Teacher Guidance Level 1

To support students to develop understanding of Characteristics of Technological Outcomes at Level 1, teachers could:

• provide students with a range of contemporary and historical technological products and systems and guide them to recognise these as examples of technological outcomes developed by people to be a part of the made world.
• guide students to describe the physical nature of technological outcomes. The physical nature of technological outcomes refers to such things as size, shape, colour, smell, texture, components etc.
• guide students to describe the functional nature of technological outcomes. The functional nature of technological outcomes refers to what the outcome does.

Indicators of Progression

Teaching Strategy

Explanation

Explain that technological outcomes are made by people.

Discuss examples of technological outcomes.

Teacher gives examples of technological outcomes (and calls them technological outcomes) to encourage students to make a connection to people making outcomes.
Whole-class or group discussion, possibly with teacher recording points on a flip chart/whiteboard, on the question: "How are/were people involved in this technological outcome?”

Discuss the different people who make technological outcomes, eg, baker – bread.

A version of the Headbands game:
Students are in pairs, sitting so they cannot see each other. One has a technological outcome (product/system) that the other cannot see, and has to describe the object one clue at a time for the other to guess what it is. Clues are single statements about specific aspects of the outcome (function, physical nature, etc). The student describing gets one point per clue, more clues it takes the better because that means they are being very specific.

Example: A vivid marker

Describe it in terms of its functional nature:

• "It can write on lots of different surfaces.”
• "It cannot come off.”
• "It comes in different colours.”
• "It has a lid.”
• "It has a round/flat tip.”

Describe it in terms of its physical nature:

• "It comes in different colours.”
• "It has a lid.”
• "The lid has grooves in it."
• "The outside of it is made out of plastic.”

Describe selected technological outcomes in terms of their physical nature.

Descriptive wall chart/poster/literacy strategy.

Using common objects, regularly practice descriptive engagement.
"I've got a (adjective[s] describing physical nature) outcome. Can you guess what it is?”
Teacher to ensure language of size, shape, colour, texture, components are used.
Teacher uses hidden object to support student understanding about physical nature of objects.
Brainstorm strategy/ recording sheets.

Describe selected technological outcomes in terms of their functional nature.

Descriptive wall chart/poster/literacy strategy.

"I've got an outcome that (phrase[s] describing functional nature). Can you guess what it is?” or "Have a look at this, what do you think it will do?
Brainstorm strategy/ recording sheets
Over time, using a range known and unknown objects, encourage the discussion around their function.

Teacher Guidance Level 2

To support students to develop understanding of Characteristics of Technological Outcomes at Level 2, teachers could:

• provide students with a range of technological outcomes and other objects and guide them to identify which of these could be described as technological outcomes and why. Technological outcomes are defined as fully realised products and systems, created by people for an identified purpose through technological practice. Once the technological outcome is placed in situ, no further design input is required for the outcome to function. Taking this definition into account, technological outcomes can be distinguished from natural objects (such as trees, rocks etc), and works of art, and other outcomes of human activity (such as language, knowledge, social structures, organisational systems etc).
• provide students with a range of technological outcomes and guide them to identify them as technological products or systems. Identifying an outcome as a product or system will determine the description of its physical nature. For example, if a technological outcome is identified as a product, the focus for describing its physical nature will be on the materials it is made from. If a technological outcome is identified as a system, the focus for describing its physical nature will be on the components within it and how they are connected.
• guide students to identify that link between physical and functional attributes in technological outcomes. For example the flat bottom of a cup (physical attribute) allows it to be stable on a flat surface (functional attribute).

Indicators of Progression

Teaching Strategy

Explanation

Explain how a technological outcome can be distinguished from other things created by people.

Touchy feely bag or photos of known and unknown objects.

Students categorise objects into technological and non-technological outcomes.

Set up a photo/image activity, such as a street scene analysis.

Give students a photo of a street scene. They write two lists: one of technological outcomes and the other of non-technological outcomes. They have to explain/justify their lists.

Identify the technological outcome as a product, and describe its physical nature in terms of the material it is made from.

Teacher has objects/objects aligned to the context for students to explore, and describe the technological outcome.

Set up series of objects with starter questions for students to explore. Starter questions focus on materials objects are made from.
Ask students what alternative materials the object could have been made from.

Identify the technological outcome as a system, and describe its physical nature in terms of the components and how they are connected.

Discussion about examples of systems.

Class considers a remote-control, wind-up or simple mechanical toy.
Teacher leads discussion about input, output, components, and how the connections between components are important.

Identify links between the physical and functional attributes of particular technological outcomes.

Physical and functional object matching game.

Using explored and contextual objects within the area/topic.

Venn diagram chart.

Create a Venn diagram chart to make connections between what something is made of, and what it can do.

Teacher Guidance Level 3

To support students to develop understanding of Characteristics of Technological Outcomes at Level 3, teachers could:

• provide students with a description of the functional nature of a potential technological outcome and other details related to its use. Support students to generate potential options for the outcome's physical nature and explain which of these could be justified as fit for purpose.
• provide students with the opportunity to examine a range of technological outcomes with similar functional natures but with different physical natures and support them to understand that the intended use will determine which physical nature will be fit for purpose. For example, a selection of brooms could be described as having a similar functional nature (to sweep) but whether they are to sweep dust of the kitchen floor or water off the driveways will necessitate a different physical nature.
• provide students with the opportunity to examine a range of technological outcomes with similar physical natures but with different functional natures. For example, a selection of brushes could be described as having similar physical natures (all have flexible bristles) but the way in which they are used will determine their functional nature as to whether they function to clean, act as a reservoir to spread a substance, or to separate something.
• guide students to understand the relationship between the physical and functional nature in a technological outcome. That is, the functional nature requirements set boundaries around the suitability of proposed physical nature options, and the physical nature options will set boundaries around what functional nature is feasible for a technological outcome at any time.

Indicators of Progression

Teaching Strategy

Explanation

Describe possible physical and functional nature options for a technological outcome when provided with a need or opportunity.

If I (did such-and-such in development) the outcome would be XXX.

Have student focus on a specific technological outcome and complete the sentence, eg: if made it from metal it would be strong; if I made it from aluminum it would be light.

Present multiple problem scenarios to challenge students to think about possibilities in terms of physical needs and what an outcome will do in each context.

For example: If I want a mouth texture that is crunchy, what does the functional nature of the ingredients of the product need to be?

Describe examples of technological outcomes with different physical natures that have similar functional natures.

Present multiple examples of similar products, but with different physical natures.

For example:

• a range of raising agents – explore how different raising agents effect the physical outcome
• a range of potato peelers – different looking ones, made from range of materials, but all have same function
• categories of finishes – such as oil, varnish, paint
• a a range of brushes – such as hair, paint, washing up.

Describe examples of technological outcomes with different functional natures that have similar physical natures.

Explore functions of, eg, bags that are there to do similar things in terms of physical nature.

Cake, biscuit, bread – all three have similar functional natures, but each has a different physical nature, such as shape, outer surface, inner constitution, nature of raw mix etc.

Explain the relationships between the physical and functional nature of selected technological outcomes.

Different products with the same functions

Picture charts, all used for similar purposes, how/why do these things connect together?

Teacher Guidance Level 4

To support students to develop understanding of Characteristics of Technological Outcomes at Level 4, teachers could:

• provide students with the opportunity to explore examples of technological outcomes and support them to identify their proper function. Proper function can be determined from an analysis of both the design intent that drove the outcome's development as well as how it is most commonly used.
• provide students with examples of technological outcomes where the proper function of a technological outcome has changed over time because an alternative use was successful and then became socially accepted as the norm.
• provide students with examples of technological outcomes that have been used unsuccessfully for other purposes and/or in different environments and support them to identify the impacts. Impacts may be in terms of the outcome, the user, and /or the social and physical environment.

Indicators of Progression

Teaching Strategy

Explanation

Explain the proper function of an existing technological outcome.

Question starters about a range of technological outcomes.

Object description: What is the outcome's intended use (proper function)?
Open ended question starters:

• What did we intend to use this for?
• How do we know it's going to function in the way we intend?
• How does it function to do that?

Select an age-appropriate example that is context-specific to start with, then open ended.

Describe examples that illustrate technological outcomes that have been successfully used by end-users for purposes other than what they were originally designed for.

Teacher and students discuss their own experiences.

Kids who take things out of their father's shed and use them for things that they weren't intended for.
Teachers: Describe a range of relevant common experiences and situations to students – for example, using a screwdriver to open a paint tin.
Students explore different tools people use to do things – cracking nuts, opening a can, taking the top off a bottle.

Teacher Guidance Level 5

To support students to develop understanding of Characteristics of Technological Outcomes at Level 5, teachers could:

• support students to analyse a range of examples of how technological outcomes have been evaluated as fit for purpose according to its appropriateness to the time and context of its development. Examples should be drawn from within students' own and other technological practice and allow students to examine the criteria used to make the judgment.
• support students to explore a range of examples of technological outcome failure and support them identify those that are examples of malfunction. Malfunction refers to a single event failure of a technological outcome as opposed to failure due to 'wear' or reaching the end of the designed lifespan.
• support students to analyse examples of technological outcome malfunction to gain insight into how such events can inform decisions about the future of the outcome. Decisions may be made to withdraw or modify the technological outcome or retain the outcome with modified operational parameters.

Indicators of Progression

Teaching Strategy

Explanation

Explain why time and context are important criteria for judging the fitness for purpose of technological outcomes.

Identify issues/values/events of a certain time period.

Brainstorm events/issues/values of the time period/decade and discuss how they influenced the products developed during that time.

Provide a range of examples of a technology as it has evolved over time, such as the cellphone.

Have students sort the examples into the order they perceive they evolved (timeline) suggesting actual years/decades. Research to confirm order and identify likely driving need/societal demands that influenced the functional properties of the technology. Compare two of the examples to identify their functional differences and provide an explanation for these.

Determine if particular past technological outcomes would be considered fit for purpose if developed today.

Students to investigate an historical technology, such as the turntable, steam cars etc.

Students identify original proper function of the technology and predict what needs to be modified for the technology to be considered fit for purpose today. Predict modifications necessary for the technology to be fit for purpose in 10-20 years.

Explain what is meant by the malfunction of technological outcomes and how such failures can inform future outcomes.

Brainstorm understandings of the term malfunction.

Identify personal experiences of technology malfunction.

Predict what the future could have been like if a popular technological outcome (eg, the USB drive, the laptop, antibiotics, Post-it notes) had malfunctioned.

If this product had malfunctioned in the past, how would it have informed future technological outcomes and our lives?

Explain the cause of particular technological outcome malfunction and the resulting consequences.

Pick an example of a technological malfunction (disaster), what caused it, what were the consequences for the ongoing development of the technology.

Current news clips of, for example, recalled products or airline disasters.
Many websites specialise in technology malfunctions, including:

• Google-search 'recalled products NZ' for a list of current products
• www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html
• www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001563.shtml

Teacher Guidance Level 6

To support students to develop understanding of Characteristics of Technological Outcomes at Level 6, teachers could:

• provide students with opportunity to describe particular technological outcomes as a product and a system and support them to understand that the categorization of product or system is not an inherent property of the outcome, but rather how it is perceived by people in order to analyse and understand it.
• ensure students understand that if a technological outcome is identified as a product, the focus for describing its physical nature will be on the materials it is made from. If a technological outcome is identified as system, the focus for describing its physical nature will be on the components within it and how they are connected.
• support students to identify examples of socio-technological environments to examine how technological outcomes (products and systems) and non-technological entities and systems (people, natural environments, political systems etc) work together to ensure the environment is successful. Examples should be drawn from past, present and possible future socio-technological environments. Socio-technological environments include such things as communication networks, hospitals, transport systems, waste disposal systems, recreational parks, factories, power-plants etc.

Indicators of Progression

Teaching Strategy

Explanation

Explain that some technological outcomes can be perceived as both a product and a system.

Provide a scaffold in the form of a diagram that shows a technological outcome (eg, the iPod) as being described as both a system and a product.

Students diagrammatically identify the systems that make up a product such as the iPod

Describes examples to illustrate how technological outcomes and non-technological entities and systems work together to create socio-technological environments.

Describe personal experiences of using associated systems and of using in a social context/interaction – eg, sharing music/movies, recreational parks (Mahurangi pest control gates).

Extend the diagram from single product to the supporting systems – for example, iPod: computer (updating and charging), iTunes store, music library, shareware, accessories. See store.apple.com/nz.

Teacher Guidance Level 7

To support students to develop understanding of Characteristics of Technological Outcomes at Level 7, teachers could:

• support students to critically analyse the physical and functional nature of technological outcomes to identify what design elements have been prioritised. Support students to discuss why these prioritisation decisions may have been made with respect to the intended purpose of the technological outcome, the context of its use and the time of its development.
• support students to analyse examples of technological outcome malfunction to gain insight into how such events can impact on future decision-making in technology. Impacts can include such things as the decision to withdraw or modify the technological outcome, or retain the outcome with modified operational parameters. Wider impacts may also result, such as changes to codified knowledge and influences on the development of related technological outcomes.

Indicators of Progression

Teaching Strategy

Explanation

Discuss examples of technological outcomes to demonstrate how design elements have been prioritised and why these decisions enabled it to be fit for purpose.

Prioritisation of design elements.

Look at the iPod family and identify the design elements specific to each model and how the models differ in function. Which design elements were prioritised for each model and why? Source images of the iPod family. Devise a matrix that enables a clear comparison to be made between the individual products.

Describe examples of technological outcome malfunction to demonstrate how malfunction can impact on subsequent technological developments.

Find examples of where malfunction has lead to subsequent enhancement / modification of an outcome – for example, the baby buggy.

Give students an example of a badly designed outcome and a well-designed outcome (eg, baby buggies) and identify the differences.

Teacher Guidance Level 8

To support students to develop understanding of Characteristics of Technological Outcomes at Level 8, teachers could:

• support students to critically analyse a range of technological developments to interpret the fitness for purpose, in its broadest sense, of technological outcomes. The interpretation will be based on the physical and functional nature of the outcome, the historical, cultural, social, and geographical location of the final outcome as well as its development, and any information available regarding its performance over time.
• ensure students understand that fitness for purpose in its broadest sense refers to the 'fitness' of the outcome itself as well as the practices used to develop the outcome (eg, such things as the sustainability of resources used, ethical nature of testing practices, cultural appropriateness of trialling procedures, determination of lifecycle and ultimate disposal).

Indicators of Progression

Teaching Strategy

Explanation

Interpret the fitness for purpose, in its broadest sense, of existing technological outcomes and provide justification of the interpretation.

Develop a criteria for evaluating fitness for purpose.

Either individually or collaboratively develop criteria for evaluating fitness for purpose that includes the physical and functional nature of the outcome, as well as such things as the:

• sustainability of resources used
• ethical nature of testing practices
• cultural appropriateness of trialling procedures
• determination of lifecycle and ultimate disposal.

Test their criteria against familiar and/or unfamiliar technological outcome/s.

View/listen to an engaging video/talk/guest speaker justify the fitness for purpose of a technological outcome they have developed, eg, 'story of stuff' .

Students evaluate the justifications provided against the criteria they have developed above.