Technological modelling indicators of progression

Indicators of progression and teaching suggestions for “Technological modelling”.

About this resource

Indicators of progression and teaching suggestions for “Technological modelling”, a component with the “Technological knowledge” strand of the Technology learning area.

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Technological Modelling

The indicators that follow describe the knowledge, skills, and understandings that students should be demonstrating in the Technological modelling component of the technology curriculum.

Contexts for learning tasks should be as authentic as possible. When choosing and implementing learning tasks, consider how you can integrate and embed te ao Māori and mātauranga Māori, for example, by connecting with local iwi and hapū and understanding opportunities for reciprocal collaborations. Growing teacher knowledge and understanding of tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori is a really important first step in this.

Level one

Achievement objective

Students will;

understand that functional models are used to represent reality and test design concepts and that prototypes are used to test technological outcomes.

Teacher guidance

To support students to develop understanding of technological modelling at level 1, teachers could:

provide students with:
- the opportunity to discuss why technological modelling is important to the development of technological outcomes and that it involves both functional modelling and prototyping
- the opportunity to discuss that design concepts include design ideas for parts of an outcome as well as the conceptual design for the outcome as a whole
- the opportunity to interact with a variety of functional models and guide them to identify that the purpose of functional modelling is to test design concepts to see if they are suitable for use in the development of an outcome
- a range of prototyping examples and guide them to identify that the purpose of prototyping is to test the outcome. Examples should include the modelling practices of technologists.
guide students to identify:
- that functional models are representations of potential technological outcomes and that they exist in many forms, for example, thinking, talking, drawing, physical mock-ups, computer aided simulations
- that prototypes are the first versions of fully completed technological outcomes.

Indicators

Students can:

describe what a functional model is
identify the purpose of functional modelling
describe what a prototype is
identify the purpose of prototyping.

Strategies for engaging students

Indicators

Teaching strategy and explanation

Describe what a functional model is.

Define physical and functional attributes first (technological practice) before defining functional modelling.

Identify link between physical/functional attributes and functional modelling.

Using a range of functional models, discuss:

what they look like (physical appearance)
what they enable (function) in terms of design decision-making.

Discuss examples of functional models.

Identify examples of functional models, such as drawings, talking, mockups, recipes. Create a class definition of a functional model and discuss why these help us when developing technological outcomes.

What is a functional model?

Class discussion:

What is a model? What is modelling? What is technological modelling?

Look at a product, such as a torch.

What did the technologist do to help them make this torch, such as drawings, model, test materials, circuit diagram, prototype?
Why did they do these things?
How did this modelling help them?
Discuss images of the different forms of modelling.
What is functional modelling?
What is prototyping?
What is the difference, for example, purpose?

Give students an everyday product they are familiar with, such as a stapler:

Which forms of modelling might have been used to create it?
What would it have told them?
What forms of technological modelling (such as draft drawings, final drawing, pattern) have been done for this outcome, and why were they done?

Compare a range of functional models to prototypes

Provide examples of prototypes (such as photos of prototype cars, Future For All) and examples of functional models (such as a sketch of a car).

What is the difference?
What is similar?
Why have functional models?
Why have prototypes?
What is the purpose of both?

Use a Venn Diagram to record differences and similarities.

Identify the purpose of functional modelling.

Functional modelling of everyday items

Share examples of functional modelling of everyday items, such as the bendy straw or check out Google Patents:

Why did the technologist create this model?
What did it tell them?
How did it help them?

Describe what a prototype is.

Look at prototype products, such as cars and other products – see Future For All:

What stage of the production process is a prototype at?
Why is it at that stage?
What is the next stage?
What information is gained from a prototype?

Identify the purpose of prototyping.

Share examples of prototypes of everyday items, such as the bendy straw prototype or check out Google Patents:

Why did the technologist create this model?
What did it tell them?
How did it help them?

Level two

Achievement objective

Students will understand that:

functional models are used to explore, test, and evaluate design concepts for potential outcomes
prototyping is used to test a technological outcome for fitness of purpose.

Teacher guidance

To support students to develop understanding of technological modelling at level 2, teachers could:

guide students to:
- understand that design concepts refers to design ideas for parts of an outcome as well as the conceptual design for the outcome as a whole
- discuss the sorts of things that could be explored and tested using functional modelling.
provide students with:
- the opportunity to explore a variety of functional models and identify the specific design concept(s) being tested
- a range of prototyping examples and guide them to identify the specifications that were used to evaluate the prototype
- the opportunity to discuss how specifications provide a way of measuring the fitness for purpose of the prototype.

Examples should include the modelling practices of technologists.

Indicators

Students can:

describe the sorts of things that functional modelling can be used for in technology
identify the design concept being tested in particular functional models
identify why prototyping is important in technology
identify the specifications used to evaluate particular prototypes.

Strategies for engaging students

Indicators	Teaching strategy and explanation
Describe the sorts of things that functional modelling can be used for in technology.	Discuss examples of functional models for a range of products. What information about physical nature does this model give me? What information about functional nature does this model give me? What was the purpose of this model (testing physical attributes and/or functional attributes)?
	Provide students with examples of technological outcomes alongside possible forms (pictures /photos) of functional modelling. For example: Technological outcome – mobile phone Functional modelling – drawings, circuit diagrams, mock ups. What can functional modelling be used for? Discuss how each functional model could be used: What information does it provide: to test design ideas (parts of, for example, just buttons)? for conceptual ideas (the whole)?
Identify the design concept being tested in particular functional models.	Explore functional modelling in the story of the development of a technological outcome Give students a story (Gadget Nation book is good) about a technological outcome and its development. What forms of functional modelling were done? They identify the design concepts being tested in the functional modelling done. Discuss both the functional models that were described in the story, as well as other forms of functional modelling that could/might have been done but were not written about. They also describe the information the technologist gained from that functional modelling.
Identify why prototyping is important in technology.	Explore prototyping in the story of the development of a technological outcome Give students a story about a technological outcome and its development. What did the prototyping process tell them? What did it tell them about the outcomes fitness for purpose? Why is prototyping important?
Identify why prototyping is important in technology.	Prototype products that have never gone into production Show examples and discuss the following. Why is prototyping important? What testing was / might have been done? What did/could it have told them? Why did it go no further? Why do the businesses not want them with the public? My Rare Collection Of 250 Unreleased Apple Products – Hap Plain has amassed a collection of more than 250 unreleased Apple products.
Identify the specifications used to evaluate particular prototypes.	Show examples and discuss the following: What might have been the specifications for this product? How was the prototype used to measure these specifications, such as testing of the prototype? What did/could this process have told them? Why did it go no further? What are the next steps?

Level three

Achievement objective

Students will understand that:

different forms of functional modelling are used to inform decision making in the development of technological possibilities
prototypes can be used to evaluate the fitness of technological outcomes for further development.

Teacher guidance

To support students to develop understanding of technological modelling at level 3, teachers could:

provide students with the opportunity to:
- explore different forms of functional modelling and guide students to gain insight into the different types of information that have been gathered
- discuss how functional modelling informs decision making and guide them to identify the benefits and limitations of functional modelling in examples provided
- understand that benefits include such things as reducing the risk of wasting time, money, and materials and limitations arise due to the representational nature of modelling. That is, what is being tested is necessarily partial and therefore prototyping is required to fully test the outcome
- discuss that specifications include both acceptability and feasibility considerations related to the outcome’s fitness for purpose
- explore a range of examples of prototyping and guide them to gain insight into how appropriate information can be gained to evaluate a technological outcome’s fitness for purpose against the specifications
- discuss the role of functional modelling and prototyping to develop an understanding of the importance of both in technological development.

Examples should include the modelling practices of technologists and should provide students with the opportunity to explore both successful prototypes and those that did not meet specifications.

Indicators

Students can:

discuss examples to identify the different forms of functional models that were used to gather specific information about the suitability of design concepts
identify the benefits and limitations of functional modelling undertaken in particular examples
describe examples of particular prototypes that did not meet specifications.
explain why functional modelling and prototyping are both needed to support decision making when developing an outcome.

Strategies for engaging students

Indicators

Teaching strategy and explanation

Discuss examples to identify the different forms of functional models that were used to gather specific information about the suitability of design concepts.

Identify information gained from a model

Have examples of different models (drawings, sketches, circuit diagrams, mock-ups, prototypes).

What information does each give the technologist?
Use in context with a certain technological outcome.

Venn diagram of two types of models.

Venn diagram of two different forms of functional modelling, such as a drawing and a mock-up. Have students list the information each provides in the circles and the information both provide in the intersection of the circles.

Class brainstorm.

Class brainstorm about the different forms of functional modelling they used. For example:

what information does our (model) give us?
how can we use this to test and evaluate our design?

Estimate what information modelling will provide then reflect on actual findings

For each form of modelling used, students estimate:

What information do I expect my model to allow me to test?

Reflection:

What information did I actually get?
Did my model make me change anything? If so, why?

Watch video clip of functional modelling by BMW (Design process of BMW 7 series) and identify the forms of models in it, such as tape drawing, CAD, clay model.

What information did each form of modelling give the designer/technologist?
Why do they do these different forms of modelling?

Discuss how functional models and prototypes provide different evidence.

Discovering what functional modelling is – and why it's so important

Introduce and explore what CAD is and discuss the kind of information it provides as a functional model.

Technology student website – Computer G enerated Model

The form of modelling used needs to suit the technological outcomes

Discuss with students why some forms of modelling are more suited than others to testing design ideas. For example:

card mock-up will not be used to model a circuit
drawing will not tell you about the weight of potential materials.

Have students suggest possible modelling techniques to test a specific desirable attribute in a technological outcome.

Analyse an existing technological outcome and suggest what modelling forms would have been used to test the outcomes attributes during its development.

A technologist (product designer) shares the modelling they have undertaken and explains how each model informs their decision-making – Prototyping and Model Making video.

Identify the benefits and limitations of functional modelling undertaken in particular examples.

Explore functional modelling in the story of the development of a technological outcome

Give students a story about a technological outcome and its development. Students identify:

the functional modelling that was done with that technological outcome.
the benefits and limitations of each model undertaken in this example
pros and cons of using the functional model.

Benefits and limitations of my own modelling

For each form of modelling done or identified, students ask:

What information does this model give me?
What information is missing?
In the future, I would choose this model when I need to test for …
In the future, I would not use this model when I need to test for …

Describe examples of particular prototypes that did not meet specifications.

Explore prototype products that have never gone into production

Show examples and discuss the following:

What might have been the specifications for this product?
How was the prototype used to measure these specifications (testing of the prototype)?
What did/could this process have told them?
Why did it go no further?
What could be the next steps?

Explain why functional modelling and prototyping are both needed to support decision making when developing an outcome.

A technologist (product designer) shares the modelling they have undertaken and explains how each model informs their decision-making – Prototyping and Model Making video.

Venn diagram

Using an example product or story of a product's development, identify information gained from functional models and prototypes using a venn diagram.

Explain what they have in common in terms of their purpose and the evidence they do and do not provide. This can highlight how they are both needed to support decision making.

Investigate product flops

Read about a product that failed.

Identify possible reasons why this product failed. How could technological modelling have lessened this product failure? Consider the following:

What functional models could have helped the technologist?
What information did the technologist not find out?
When were the key times when decisions were made?
What other testing or trialling could have been done?
How could prototyping have helped?
What technological modelling would be needed to re-launch this product?

Level four

Achievement objective

Students will understand how:

different forms of functional modelling are used to explore possibilities and to justify decision making
prototyping can be used to justify refinement of technological outcomes.

Teacher guidance

To support students to develop understanding of technological modelling at level 4, teachers could:

provide students with the opportunity to:
- explore how using different media influences the type of information that can be gathered
- discuss how different possibilities can be explored through functional modelling of design concepts and prototyping in order to make socially acceptable as well technically feasible decisions.
guide students to examine examples of:
- functional modelling practices to identify how these were used to explore possibilities and gather different types of information to justify design decisions
- prototyping and identifying how information from these were used to justify the fitness for purpose of technological outcomes or to identify the need for further development.

Examples should include the modelling practices of technologists and should include instances where refinements to the prototype were required to meet specifications.

Indicators

Students can:

explain how functional modelling and prototyping allows for consideration of both what "can" be done and what "should" be done when making decisions
discuss examples to illustrate how particular functional models were used to gather specific information about the suitability of design concepts
identify information that has been gathered from:
- functional models about the suitability of design concepts and describe how this information was used
- prototyping and describing how this information was used.
describe examples to illustrate how prototypes were tested to evaluate a technological outcome’s fitness for purpose.

Strategies for engaging students

Indicators	Teaching strategy and explanation
Explain how functional modelling and prototyping allows for consideration of both what "can" be done and what "should" be done when making decisions.	Student investigation of what they consider an unfavourable outcome Students investigate an existing technological outcome that they believe "should not" have been made (for example, weapons, nanotechnology, cell phones) and present their justification as to why it "should not" have been created. How can functional modelling and prototyping help technologists ask, “Yes I can do it, but should I do it?” At what stage within technological modelling should we ask this question? Link with alternative functions (Characteristics of Technological Outcomes). What about across different cultures? Class creates a bank of questions that need to / should be considered when developing a technological outcome. For example: Who will use it? How will it be used? Who may be harmed if the outcome is developed and implemented? Will any natural resources be depleted if the outcome is developed and implemented? Who will benefit if the outcome is developed and implemented? Who may be harmed if the outcome is developed and implemented?
Discuss examples to illustrate how particular functional models were used to gather specific information about the suitability of design concepts.	A technologist (product designer) shares the modelling they have undertaken and explains how each model informs their decision-making – Prototyping and Model Making video.
Identify information that has been gathered from functional models about the suitability of design concepts and describe how this information was used.	Weird or unsuccessful products These are products that did not fully explore possibilities and different types of data. Explore weird or unsuccessful products that did not do enough functional modelling before production. Did they fully explore all possibilities and issues prior to them being developed and implemented as technological outcomes? What information was gathered? What information did they not gather, but should have? How was that information used or not used? Top 10 Failed McDonald’s Products 50 Worst Product Flops of All Time
Describe examples to illustrate how prototypes were tested to evaluate a technological outcome’s fitness for purpose.	Bad designs/prototypes Find examples of bad designs/prototypes and discuss their intended fitness for purpose (Bad designs). Students consider the following: Why are these designs bad? How do they need refining? How could earlier modelling have avoided these problems?
	Read about a product that failed. Identify possible reasons why this product failed. How could technological modelling have lessened this product failure? What functional models could have helped the technologist? What information did the technologist not find out? When were the key times when decisions were made? What other testing or trialling could have been done? How could prototyping have helped? What technological modelling would be needed to re-launch this product?
Identify information that has been gathered from prototyping and describe how this information was used.	Examples of prototype products, such as cars, potato peelers, hair dryers, food. What information did prototyping provide? How did the technologist use that information? Are they fit for purpose? What do they need to be fit for purpose? (further development) How does a prototype help determine a product's "fitness for purpose"?

Level five

Achievement objective

Students will understand how:

evidence, reasoning, and decision making in functional modelling contribute to the development of design concepts
prototyping can be used to justify ongoing refinement of technological outcomes.

Functional reasoning is the basis for exploring the technical feasibility of the design concept and the realised outcome. That is, "how to make it happen" in the functional modelling phase and the reasoning behind "how it is happening" in prototyping.

Acceptability, including socio-cultural and environmental dimensions, is explored through practical reasoning surrounding the design concept and realised outcome. That is, the reasoning around decisions as to "should it happen?" in functional modelling and "should it be happening?" in prototyping.

Teacher guidance

To support students to develop understanding of technological modelling at level 5, teachers could:

provide opportunity for students to:
- identify practical and functional reasoning underpinning technological modelling
- explore how informed and justifiable design decision making relies on both functional and practical reasoning and draws from evidence provided from modelling
- understand that maintenance requirements can be identified through prototyping and guide them to identify that maintaining an outcome can involve controlling environmental influences and/or undertaking ongoing refinements of the technological outcome.
guide students to analyse examples of:
- functional modelling practices to explain how these were used to gain evidence to justify design decisions with regards to both technical feasibility and acceptability. Such justifications will rely on the synthesis of evidence gained from modelling that sought feedback from different stakeholders
- prototyping to explain how results were used to justify an outcome as fit for purpose or requiring refinement.
support students to gain insight from prototyping examples into how testing procedures can provide information regarding maintenance requirements of a technological outcome.

Examples should include the modelling practices of technologists and instances where refinements to the prototype were required to meet specifications.

Indicators

Students can:

identify examples of functional and practical reasoning within design decision making
explain how evidence gained from functional modelling was used to justify design decisions
identify examples of functional and practical reasoning underpinning prototype evaluations and the establishment of maintenance requirements
explain how evidence gained from prototyping was used to justify outcome evaluation as fit for purpose or in need of further development.

Strategies for engaging students

Indicators	Teaching strategy and explanation
Identify examples of functional and practical reasoning within design decision making.	Define evidence and reasoning Discuss and define what evidence is and what is reasoning. Brainstorm possible evidence and reasoning based on examples of functional modelling
	Visiting technologists Visiting technologists share stories about their functional modelling. Alternatively, the teacher can recount their stories. What modelling did they do? What evidence did they have prior to their functional modelling? What information did they find as a result of functional modelling? What reasoning process did they undertake? How did this affect their decision-making? What were the consequences for the final technological outcome once it was fully developed and implemented?
Explain how evidence gained from functional modelling was used to justify design decisions.	Designers and technologists share stories about their functional modelling – The tradition of clay modelling in car design
Identify examples of functional and practical reasoning underpinning prototype evaluations and the establishment of maintenance requirements.	Examples of how prototypes can provide vital information Explore examples of technological outcomes where a prototype did, or had the potential to, inform the technologist of the maintenance requirements to ensure continued optimal performance over time. Use examples of products that have recently been recalled. such as seat belts in cars, baby buggy. Google the phrase "product recall notifications NZ" to find examples of products that have been recalled.
Explain how evidence gained from prototyping was used to justify outcome evaluation as fit for purpose or in need of further development.	Discuss how prototyping is used to test technological outcomes in situ and provide evidence that the outcome is fit for purpose. Adidas Nemeziz 19.1 Review – an in situ review of Adidas footwear

Level six

Achievement objective

Students will:

understand the role and nature of evidence and reasoning when managing risk through technological modelling.

Teacher guidance

To support students to develop understanding of technological modelling at level 6, teachers could:

guide students to:
- explain how practical and functional reasoning underpin technological modelling
- understand the concept of risk as it relates to reducing instances of malfunctioning of technological outcomes and/or increasing levels of outcome robustness
- understand how technological modelling is used to manage risk through exploring and identifying possible risk factors associated with the development of a technological outcome.
support students to analyse examples of technological modelling to understand how risk is explored and identified within particular technological developments.

Examples should include the modelling practices of technologists and instances where modelling was undertaken to explore and identify risk.

Indicators

Students can:

describe practical and functional reasoning and discuss how they work together to enhance decision making during technological modelling
explain the role of technological modelling in the exploration and identification of possible risk(s)
discuss examples to illustrate how evidence and reasoning is used during functional modelling to identify risk and make informed and justifiable design decisions
discuss examples to illustrate how prototyping provides information to determine maintenance requirements to ensure minimal risk and optimal performance over time.

Strategies for engaging students

Indicators	Teaching strategy and explanation
Describe practical and functional reasoning and discuss how they work together to enhance decision making during technological modelling.	Define practical and functional reasoning Functional reasoning focuses on "how to make it happen" and "how it is happening". Practical reasoning focuses on "should we make it happen?" and "should it be happening?" Both practical and functional reasoning focuses the need to consider both what "can" be done and what "should" be done when making design decisions.
	How practical and functional reasoning enhance decision making. Introduce scenarios where only one was considered without the other and scenarios where they both worked together, for example, bombs, designer babies, genetic modifications. Explore notions of practical reasoning, social responsibility, and environmental responsibility.
Explain the role of technological modelling in the exploration and identification of possible risk(s).	Technological product flops/disasters Take an example of a disastrous, life-risking technological outcome that ultimately failed, such as the Titanic, Zeppelin, space shuttle Challenger. Another option is to explore smaller household products 74 Failed Products That Made These Companies Regret Creating Them Discuss possible technological modelling that might have been used and what risks they could have identified had modelling been used. How could this disaster/product flop have been prevented? What might have been the risks? What technological modelling might have identified the risks?
Discuss examples to illustrate how evidence and reasoning is used during functional modelling to identify risk and make informed and justifiable design decisions.	Technological product flops/disasters (see above) Strengths and weaknesses of certain technological models for risk exploration within a context (Titanic) or in general. Brainstorm to identify different forms of technological modelling (mock ups, drawings, circuit diagrams/software, prototypes, testing, etc) that could help identify risks. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each modelling type in relation to the risk factors they could/might have been identified. How in-depth was the information that a technological model provided regarding a certain risk factor? For example, a circuit diagram / software will identify the risks of components short circuiting but testing of a prototype circuit would provide different information about other risks.
Discuss examples to illustrate how prototyping provides information to determine maintenance requirements to ensure minimal risk and optimal performance over time.	Discuss how technologists use prototyping to determine maintenance requirements for an implemented technological outcome and ensure minimal risk and its optimal performance over time. Find examples of where this has been successful, such as iPhone, Samsung, Toyota vehicles. Investigate why and how effective prototyping could have contributed to the outcome’s success.

Level seven

Achievement objective

Students will understand how:

the “should” and “could” decisions in technological modelling rely on an understanding of how evidence can change in value across contexts
different tools are used to ascertain and mitigate risk.

Teacher guidance

To support students to develop understanding of technological modelling at level 7, teachers could:

support students to explore how:
- context impacts on the perception of the validity of the evidence presented. Therefore, shifting from one context to another can change the status of the evidence provided by technological modelling
- and why different people and communities accept different types of evidence as valid. That is, the status given to evidence is dependent on a range of factors, including ethical views and the perceived authority of people involved in the presentation of the evidence
- decisions underpinning technological modelling based on what should and could happen rely on an understanding of how evidence gained may differ in value across contexts and/or communities
- technological modelling is used to ascertain and mitigate risk. Ascertaining risk involves establishing the probability of identified risks. Mitigation involves taking steps to reduce the probability of the risk being realised and/or severity of the risk should it be realised.
support students to analyse examples of technological modelling to understand how risk is ascertained and mitigated within particular technological developments.

Examples should include the modelling practices of technologists and instances where modelling was undertaken to mitigate risk.

Indicators

Students can:

discuss examples to illustrate why the status of evidence gained from technological modelling might change across contexts
explain why different people accept different types of evidence as valid and how this impacts on technological modelling
explain the role of technological modelling in ascertaining and mitigating risk
describe examples to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of technological modelling for risk mitigation.

Strategies for engaging students

Indicators	Teaching strategy and explanation
Discuss examples to illustrate why the status of evidence gained from technological modelling might change across contexts.	Status of evidence Explore how different technological developments, and their contexts, give different status to the evidence gained from their technological modelling. For example, the developers of an AS Colour T-shirt give more status to the evidence gained about environmental impact than the developers of low cost high profit T-shirts – How We Source
Explain why different people accept different types of evidence as valid and how this impacts on technological modelling.	Differences in people Brainstorm why people view the same thing differently or interpret the same information in different ways? Talk about what makes one person accept something, when another rejects it? Think about: different cultures values socio economic geography religion education bias and prejudice. Explore examples of different forms of technological models/evidence and identify the advantages and disadvantages of each for identifying and mitigating risk, for example, a prototype car being tested in a physical environment compared with a CAD representation of the same design. Explore how different people/groups, based on the list above, may approach technological modelling and discuss the reasons for this, for example, an engineer, a food technologist, a packaging designer.
Explain the role of technological modelling in ascertaining and mitigating risk.	Refer to the technological product flops/disasters activity in Level 6 above. Expand to focus on the role of technological modelling in ascertaining and mitigating risk. 74 Failed Products That Made These Companies Regret Creating Them
Describe examples to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of technological modelling for risk mitigation.	Refer to the technological product flops/disasters activity in Level 6 above. Expand to focus on risk mitigation, not just exploration.

Level eight

Achievement objective

Students will;

understand the role of technological modelling as a key part of technological development, justifying its importance on moral, ethical, sustainable, cultural, political, economic, and historical grounds. .

Teacher guidance

To support students to develop understanding of technological modelling at level 8, teachers could support students to:

develop a critical and informed understanding of why technological modelling is an important aspect for ensuring responsible and defensible decisions are made during the design, development, and any subsequent manufacturing of technological outcomes
analyse examples of technological modelling practices that were undertaken to address a range of competing and contestable factors to gain insight into how these factors can be handled. These factors arise from such things as differing moral, ethical, cultural, and/or political views and the way in which people adhere to and understand issues such as sustainability, globalisation, democracy, and global warming.

Examples should include the modelling practices of technologists and instances where modelling was undertaken to deal with competing and contestable factors.

Indicators

Students can:

explain the role of technological modelling in making informed, responsive, and defensible design and development decisions
explain the role of technological modelling in making informed, responsive, and defensible manufacturing decisions
discuss examples to illustrate a range of technological modelling practices that have been undertaken in situations with competing and contestable factors
critique examples of technological modelling practices in terms of how well they address underpinning factors.

Strategies for engaging students

Indicators	Teaching strategy and explanation
Explain the role of technological modelling in making informed, responsive, and defensible design and development decisions.	Functional modelling and design decision-making Visit technologists, explore case studies, or watch Dragon's Den to gain insight to the role of their functional modelling in making design decisions. Make sure students justify how their technological modelling allowed them to determine that their technological outcome was fit for purpose.
Discuss examples to illustrate a range of technological modelling practices that have been undertaken in situations with competing and contestable factors.	Compare and contrast two technologists’ practice or case studies focusing on how their modelling choices and decisions were made for competing and contestable factors.
Critique examples of technological modelling practices in terms of how well they address underpinning factors.	Compare and critique two technologists’ practice or case studies focusing on how their modelling choices and decisions address underpinning factors.