Year 9 Delivery 2006
Term 1: Focus – terminology
After an introduction to the entire year, students were introduced to the key terms and concepts of Technology, beginning with the term Technology itself. The technology cycle was then introduced and students undertook technological practice. They were encouraged to evaluate their key decisions verbally with the teacher to justify the practice they undertook rather than providing any formal evidence of the evaluation. At this stage teachers wanted them to understand with an issue. They were given a brief, identified the issue, identified the stakeholders and determined their needs/wants, undertook research and concept development, developed their final design and created an outcome. The module closed with an assessment activity: "How I used the technology cycle."
Term 1 teachers were aware of their responsibility to deliver the planned unit of work, as the term 2 teachers would build off that point. The collegiality of the department members, with each recognising their mutual responsibilities, helped ensure the necessary learning opportunities were presented to students.
Term 2: Focus - Brief Development
The term 2 technology cycle now included brief development as a key competency. Students had this in their folders and on the classroom walls and were given an initial class brief that required further refinement. From this initial brief, students were taughthow to develop a final brief that included specifications that allowed their outcome to be evaluated as 'fit for purpose' for the specific issue it resolved.
Term 3 : Focus – Planning
The term 3 technology cycle now included planning as a key competency. Students were to planning as crucial to managing any project and shown planning tools and how they are used, and introduced to management strategies for managing time and other resources as part of their technological practice. Throughout the term students used an actual timeline and adjusted the times according to the key tasks and times they achieved. Assessment was based on this timeline and the responses to questions at the end of term.
Term 4 Focus - Outcome development and evaluation
The term 4 technology cycle now included outcome development and evaluation as key competencies. Students were taught to how to undertake ongoing evaluation of their technological practice. This included evaluating their research findings and concept ideas as well as evaluating their ideas during the development phase of their practice. Following the creation of their technological outcome students were taught how to evaluate the success of their product in terms of how it had met the brief specifications and the effectiveness of the technological practice they had undertaken.
