COURSE: Design and Manufacture Introductory Statement The S3 course is designed to build upon the broad general education delivered in S1 and S2 and provide a bridge to National 4 and 5 courses in S4. A range of pupil centred lessons will be offered to facilitate skills development and to engage pupils in challenging new experiences.
In the first half of the year the emphasis will be on the design process covering a breadth of design processes and manufacturing techniques. Lessons are designed to be challenging, fun and offer an element of personal expression. Exposure to Design & Manufacture will also develop personal attributes such as building confidence, empathy, self-esteem and independent thinking and improve a learner’ s higher order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation and creativity.
In the second half of the year pupils will challenged to the higher order in using their prior experience, knowledge and understanding and apply this in an unfamiliar design brief / problem. This will require the learner to use plan their work, make informed decisions based on experience and research and argue and justify their choices.
The learning which takes place in Design & Manufacture is contextualised and relevant to the world of work. Learners will engage in research and investigation of current approaches to designing by industrial and independent product designers. They will also be fully exposed to cutting edge technology which is relevant in the world of work – CAD / CAM, AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit, 3D printing, Laser cutting technology and 3D routing to name a few.
Design in Action
Design & Manufacture studies will improve students’ abilities to analyse, research, investigate, develop conceptual designs, explain and justify their thinking, express their thinking through graphics and describe and respond to works of industrial and independent designers. This will improve their understanding of the wider context of and importance now laid on design of a product in the consumer market. Throughout the years study a young person’ s attributes and skills will be fully challenged to their individual needs and will expose them to their areas of development but highlight how to improve through an individual learning plan.
During the year there are two opportunities to contextualise their learning. Pupils can opt to attend a visit to the Glasgow design museum, The Light House where they will experience design work of famous designers. This will start the development of their independent thinking and challenge their creative and evaluative skills. Later on in the year learners will have the opportunity to participate in a trip to London to the Grand Design exhibition where they will again experience Design in action and have a fantastic opportunity to liaise with and discuss design with real life designers. This is a fantastic opportunity for any learner to improve their communication skills and confidence with others. It also opens their eyes to the wider world of work and what employment opportunities are available in Great Britain and internationally.
Your teachers will assess your interest in these areas and encourage you to take them further in class and for fun at home. Pupil’ s will undertake formal and informal homework in learning logs( sketchbooks) which will support class work and enable pupil’ s to further explore areas of personal interest.
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