D and T
(N.B. Downloaded slides are not formatted properly)
Newest curriculum subject as a discrete subject (not necessarily to say that we haven't been doing it).
What is DT?
Planning, Making things, Problem Solving, Hands-on.
Relies on who it is for, and what is it for. i.e. has it got a purpose, who is for (and is it a real user? note, literary characters can be real users).
Problem solving is becoming less important in modernity: why buy or repair when you can replace even cheaper.
'Design Brief': this is your goal. Where does 'designing' end and 'making' begin? Design: doing something that is your own.
Young children can intuitively design.
Basic criteria (key essentials):
Who was the user for products?
What was the purpose of the activity?
How well did the product function?
What opportunities were there for children's design decisions?
How innovative were the designs?
How authentic were the products for the children?
You need to know the phase before/after your own course phases.
PRIMARY divided into Textiles, Food Tech, Structures, Mechanisms and Control.
D/T split into 3 processes:
1. Investigating and Evaluating Products (IEA) (Exploring existing products)
2. Focused Practical Tasks (FPT) e.g. Lego, or model airplanes (this is design and tech, but not design and make)
3. Design and Make Activities (DMA) (planning, designing and making products).
Do this over a series of lessons, and plan backwards (starting with what they'll need to know etc)
What can you use a paperclip for?
Hair piece
Rudimentary pen
Lock Pick
Nose picker
Itch Scratcher
Ear Piercing
Marker
What about if it was really big and made out of a different material…?
Other Creative Starters:
- Visualise your own room. Now imagine you can do anything you want.
- Who am I? (Themed to categories, or make it open. Draw it and post on display boards etc)
- Make links with previously designed products (the wind-up radio!- brought communication to sub-Saharan Africa where they couldn't afford batteries). This is 'right-angled thinking'. Take pink/blue cars with different idea prompts to stimulate ideas.
The question of ethics in D/T- can you ring-fence an idea as an ethical conception? (think of atomic energy + the bomb)
Ask questions to encourage questions. Research shows we tend to ask 'closed questions' (purely recall, yes/no, definite answer) and we don't allow children to process (i.e. aren't patient enough). We want kids to ask higher order questions. Give them time: if not, their products will not function and this leads to disappointment.
See 'Questions to Develop Designer Thinking'. Sometimes, closed questions on Knowledge and Recall are important (is it safe like this?). Exercise on formulating higher order questions about a paper bag.
Possible Starting Points:
Start with a story: Don't forget the bacon (or, link with English). Giving it a context within the child's world. (Careful with history: don't recreate something like a gas mask box)…don't think that way, think that the gas mask was something we needed to carry around all the time in the '40s, what is something we need to carry around with us all the time now? e.g. something to carry water, or a mobile phone).
Designing a bag
Think about the concept of a 'fair test'. About modifications and improvements post-testing. Then about marketing, advertising, persuasive writing in adverts and ICT skills.
There is not just one solution to a problem: there are many.
No comments:
Post a Comment