O-Level Design and Technology (Syllabus 7059)

Introduction to O-Level Design and Technology

The O-Level Design & Technology (D&T) syllabus is designed to engage students in designing and prototyping ideas through applying technology. The students’ learning leverages and builds on their experiences in design and technology, emphasising understanding everyday activities and creating possibilities to improve life. Through the design process, students cultivate creative, critical and reflective thinking to make sense of their learning and to develop related dispositions and skills using graphical means and technology.

Aims of O-Level Design and Technology

The following aims of the syllabus describe the educational intent of D&T. They guide and influence the syllabus
implementation and are not listed in order of priority. The O-Level Design and Technology (D&T) syllabus aims to enable students to:

develop confidence, pride and tenacity through exploring real-world design opportunities for which ideas are developed
develop the quality of mindfulness, empathy and sensitivity through improving aspects of their environment in everyday life
embrace complexities, uncertainties and the inherent social dimension of the design process when exploring design opportunity vis-à-vis design ideas
cultivate thinking through doodling and sketching/drawing
experiment and prototype ideas using appropriate materials and tools
build on their innate curiosity and ability to create
exercise judgements and make evidence-based decisions of a technological, aesthetic and economic nature.

In achieving the aims, students also develop safe working habits.

Assessment Objectives

The three assessment domains in D&T are:

A Knowledge with understanding
B Design thinking skills
C Design manipulating skills

The assessment objectives of each domain are designed to reflect the syllabus aims and to act as the reference to measure candidates’ achievement. The objectives state that candidates should be able to:

A KNOWLEDGE WITH UNDERSTANDING

1 demonstrate their ability to apply knowledge in design and technology through designing and prototyping

2 demonstrate their understanding of the nature of the design process

3 plan and manage their project and ensure completion within the given timeframe

B DESIGN THINKING SKILLS

4 detect, frame and understand everyday needs for design opportunities
5 generate tentative ideas through inquiry leading to the proposed design solution
6 analyse and synthesise relevant knowledge and information (in the areas of user, functionality, aesthetics, technology, economics, culture and environment) for informed design decision-making

C DESIGN MANIPULATING SKILLS
7 sketch to work towards the proposed design solution
8 build mock-up(s) to explore and/or test ideas for decision making
9 work with appropriate technology for prototyping towards the proposed design solution.

Scheme of Assessment

The assessment domains are weighted to indicate their relative importance. They are not intended to provide a precise statement on the number of marks allocated to a particular assessment domain.

Paper	Duration	Assessment Domains			Total
Paper	Duration	A Knowledge with Understanding	B Design Thinking Skills	C Design Manipulating Skills	Total
1 Written Examination	2 hours	25%	10%	5%	40%
2 Design Project	22 weeks	15%	20%	25%	60%
Overall		40%	30%	30%	100%

Subject Content

Section 1 and Section 2 define a content baseline for Centres to provide designing and prototyping opportunities via the Design Process for candidates to:

develop design-related dispositions
acquire design techniques and strategies
consolidate a sound working knowledge of technology (materials, workshop processes, structures,
mechanisms and electronics).

The Design Process is the principal process for immersive learning and a unifying platform for candidates to make meaning of their learning. It allows the manifestation of knowledge with understanding through the application of design thinking and manipulating skills.

Design Process
Designing is concerned with creating change to affect empathy, practicality and appropriateness in everyday life. As a way of thinking and doing, it focuses on creating solutions using appropriate technology with
purposeful intent. This broadly involves rational thought processes and intuitive responses that are nested within a holistic fabric of analytical, creative and critical thinking.

For this examination, candidates investigate and explore daily activities for design opportunities and take ideas from conception to fruition. The process undertaken may be diverse but each should include a Needs Analysis, Idea Conceptualisation, Development and Prototyping, which are all supported by Research to arrive at the proposed design solution. A model to help candidates engage in the design process is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The Design Model

The arrows show that designing is not always a linear process and that it is dynamic in nature requiring frequent and careful looping back to other stages in a holistic manner. For example, when seeking a design opportunity based on observation in Needs Analysis, further investigative research may be needed to justify the need in the opportunity. In another example where emergent problems pose difficulty in fulfilling the intended purpose during Development, reconsideration of the need identified and previous ideas may be necessary. In managing the dynamism of the design process, candidates also carry out ongoing evaluation and refinement of their thought processes. This reflects the ongoing dialogue between the candidate and the objects (user, functionality
and environment) of the design situation, which is crucial to the successful execution of any design outcome. Essential to designing is the ability to imagine and model using doodles/sketches/drawings and mock-ups. These means of modelling ideas also trigger and inform thought processes for experimenting and testing the feasibility of solutions and to help in decision-making. Upon thorough and thoughtful development of the idea, the proposed design solution is realised through prototyping. This involves working with suitable resistant materials using workshop processes, and practical application of knowledge in structures, mechanisms and/or electronics. During Prototyping, evaluation and refinement of the proposed design solution should not be ruled out to achieve a practical and appropriate solution for the identified user.

The Examination

Paper 1 Written Examination (2 hours)
[40% of the total mark for the subject.]
Candidates are to answer all questions. The questions will be design-centric. Question 1 requires knowledge application of Section 1 Design. Question 2 to Question 4 require knowledge application of Section 2 Technology; specifically structures, mechanisms and electronics. The mark allocation is:
Question 1 26 out of 80 marks
Question 2 – 4 54 out of 80 marks

Paper 2 Design Project (22 weeks)
[60% of the total mark for the subject.]
The Design Project is an individual coursework-based examination. The examination will be conducted over 22 weeks from the question paper release, excluding school holidays. Candidates will be required to work on a design and prototyping project based on the examination question. For projects that require further research and specialisation beyond the syllabus content, Centres should ensure that this extended learning is within the candidates’ means.

The Design Project will comprise two components: The Design Journal and the Presentation Board.
The Design Journal is a real-time document that reflects the candidate’s attempt at managing his or her personal design process. It should contain design sheets showing the use of:

a time-stages plan such as a Gantt chart and sub-plans for advancing the project
information and images, doodles/sketches/drawings (rendered if necessary) and calculations for identifying design opportunity leading to the formulation of the design brief and design specifications, initiating a suitable design idea, and developing the design idea into a working prototype to arrive at a proposed design solution. Use notes and annotations only if necessary.

Candidates are advised not to re-work any design sheet.

Mock-up(s) and the resulting prototype are to be submitted as part of the journal.

Format:

A3-size sheets that are securely fastened or A3-size sketch pads
mock-up(s)
prototype
mould/jig/former (if any)

The Presentation Board is to communicate succinctly the proposed design solution about the design brief and design specifications. It should show the functional and aesthetic details using appropriate graphical skills to highlight the practicality and appropriateness of the proposed design solution.

Format:

A2-size board, single-side, two pieces maximum

ASSESSMENT OF PAPER 2 (DESIGN PROJECT)
The Design Project is marked internally and moderated externally based on the Assessment Rubrics on Pages
9 and 10.
The teachers as Coursework Supervisors are to facilitate and assess the Design Project. They are not precluded from acting as advisers to their candidates. The assessment should reflect holistically:

the candidate’s management of the project within the given timeframe
the quality of the candidate’s design and prototyping process to arrive at the proposed design solution with the design brief and design specifications based on the given examination question
the quality of the proposed design solution to the design brief and design specifications.

The following guidance is intended to assist teachers in the assessment of the Design Project:

Criteria	Candidates should
Planning for and monitoring of the Design Project	produce a time-stage plan for their design project based on the given timeframe. The plan is to be used for monitoring progress in real-time and for producing sub-plans to ensure project completion within the timeframe.
Formulating design briefs and design specifications	investigate and explore daily activities for a design opportunity by analysing research information and using evidence to formulate their design brief and design specifications. They should restate their design brief and design specifications as they gain knowledge of the identified design need.
Generating and developing ideas	generate and develop ideas based on the user, functionality and environment to arrive at a practical and appropriate proposed design solution. The proposed design solution should be coherent in addressing the design brief and design specifications.
Sketching and drawing to design	sketch and draw to generate ideas in response to the design opportunity. The sketches and drawings should show idea generation and development leading to the proposed design solution.
Using mock-up(s) to design	build mock-up(s) to explore and/or test ideas for decision-making. Materials used for building the mock-up(s) may be an assortment of paper, cardboard, foam board, bottle caps and strings.
Communicating the proposed design solution	communicate their proposed design solution in its contextual use by graphical means on the Presentation Board (PB). This should include highlighting the design features to illustrate their practicality and appropriateness for the user and the environment. The design brief and design specifications should also be stated in the PB.
Realising the prototype	realise a prototype to show how the proposed design solution works using appropriate technology as described in the syllabus.

The full O-Level Design and Technology syllabus can be found at Design and Technology Syllabus 7059.