Section C Teaching and learning Technology
In the educational context, Technology can be defined as the use of knowledge, skills, values and resources to meet people’s needs and wants by developing practical solutions to problems, taking social and environmental factors into consideration. The Technology curriculum aims to provide opportunities for learners to develop and apply specific design skills to solve technological problems; understand the concepts and knowledge used in Technology education and use them responsibly and purposefully, and to appreciate the interaction between people’s values and attitudes, technology, society and the environment.
Teaching Technology in the Senior Phase
Key issues to teach are: 1 Problem solving using the design process 2 Practical skills 3 Knowledge and application of knowledge.
The design process: problem solving and skills
Technology develops valuable problem-solving skills that will benefit every learner in many life contexts. As learners progress through a task, they must be taught the associated knowledge and the skills needed to design and create a solution. The design process (Investigate, Design, Make, Evaluate, Communicate – IDMEC) forms
the backbone of the subject and should be used to structure the delivery of all learning aims. Learners should be exposed to a problem, need or opportunity as a starting point. They should then engage in a systematic process that allows them to develop solutions that solve problems, rectify design issues and satisfy needs.
Investigation in this subject involves finding out about contexts and needs, investigating or evaluating existing products in relation to key design aspects and performing practical tests to develop understanding of particular aspects of the content areas or determining a product’s fitness-for-purpose. While investigating, learners should be provided with opportunities to explore values and attitudes, and develop informed opinions that can help them to make compromises and value judgements. Investigation can happen at any point in the Design Process. It should not be seen as something that must be completed before design begins.
Designing, making and evaluating should not be seen as separate skills – they are inter- related. Evaluation skills are used to choose design ideas. At this level, learners should be introduced to key aspects of design. These should be used to evaluate both existing and designed products against pre-determined criteria. When making, learners should be
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