VCE Product Design and Technology – Materials
Aim
Product design is part of people’s responses to changing needs to improve quality of life by designing and creating artefacts and is enhanced through knowledge of social, technological, economic, historic, ethical, legal, environmental and cultural factors. These factors affect the aesthetics, form and function of products developed in the past and those yet to be developed. Central to VCE Product Design and Technology is the Product design process. Development then requires the application of technology and a variety of cognitive and physical skills, including creative design thinking, drawing and computer-aided design, testing processes and materials, planning, construction, fabrication and evaluation.
Prior Learning: No prerequisites for Units 1, 2 and 3; but students must undertake Unit 3 prior to Unit 4.
https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/productdesignandtechnology/ProductDesignTechnology_SD_2018.pdf
Assessments
Units 1 and 2: Demonstration of achievement of outcomes and satisfactory completion of a unit is determined by evidence gained through the assessment of a range of learning activities and tasks.
Unit 3: School-assessed coursework (12%)
Unit 4: School-assessed coursework (8%)
School-assessed Task (Design folio, production and evaluation) (50%)
End-of-year Examination (30%)
UNIT 1: Sustainable Product Redevelopment | UNIT 2: Collaborative design |
It is common for designers in Australia to use products from overseas as inspiration when redeveloping products for the domestic market. Sustainable redevelopment refers to designers and makers ensuring products serve social, economic and environmental needs. Generating economic growth for design and manufacturing in Australia can begin with redeveloping existing products so they have positive social and minimal environmental impact. In this unit students examine claims of sustainable practices by designers. | In this unit students work in teams to design and develop an item in a product range or contribute to the design, planning and production of a group product. They focus on factors including end-user/s’ needs and wants; function, purpose and context for product design; aesthetics; materials and sustainability; and the impact of these factors on a design solution. Teamwork encourages communication between students and mirrors professional design practice where designers often work within a multi-disciplinary team to develop solutions to design problems. |
UNIT 3: Applying the Product design process | UNIT 4: Product development and evaluation |
In this unit students are engaged in the design and development of a product that addresses a personal, local, or global problem (such as humanitarian issues), or that meets the needs and wants of a potential end-user/s. The product is developed through a design process and is influenced by a range of factors including the purpose, function and context of the product; user-centred design; innovation and creativity; design elements and principles; sustainability concerns; economic limitations; legal responsibilities; material characteristics and properties; and technology. | In this unit students engage with an end-user/s to gain feedback throughout the process of production. Students make comparisons between similar products to help evaluate the success of a product in relation to a range of product design factors. The environmental, economic and social impact of products throughout their life cycle can be analysed and evaluated with reference to the product design factors. |