Mechanical Toy Cam (The DESIGN PROCESS)

Whenever we talked about design and technology, people will ask "What do you make in design and technology? Do you make things like table and chairs?" And my answer to them will be "I am not a carpenter and no, I do not teach my kids to make furniture."
Then the next question would be "Then what do you do in Design and Technology?" Basically in design and technology, the students learn about the design process and while they are designing they also make use of basic technologies like electronics, structures and mechanisms in their designing.  There are five (5) main stages in the design process.

Here, I have included extracts from my students' work from Year 7 (aged 11 and above).

Stage One: Design Situation

In this stage, students are given a situation to analyse and from here they will do a few things:

1. Identify the problems
2. Write a short and clear statement on what is needed and wanted - the design brief
3. Write the design specifications
4. Brainstorm and consider some of the design factors

Stage Two: Research

Once they have completed identifying the needs and wants, the next step is to gather information. Students are encourage to conduct research and product analysis for their project to have a better understanding of the project and this also assist them in the ideation process later on.

Some of the pictures researched by the student online with notes all over the place as she studied each of them. 

This was then followed by a product analysis where the student studied each of the product and find out if they meet the design specifications.

Stage Three:Ideation

This is where they brainstorm and generate ideas for their project.  Some of the ideas from the students are as shown below: 

Stage Four: Development

in process.... be patient ....

Stage Five: Realisation

coming soon ....