_ Welcome to my Subject Knowledge Development Journal
My Background
Before I started this course I studied and obtained a 2.1 BA honours degree in Digital Media Design at the University of Brighton. Predominately, this was a practical course however we were expected to consider cultural and critical theories and include evidence of our design process and development through a sketchbook. Although we were designers and fabricated products, these were digital products which were executed using digital tools, for example the product was a website and the tool was the software used to create the product. Therefore, what I must do during my time on this course is to grasp the ability to transfer an initial concept/product into a functional 3D product using various Design and Technology techniques and processes. This is where my online journal comes in.
The Journal
This will be an online place where I shall reflect upon my own personal experiences and track my progress whilst developing, exploring, researching and identifying new areas both practical and theory in the Design and Technology world. It will also be a base for me to display evidence of my own personal development and progression through photographs, drawings, diagrams, annotations and other reflective mediums. It will be updated regularly as I enhance my skills however, I will not be giving detailed or step-by-step processes of what I did during a particular task; it will merely include what I have learnt and where I went wrong. Every section of the audit will also include my own initial knowledge of an area and I will also put into consideration health and safety issues related to specific tools, machines, materials and processes.
Similar, to a scrapbook that illustrates development and experimentation this will be my online scrapbook/journal that I hope to reflect upon and refer to during my professional career after the course.
I have decided to create some sort of structure whilst working on this audit. I think that not only will this help to keep me on the same path throughout but it will also be a factor that supports the evidence of my development and learning. Here is the following structure that I shall keep to for the Core section.
The structure for the Systems and Control and Resistant Materials sections of the audit will be slightly different. I will complete sections 3,4,and 5 but not number 1 or 2 because I have NO knowledge or understanding what so ever in these areas. Consequently, I feel that it is virtually impossible for me to write a general and initial understanding of what it may include. Although, I am no expert with all of the Core areas and perhaps have no experience in some whatsoever, I still feel as if I am able to make some connections and understand what they initial entail and therefore can give explanations as to what it may include within Design and Technology.
The Criteria
Just for my own reference I have included the assessment criteria.
Before I started this course I studied and obtained a 2.1 BA honours degree in Digital Media Design at the University of Brighton. Predominately, this was a practical course however we were expected to consider cultural and critical theories and include evidence of our design process and development through a sketchbook. Although we were designers and fabricated products, these were digital products which were executed using digital tools, for example the product was a website and the tool was the software used to create the product. Therefore, what I must do during my time on this course is to grasp the ability to transfer an initial concept/product into a functional 3D product using various Design and Technology techniques and processes. This is where my online journal comes in.
The Journal
This will be an online place where I shall reflect upon my own personal experiences and track my progress whilst developing, exploring, researching and identifying new areas both practical and theory in the Design and Technology world. It will also be a base for me to display evidence of my own personal development and progression through photographs, drawings, diagrams, annotations and other reflective mediums. It will be updated regularly as I enhance my skills however, I will not be giving detailed or step-by-step processes of what I did during a particular task; it will merely include what I have learnt and where I went wrong. Every section of the audit will also include my own initial knowledge of an area and I will also put into consideration health and safety issues related to specific tools, machines, materials and processes.
Similar, to a scrapbook that illustrates development and experimentation this will be my online scrapbook/journal that I hope to reflect upon and refer to during my professional career after the course.
I have decided to create some sort of structure whilst working on this audit. I think that not only will this help to keep me on the same path throughout but it will also be a factor that supports the evidence of my development and learning. Here is the following structure that I shall keep to for the Core section.
- An Introduction to my past experiences with the particular section of the audit. (This in turn justifies my initial grade)
- My initial understanding of the area. (What I feel it may include before I begin to explore and how it may relate to a Design and Technology context)
- What I have learnt and what I now understand. (What it means to me now, what I have learnt along the way, how I explored)
- Analysis of new gained knowledge and the next step (reflection on initial grade and overall learning - what was successful and unsuccessful. Where I am going to develop next in my learning)
- Further development. (Evidence of my further learning and progression in the area)
The structure for the Systems and Control and Resistant Materials sections of the audit will be slightly different. I will complete sections 3,4,and 5 but not number 1 or 2 because I have NO knowledge or understanding what so ever in these areas. Consequently, I feel that it is virtually impossible for me to write a general and initial understanding of what it may include. Although, I am no expert with all of the Core areas and perhaps have no experience in some whatsoever, I still feel as if I am able to make some connections and understand what they initial entail and therefore can give explanations as to what it may include within Design and Technology.
The Criteria
Just for my own reference I have included the assessment criteria.
- The ability to identify, analyse and record their strengths and areas for further development in their own subject knowledge
- The quality of the supporting evidence
- Reflection upon the development of subject knowledge with particular focus on effectiveness of methods.
- A health and safety portfolio with appropriate sections completed
Initial Audit Overview
Before I start my audit I have graded each subject area on the basis of my own initial knowledge. This allows me to identify my keys strengths and weaknesses, which in turn enables me to focus on specific areas for further development. During the middle and at the end of the course I shall re-mark my knowledge to display evidence of my development and progression. Once I have regraded my knowledge during these times I will also give a brief analysis of how I have developed and where I need to enhance my knowledge The areas are marked using numbers, and the numbers represent the following;
And so the grading BEGINS.......
Analysis for 04.10.2011.
Before I graded myself for the first time within the audit it was inevitable that my initial knowledge was not going to be as high as perhaps hoped. I tried to approach this with a positive mindset because in the grand scheme of things, I knew that there were parts of the audit that I will develop just in a matter of weeks when introduced to the modules and exploring the workshops within my own time. For this reason, I knew that it was only the beginning of my journey in progressing within Design and Technology– Having said that this does not conceal the fact that I have an incredible amount of new skills and knowledge to learn!!!
As you can see the majority of my grades for each area of the audit are marked as 1, this translates to – Very little knowledge (Or none) and this was already predetermined.
In defiance to this, I did discover that there were some areas that displayed strong links with my previous course: Core, ‘Work with design briefs and specifications’ and ‘Conduct effect research’. However, even though these have been marked as a 3 which means comfortable knowledge, what will be interesting to see, is how these factors will be transferred whilst in reference to Design and Technology and whether or not these areas are bigger than I expect within the subject. It is possible that I will have to reconsider my grade once I explore these areas, but this is something that I will most likely identify later on throughout the course. Finally, general use of ICT has received the highest grade 4 meaning good knowledge but again this is an area that can always be improved especially when it comes down to the content of the course.
Analysis for 15.02.2012
I have now finished re-grading myself against the audit section and it is now clear that there are certain areas that I have strengthened and others where I really need to improve by exploring further. Although I do understand and accept that not all of the audit areas will be to an ‘Advanced knowledge, I would like to at least have three and four’s by the time that I have re-marked myself at the end of the course in May.
Overlooking the Core section, I still have a few 1’s which translate to, little knowledge if not any at all. In some respects, for a few of these sections I almost already have some sort of perception of the content and what they may include or entail, but it really is just a case of exploring theses areas further within reference to Design and Technology. Examples of these areas would be, ‘Use of ergonomic and anthropometric data’ and ‘Knowledge of history of design’ I know generally the basics of what it might include but am I correct? It will be interesting to find this out later down the line and perhaps I can document this evidence within these sections.In defiance to this, there are areas such as ‘Use of product analysis and dis-assembly procedures’ and ‘Application of quality control and quality assurance’ which are subjects that at first glance make no sense to me what so ever and I would not even like to guess. As result of this, I really need to get my head around these areas and I intend to spend a lot more time to develop these skills.
In terms of analysing my development within Systems and Control and Resistant Materials, I would say that in comparison to when I initially graded myself I have undeniably learnt more and heightened certain skills. A factor, which undoubtedly facilitated this progression, was the fact that our modules – Design and Make, Materials and processes and also Systems and Control covered a lot of these points within the audit. But even though I have enhanced my subject knowledge in some areas, I am fully aware that there are still areas which have not changed and because of this I need to investigate further, in particular the subject of Systems and Control because I find it a challenge at the best of times. I will not let it beat me!
In regards to Resistant Materials, I have been able to learn a fair amount not only through the modules set but also by exploring the machines and practicing techniques and processes within the workshops. However, I am conscious to the fact that although some areas have been marked to ‘comfortable knowledge’ some sections are extremely vast. Just because I have graded myself as having good knowledge in something like ‘Joining’, I may have a better knowledge in joining wood and not so much in metal. I need to tackle each section and think of it as a bigger picture rather than marking it once I have explored a certain part of it. Perhaps I will need to re-grade and revise my marking if it comes to this then I will most certainly make some sort of documentation of it.
Therefore, by the time that I come to re- marking my audit again I want to gain more knowledge and skills in Systems and Control and improve certain areas within resistant materials and the Core sections.
Analysis for 15.05.2012
Now that I have nearly come to the end of the course I have taken the opportunity again to conduct a final overview and grade the areas of the audit. During this time it has enabled me to see how I have developed my knowledge and understanding within the various areas of Design and Technology. Although there are some areas where I can still develop and progress next year, all in all I certainly have come a long way since the start and I am extremely pleased with the new knowledge and skills that I have gained during my exploration and engagement stages.
The majority of my grades at this stage have been marked at a 3 or 4, 3 meaning comfortable knowledge and 4 translating to good knowledge. In all honesty these are the grades that I expected to achieve at this point so this has not come as a surprise, there are however certain areas that I have not really developed to the same kind of standard which is something that I know I need to work on in the next few weeks of the course as well as next year. None the less I have learnt so much this year and hopefully a great deal of evidence is demonstrated within the various sections of this audit.
In regards to the core sections, I am conscious of that fact that I need to further my understanding and explore areas such as, 'Application of quality control and quality assurance', and 'Understanding of package design', I would like to achieve this before the end of the course but it will be something that I will definitely explore next year if not. I also know that even though I have good knowledge in most areas now there is still more to learn and develop because some sections are quite big areas of Design and Technology for example 'construction of working drawings' and 'Familiarity of product modeling techniques' are areas that can be constantly developed and I am sure these will also be addressed next year.
In terms of the Systems and control sections even though there are some areas where I have come a long way since the beginning, it still is a subject that I know I need to keep exploring and practicing if I am going to understanding it even more. Next year when I am in schools hopefully I will be able to develop my knowledge even further and bring some of the two's and three's up to a four grade. At this moment in time I have not yet explored some sections for example 'Use software to design PCBs', mainly because in my projects I have not really covered them, no excuse so if I have time in the next two weeks I would like to have a go at learning more about these section of the audit.
Finally, for the resistant materials section of the audit it is clear that I have also progressed in my learning and understand in the various areas. I am at the stage where I have gained Comfortable and Good knowledge but I know that there still are areas that can be developed further to insure competence. Just like the core sections, there are areas within the resistant materials that are so vast in content for instant joining techniques and even though I now understand the principles and have practiced and applied some techniques within my work there are other methods which I have yet to use and explore. I know that these factors will build up over time next year so it is something that will be interesting to see over the course of next year whilst in schools how much further I can develop and learn.
In conclusion, I have found this audit an extremely useful learning source and looking back through the sections it is clear that I have learnt so much this year which is obviously good! To start with I found it really difficult to get into the audit but once I found a structure I was then able to explore different areas in a much more comfortable and concise way. I have recognised as I have progressed that my learning has become a much more structured and I have felt that I have been able to gather together some great sources which in turn have aided my leaning during this time. I also noticed that I have developed a better way of approaching new and unknown content and now find it much easier to identify the principles and understand what is necessary to know when learning the content. Generally speaking this has been a massive learning curve for me and not only have I gained new skills and knowledge during this time, I am also able to use this source within my career to revise and hopefully improve my teaching.
Before I graded myself for the first time within the audit it was inevitable that my initial knowledge was not going to be as high as perhaps hoped. I tried to approach this with a positive mindset because in the grand scheme of things, I knew that there were parts of the audit that I will develop just in a matter of weeks when introduced to the modules and exploring the workshops within my own time. For this reason, I knew that it was only the beginning of my journey in progressing within Design and Technology– Having said that this does not conceal the fact that I have an incredible amount of new skills and knowledge to learn!!!
As you can see the majority of my grades for each area of the audit are marked as 1, this translates to – Very little knowledge (Or none) and this was already predetermined.
In defiance to this, I did discover that there were some areas that displayed strong links with my previous course: Core, ‘Work with design briefs and specifications’ and ‘Conduct effect research’. However, even though these have been marked as a 3 which means comfortable knowledge, what will be interesting to see, is how these factors will be transferred whilst in reference to Design and Technology and whether or not these areas are bigger than I expect within the subject. It is possible that I will have to reconsider my grade once I explore these areas, but this is something that I will most likely identify later on throughout the course. Finally, general use of ICT has received the highest grade 4 meaning good knowledge but again this is an area that can always be improved especially when it comes down to the content of the course.
Analysis for 15.02.2012
I have now finished re-grading myself against the audit section and it is now clear that there are certain areas that I have strengthened and others where I really need to improve by exploring further. Although I do understand and accept that not all of the audit areas will be to an ‘Advanced knowledge, I would like to at least have three and four’s by the time that I have re-marked myself at the end of the course in May.
Overlooking the Core section, I still have a few 1’s which translate to, little knowledge if not any at all. In some respects, for a few of these sections I almost already have some sort of perception of the content and what they may include or entail, but it really is just a case of exploring theses areas further within reference to Design and Technology. Examples of these areas would be, ‘Use of ergonomic and anthropometric data’ and ‘Knowledge of history of design’ I know generally the basics of what it might include but am I correct? It will be interesting to find this out later down the line and perhaps I can document this evidence within these sections.In defiance to this, there are areas such as ‘Use of product analysis and dis-assembly procedures’ and ‘Application of quality control and quality assurance’ which are subjects that at first glance make no sense to me what so ever and I would not even like to guess. As result of this, I really need to get my head around these areas and I intend to spend a lot more time to develop these skills.
In terms of analysing my development within Systems and Control and Resistant Materials, I would say that in comparison to when I initially graded myself I have undeniably learnt more and heightened certain skills. A factor, which undoubtedly facilitated this progression, was the fact that our modules – Design and Make, Materials and processes and also Systems and Control covered a lot of these points within the audit. But even though I have enhanced my subject knowledge in some areas, I am fully aware that there are still areas which have not changed and because of this I need to investigate further, in particular the subject of Systems and Control because I find it a challenge at the best of times. I will not let it beat me!
In regards to Resistant Materials, I have been able to learn a fair amount not only through the modules set but also by exploring the machines and practicing techniques and processes within the workshops. However, I am conscious to the fact that although some areas have been marked to ‘comfortable knowledge’ some sections are extremely vast. Just because I have graded myself as having good knowledge in something like ‘Joining’, I may have a better knowledge in joining wood and not so much in metal. I need to tackle each section and think of it as a bigger picture rather than marking it once I have explored a certain part of it. Perhaps I will need to re-grade and revise my marking if it comes to this then I will most certainly make some sort of documentation of it.
Therefore, by the time that I come to re- marking my audit again I want to gain more knowledge and skills in Systems and Control and improve certain areas within resistant materials and the Core sections.
Analysis for 15.05.2012
Now that I have nearly come to the end of the course I have taken the opportunity again to conduct a final overview and grade the areas of the audit. During this time it has enabled me to see how I have developed my knowledge and understanding within the various areas of Design and Technology. Although there are some areas where I can still develop and progress next year, all in all I certainly have come a long way since the start and I am extremely pleased with the new knowledge and skills that I have gained during my exploration and engagement stages.
The majority of my grades at this stage have been marked at a 3 or 4, 3 meaning comfortable knowledge and 4 translating to good knowledge. In all honesty these are the grades that I expected to achieve at this point so this has not come as a surprise, there are however certain areas that I have not really developed to the same kind of standard which is something that I know I need to work on in the next few weeks of the course as well as next year. None the less I have learnt so much this year and hopefully a great deal of evidence is demonstrated within the various sections of this audit.
In regards to the core sections, I am conscious of that fact that I need to further my understanding and explore areas such as, 'Application of quality control and quality assurance', and 'Understanding of package design', I would like to achieve this before the end of the course but it will be something that I will definitely explore next year if not. I also know that even though I have good knowledge in most areas now there is still more to learn and develop because some sections are quite big areas of Design and Technology for example 'construction of working drawings' and 'Familiarity of product modeling techniques' are areas that can be constantly developed and I am sure these will also be addressed next year.
In terms of the Systems and control sections even though there are some areas where I have come a long way since the beginning, it still is a subject that I know I need to keep exploring and practicing if I am going to understanding it even more. Next year when I am in schools hopefully I will be able to develop my knowledge even further and bring some of the two's and three's up to a four grade. At this moment in time I have not yet explored some sections for example 'Use software to design PCBs', mainly because in my projects I have not really covered them, no excuse so if I have time in the next two weeks I would like to have a go at learning more about these section of the audit.
Finally, for the resistant materials section of the audit it is clear that I have also progressed in my learning and understand in the various areas. I am at the stage where I have gained Comfortable and Good knowledge but I know that there still are areas that can be developed further to insure competence. Just like the core sections, there are areas within the resistant materials that are so vast in content for instant joining techniques and even though I now understand the principles and have practiced and applied some techniques within my work there are other methods which I have yet to use and explore. I know that these factors will build up over time next year so it is something that will be interesting to see over the course of next year whilst in schools how much further I can develop and learn.
In conclusion, I have found this audit an extremely useful learning source and looking back through the sections it is clear that I have learnt so much this year which is obviously good! To start with I found it really difficult to get into the audit but once I found a structure I was then able to explore different areas in a much more comfortable and concise way. I have recognised as I have progressed that my learning has become a much more structured and I have felt that I have been able to gather together some great sources which in turn have aided my leaning during this time. I also noticed that I have developed a better way of approaching new and unknown content and now find it much easier to identify the principles and understand what is necessary to know when learning the content. Generally speaking this has been a massive learning curve for me and not only have I gained new skills and knowledge during this time, I am also able to use this source within my career to revise and hopefully improve my teaching.