1. Liverpool Girls High School September, 2007Technology education K-8: Design in practice © State of New South Wales through the NSW Department of Education and Training, 2007. 1 Student reflection “I think I gained the knowledge to design a room and how to make it work”. “I gained some creativity skills and how to design a room neatly”. “I have learnt the procedure to make a design”. “I’ve learnt to be more creative in design”. “I’ve learnt how to make a model of a room and also how to design”. “I gained better designing skills, I need to develop my building skills”. “I learnt that all colours have a meaning”. “I have learnt new words such as aesthetics and dwellings”. “I learnt different types of tones, shades, colours, etc”. “I felt like an architect”. “I liked making the room because that is what I want to do as my future career”. “I never knew what an interior design was even though I heard of it”.

2. Liverpool Girls High School September, 2007Technology education K-8: Design in practice © State of New South Wales through the NSW Department of Education and Training, 2007. 2 Student reflection “I would make sure that I properly planned my work”. ”Trying to make it look better, and plan carefully next time”. “I would change the colours I used in my room and take more time with it”. “I would plan more carefully next time, also decorate it properly”. “I found the designing of the room fun and easy because you were allowed to choose any colours or any design to do”. “It was so boring (sic)”. “I found the worksheets difficult because some of the questions were hard to answer”. “Making the models was fun and creative”. “I liked when we put our final project together. And I like how we got to design our own room”.

3. Liverpool Girls High School September, 2007Technology education K-8: Design in practice © State of New South Wales through the NSW Department of Education and Training, 2007. 3 Teacher reflection Students learn a small number of key concepts about built environments such as function, aesthetics and ergonomics, which are fundamental concepts in design. Students experiment with model making and architectural drawings to communicate design ideas. Students are required to demonstrate an understanding of these concepts and the relationship between them. They are engaged in thinking that requires them to organise, reorganise, apply, analyse, synthesise, and evaluate knowledge, information and design ideas. Students tend to like the practical aspects more than the theory components of this unit of work. Students develop a basic understanding on design processes and factors affecting design. Students develop excellent skills in model making and basic skills in architectural drawing.

4. Liverpool Girls High School September, 2007Technology education K-8: Design in practice © State of New South Wales through the NSW Department of Education and Training, 2007. 4 Teacher reflection 3D models used as scaffolds are very helpful for students to propose, check and evaluate design ideas. Students engage very well in activities such as visit to furniture shops and the guest speaker presentation, which connect school work with the real world. The unit of work could include computerised architectural drawing, which will provide students with another technology. Computerised drawings will ease the production of plans and will allow students to see their projects in a more realistic way.