Technological practice refers to the iterative practices involved in: establishing needs or opportunities; exploring and defining potential outcomes; and modelling, evaluating and testing these to ensure resulting outcomes are fit for purpose.
The three components of technological practice are:
A dynamic process that reflects the complex interactions within ongoing technological practice.
Effective planning techniques ensure efficient resource management (including the management of materials, time, money and personnel) and as such are essential for informed and responsive technological practice.
Planning for practice includes a recording aspect to support resource management, enable reflection on past decision making, and ensure vital documentation is maintained.
Can involve developing conceptual designs, or products and systems from an initial idea to a fully realised outcome that is evaluated in situ.
Technological knowledge refers to the knowledge that is key to all technological endeavours – that is, conceptual understandings related to technological modelling, products, and systems.
Students develop an understanding of how and why things work. They understand that functional modelling is used to test and evaluate design ideas, concepts, and prototypes to determine their fitness for purpose in situ.
Students develop understanding of material properties and how material properties influence their use in products and systems. They also learn how constituent parts of systems work together to form technological systems.
The three components of technological knowledge are:
Concerned with functional modelling and prototyping to justify decision making in technological practice.
Focuses on the relationship between the composition of materials and their performance properties and how this relationship impacts on the use of the materials in technological products. (Note that both the products and systems components are more relevant to some contexts than others.)
A set of interconnected components that serve to transform, store, transport, or control materials, energy, and/or information. These systems exist as the result of human design.
Nature of technology refers to the philosophical underpinnings of technology as intervention by design. Students learn to critique the impact of technology on society and the influences of society on technology while exploring current and historical issues in technology.
The two components of nature of technology are:
Students develop an understanding of technology as intervention by design.
Focuses on technological products and systems as situated in their social and historic context.
Last updated July 25, 2013