSTANDING - Design Principles, concepts, techniques, system components, software, hardware, terminology, theory, formula and calculation, teamwork, collaboration. feedback

B: Skills

• APPLICATION - Project Management, planning, organization, application, evaluation, Problem Solving, design process, Process and Production,

C: Environment and Society

D: Professional Practive and Career Opportunities

• Safety
  • physical hazards and safety protocols, privacy
• Ethics and Legality
  • copyright, creative commons, privacy, defamation security,
• Post Secondary and Careers
  • essential skills for employment, reliability, imitiative, problem solving, research, oral communication - Ontario Skills Passport
  • D3.5 demonstrate an understanding of and apply the work habits that are important for success in the communications technology industry, as identified in the Ontario Skills Passport (e.g., working safely, teamwork, reliability, initiative, customer service, entrepreneurship);