| Some Indicators of Progression
Progression in technology education may be broadly described in terms of the increasing scope and sophistication of ideas, skills, and understandings that contribute to a student's technological decisions and activities. As students make progress in technology education, they will be able to identify an increasing range of factors, and bring their knowledge and skills from other areas to bear in technological activities. They will deepen their knowledge, using it to improve their decision making, and also increasingly develop new knowledge from their experiences.
In each strand, therefore, teachers should expect to see an increase in the number, range, and complexity of the factors being considered and used. For example, the evaluation of a product or system might begin with a student simply seeking opinion from peers as to its usefulness; the student might progress through considering it in terms of negotiated criteria and, by level eight, to evaluation in terms of ethics, aesthetics, client-specific criteria, environmental and legal factors, and so on.
Progression in terms of presenting an outcome might move from simply showing or demonstrating the solution through to presenting it in terms of quality control, health and safety regulations, and the appropriateness of the production processes that were used.
Some possible indicators of progression for each strand are outlined below. Teachers may find these useful as starting points when observing individual students and evaluating the balance and quality of activities within their programmes.
Strand A: Technological Knowledge and Understanding
Students will demonstrate progress in technological knowledge and understanding through their:
- increasing precision and detail in describing and depicting their observations;
- ability to investigate increasingly unfamiliar examples of technology;
- ability to compare and contrast the technologies used, and the work technologists do, in different areas and contexts;
- increasing appreciation of the inter-relationships among different technological areas and processes in particular contexts;
- increasing accuracy in using technological terminology;
- increasing understanding of abstract technological concepts and principles;
- increasing confidence and competence in evaluating technological ideas and outcomes.
Strand B: Technological Capability
Students will demonstrate progress in technological capability through their:
- use of an increasing range of valid and appropriate ways of assessing needs and identifying opportunities;
- sensitivity and accuracy in interpreting information on needs and opportunities;
- increasing ability to relate ideas for solutions to the range of needs they identify, and to justify the selection of preferred solutions;
- increasing understanding, and effective use, of the principles and processes of design;
- increasing ability to develop and work to specified criteria;
- increasing ability to use drawing and graphics to portray ideas effectively;
- ability to plan and use accurately a critical path of increasing complexity, and organise tasks in a team;
- increasing ability to choose and use suitable tools, equipment, and materials correctly, skilfully, and safely;
- increasing efficiency in the use of resources such as time and materials;
- increasing ability to explain, reflect on, and review their plans, intentions, and progress;
- increasing satisfaction in presenting robust, high quality, innovative outcomes;
- flexibility in responding to evaluation and adapting plans and products in the light of review.
Strand C: Technology and Society
Students will demonstrate progress in awareness and understanding of the relationship between technology and society through their:
- increasing knowledge of and respect for different beliefs and values and their influence on technological development;
- growing recognition of their own values, ethics, and the factors that influence them, in relation to technological choices and decisions;
- increasing ability to respond to and accommodate diverse factors and different perspectives in their designs and planning;
- growing ability to take an informed, sensitive role in debate on technological change;
- ability to make informed and imaginative forecasts of possible futures;
- growing confidence that they will be able to take an effective part in the technological shape of the future.
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