Students studying Design Technology will learn about the Design Cycle and how to apply it to their work.

The Design Cycle

Investigate: Students will investigate a topic and document their sources. They will do this to find ideas about what has been done and how they can apply it to their product. During the investigation stage they will also research any new tools and materials relevant to their project. Students will create a list of design specifications.

Design: Students will come up with a range of feasible designs and evaluate these against the design specifications. The students will learn how to critically evaluate their designs.

Plan: Students will plan out their projects using their information from the Investigate stage. A number of ideas are sketched out and one is chosen to be developed further. The student is required to make a detailed plan of their project and record this in their Process Journal, which is an important part of the Create stage.

Create: Students follow their detailed plans to create the product. Each step should be recorded in their Process Journal. By writing in the journal students are able to keep a detailed account of their time, reflect on the steps taken, and re-evaluate their work. If at some point the student encounters problems, they can go back to any of the other stages and then continue with the Design process.

Evaluate: Students take time to reflect on what went right, what went wrong, what they think of their work, what others thought of their work, suggest improvements, and accept criticism and suggestions from others. This is a vital part of the Design Cycle as it allows students a chance to change things wherever possible, and to learn from their previous actions.

M1 Design Technology

Project topics in the first year of Design Technology will include;

• What is Design & Technology?
• Workshop Safety
• Brilliant boomerangs
• An Interdisciplinary project (IDU)
• ID safety
• Choc’s away!

M2 Design Technology

Project topics in the second year of Design Technology will include;

• Review of the Design Cycle
• Abstract timepieces
• 3D story time
• IDU project
• The moving picture

M3 Design Technology

Project topics in the third year of Design Technology will include;

• Boxing clever
• Steady on!
• Shades of distinction
• Fused ID

M4/M5 Design Technology

The last two years of the Design Technology programme at TISA cover a range of topics, and integrates the Areas of Interaction, particularly Community and Service. Students will be exposed to new tools and equipment, including the soldering iron, vacuum former and strip heater.

Project topics in the fourth and fifth years of Design Technology will include:

• Review of the Design Cycle
• Tool Safety
• Orthographic and Isometric Drawings
• Recycled materials product
• Designing containers for a specific market
• Dual functional products
• Furniture making
• Light making
• Creating Photo frames
• Free projects
• Creating a Design week exhibition

Teachers