This material has been produced by the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ)
under contract to the Ministry of Education. It has been written to assist teachers
and schools in their delivery of the technology/ hangarau curriculum statements.
The project is jointly coordinated by personnel from the Technology Education
New Zealand (TENZ)
and National Association of Māori Mathematicians, Scientists and Technologists
(NAMMSAT) networks. Monitoring and evaluation of the material is carried out
by a national project advisory group.
Wanganui High School is a co-educational secondary school with a roll
of around 1300 students feeding in from the wider urban and rural community.
All third formers (year 9) follow a 10-week introductory core technology course,
which is staffed by teachers with a strong interest in technology but come mainly
from other teaching departments.
An introductory 10-week module links into specific units of practice in the optional
areas of information, food, and materials technology. Follow-up work on information
technology includes communication, graphics, and information gathering. Materials
technology incorporates modelling and plastic moulding and food technology includes
nutrition, storage, and packaging.
Introductory
unit
This unit was planned collectively by the four staff involved in the
delivery of the programme. Initial planning was able to be done during
teacher release time with the help of the regional technology adviser.
It is aimed at providing all students with a basic introduction to technology
education. The course has three one-hour periods per week and is taught
in a specially modified technology classroom with ready access to a
small materials processing room. Access to the traditional workshop
spaces is also available if required during the course. Class sizes
are typically between 25 to 28 students.
We had a new curriculum, a newly refurbished room, a group of teachers
coming new into technology and we were catering for a new group of students
– all with different "technology" backgrounds. This
unit was seen as being very much a first step in what we have always
recognised as a long-term process.
Mike Jackson, HOD Technology
Overview of the unit
The unit is a mixture of short practical motivational activities to
engage students in the technological process and longer more structured activities
designed to give students experience in specific skills to be further developed
later in the course. The short taster activities include one or two which have
been specifically selected from the BP Technology Challenge file. Although the
limitations of these short tasks were recognised, they were included in order
to provide opportunities for student reflection and whole-class discussion. For
example, failure analysis is one area of emphasis. These tasks are usually completed
within a single period with follow up activity set for homework.
Students record their immediate work in a clear file and build up a
separate folio of material over the year.
Specific skill development
Identifying specific needs and their related technologies
This is introduced by examining a range of items and matching to a particular
need or want. Students go on a "Blind person's walk" to identify noise
pollution and associated technologies. A video, is shown, What Noise Annoys
(From the Towards Teaching Technology: Know How 2 video series), with an assignment
set for homework.
Information gathering
and research methods
This takes about one week and incorporates an introduction to the school
library as an information source. It is followed by a structured visit
to the local museum with the technological activity delivered by museum
educational staff. Survey design and techniques for analysis of findings
introduced here.
Graphic
communication – materials and drawing techniques
Student activity involves the design of a cassette rack and the construction of
a mock-up from card and other basic materials. Two-D and 3-D images, basic orthographics,
and conceptual sketching are covered during the one-and-a-half week's work in
this area.
Principles and elements of design
These are discussed and students introduced to the concept of a
design process. This is further developed in their follow-up technological
practice.
Introduction to food –
the topic of the major project Worksheet activity on types of food,
food storage, and the nature and importance of food packaging.
Modelling skills Material
properties and modelling techniques are approached in the context of
food storage in conjunction with a design problem centring on the construction of
a model pataka.
Major technological activity – the lunch box brief
Students examine food preferences and relate this to cultural and nutritional
issues. They look at problems with effective storage of food in a lunch box, survey
groups to identify food preferences; discuss food hygiene requirements; and examine
packaging materials and production techniques. Students use clay and custom wood
moulding techniques to design a protective insert for a lunch box and vacuum mould
the finished product.
Students can then choose two further options from the areas of information technology,
food technology, and/or materials technology over the rest of the year. The optional
year 10 "General Technology" course extends student classroom practice
into the areas of production and process, biotechnology, and electronics and control
and the other technology options also continue into year 10.
It's very evident from the students' work that teachers have been able
to incorporate their own individual strengths and interpretations within
this common programme, and this has been encouraged. Improvement and
innovation has been an ongoing process ... but in this type of student-centred
programme, effective management of the resources remains a constant
challenge for all staff.
