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2015 Notes from the Marking Centre – Design and Technology

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 Design and Technology course. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2015 Higher School Certificate examination, highlighting their strengths in particular parts of the examination and indicating where candidates need to improve.
This document should be read along with:

Major Design Project

Project Proposal and Management

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

  • understanding the criteria to produce a successful project and providing some supporting information that links to the intended project
  • presenting time and action plans that have a secondary consideration of the original plans.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

  • meeting the page limit requirement
  • understanding that diaries do not need to be provided as part of the project folio
  • not exceeding the viewing time for the multimedia parts of the folio and not including photographs that may be printed as part of the project folio
  • including a supporting discussion that is relevant and specific to the intended project, with clear links to relevant actions
  • developing projects that do not cause real or potential damage or harm.

Project Development and Realisation

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

  • providing evidence of realisation in either a table, or a flow chart showing logical steps, including photographs
  • documenting progressive design development
  • presenting evidence of practical activity using photographs
  • applying some testing and experimentation with relevance to the project.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

  • providing evidence of the design process
  • communicating the design process through a ‘3D’ form, for example, using models or prototypes rather than just writing text
  • conducting genuine experimentation and testing that indicates specific purpose and future directions in design development
  • providing more than images or ideas located from an internet search when communicating a project design.

Project Evaluation

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

  • understanding the functional and aesthetic aspects of the project
  • including positive and negative considerations of the project and the relevant relationship to the proposal in the final evaluation.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

  • highlighting ongoing evaluation throughout the development of the project
  • communicating clearly when attempts to evaluate took place
  • using multimedia in the evaluation process
  • understanding and focusing closely on the impact upon society and the environment.

Design and Technology – Written

Section II

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

  • identifying WHS practices that are relevant to the production of the lamp prototype (Q11)
  • considering the development of the prototype in terms of at least one of these areas: the research of materials, safe manufacturing procedures and the testing of suitable materials (Q11)
  • understanding different ways that information storage devices can be used (Q12)
  • demonstrating knowledge of some legal issues (Q13).

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

  • understanding the difference between teamwork and collaboration and incorporating relevant uses of information storage devices in these contexts (Q12)
  • providing legal issues relevant to the context of the question (Q13)
  • supporting a response with clear examples (Q13).

Section III

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

  • understanding aspects of designing and producing products associated with sustainability
  • showing some understanding of the challenges and/or opportunities that designers face when designing and producing sustainable products.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

  • developing a deeper understanding of sustainable design practices
  • providing relevant examples of sustainable products
  • understanding design and production-related activities that have a clear link to sustainable products
  • ensuring that both opportunities and challenges are addressed in the response.
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