DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
Why study Design & Technology?
Design Technology will prepare students to participate confidently and successfully in an increasingly technological world. Students will gain awareness and learn from wider influences on Design and Technology including historical, social, cultural, environmental and economic factors. Students will get the opportunity to work creatively through the designing, making and application of technical and practical expertise.
Design is everywhere nowadays, from your laptop to your phone case. In this subject you will develop the creative skills linked to the reality of industrial design, learn about materials, forming processes or how to critically analyse your own proposals and ideas.
In LMI we study the AQA syllabus of GCSE D&T, which allows students to study core technical designing and making principles, including a broad range of design processes, material techniques and equipment. S/he will also have the opportunity to study specialist technical principles in greater depth, creating a balance between creativity and engineering.
The GCSE subject is composed of the following fields of knowledge:
1. Core technical principles
2. Specialist technical principles
3. Designing and making principles
4.NEA, where you will have to design your own product using all the content above.
If a student shows great interest in design or a good understanding of the content, s/he can also study the Design and Technology A-level subject, where s/he will have the opportunity to specialise in “product design” or “fashion and textile design”.
This creative and thought-provoking qualification gives students the practical skills, theoretical knowledge and confidence to succeed in a number of careers. Especially those in the creative industries. They will investigate historical, social, cultural, environmental and economic influences on design and technology, whilst enjoying opportunities to put their learning into practice by producing prototypes of their choice. Students will gain a real understanding of what it means to be a designer, alongside the knowledge and skills sought by higher education and employers.
Both specifications have a theoretical framework deeply connected to the fulfilment of the NEA (non-exam assessment), where students have to complete their own proposal from the very first sketches to the realisation of a final prototype.
The fields explored in Design and Technology: product design and Fashion and Textiles are the listed below:
1. Core technical principles
2. Specialist technical principles
3. Designing and making principles
For further information, please visit the AQA-Design and Technology website
