Course performance descriptors for Design and Technology
Course performance descriptors for Design and Technology 7–10 (2019) provide holistic descriptions of typical achievement at different grade levels. Course performance descriptions are used to identify and report a student’s level of achievement in a Board Developed Course at the end of Stage 5.
Grade A
A student at this grade typically:
- integrates extensive knowledge and understanding of design in critically analysing concepts and processes, and is able to apply learning in new contexts
- demonstrates a very high level of skill in applying, justifying and managing complex design processes to develop creative design ideas and solutions
- evaluates the impacts of past, current and emerging technologies on the individual, society and environments
- evaluates designed solutions, independently considering a comprehensive range of factors affecting the work and responsibilities of designers
- independently develops and critically evaluates innovative, enterprising and creative design ideas and solutions
- selects and uses a very high level of appropriate techniques to effectively communicate design ideas and solutions to a range of audiences
- applies risk-management practices when selecting and safely using a wide range of technologies to produce high-quality designed solutions.
Grade B
A student at this grade typically:
- demonstrates thorough knowledge and understanding of design in analysing concepts and processes, and is able to apply learning to most situations
- demonstrates a high level of skill in applying, justifying and managing design processes to develop design ideas and solutions
- analyses the impacts of past, current and emerging technologies on the individual, society and environments
- evaluates designed solutions, considering a variety of factors affecting the work and responsibilities of designers
- confidently develops and evaluates innovative, enterprising and creative design ideas and solutions
- selects and uses a high level of appropriate techniques to effectively communicate design ideas and solutions to a range of audiences
- applies risk-management practices when selecting and safely using a range of technologies to produce high-quality designed solutions.
Grade C
A student at this grade typically:
- demonstrates sound knowledge and understanding of design in analysing concepts and processes, and is able to apply learning in a range of contexts
- demonstrates an adequate level of skill in managing design processes and developing design ideas and solutions
- explains the impact of past, current and emerging technologies on the individual, society and environments
- evaluates designed solutions, taking into account factors affecting the work and responsibilities of designers
- develops and explains innovative, enterprising and creative design ideas and solutions
- uses a range of techniques to adequately communicate design ideas and solutions to different audiences
- applies risk-management practices when selecting and safely using technologies to produce designed solutions of sound quality.
Grade D
A student at this grade typically:
- demonstrates basic knowledge and understanding of design in describing concepts and processes
- demonstrates a limited level of skill in managing design processes and developing design ideas and/or solutions
- describes the impacts of past, current and emerging technologies on the individual, society and environments
- evaluates designed solutions, choosing appropriate factors that affect the work and responsibilities of designers
- develops and describes basic design ideas and solutions that could be innovative, enterprising and/or creative
- uses a limited range of techniques to communicate design ideas and/or solutions
- uses basic risk management when selecting and using a limited range of technologies to produce designed solutions of basic quality.
Grade E
A student at this grade typically:
- demonstrates elementary knowledge and understanding of design when identifying concepts and processes
- demonstrates a very limited level of skill in managing design processes or developing design ideas
- demonstrates an elementary understanding of the impact of technologies on the individual, society and/or environments
- identifies factors that affect the work and responsibilities of designers
- develops elementary design ideas and solutions
- uses a very limited range of techniques to communicate design ideas or solutions
- uses elementary risk management when using technology.