UNIT 2519: PRODUCT STUDY (Analysis and Development)

The overall aim of the assessment criteria is to enable students to show an understanding that there are issues of sustainability in all designing and making activities. They should show this throughout the different elements of their design folder.

Teachers can use the criteria for continuous assessment of students’ work. They also provide a checklist for students. However, it must be remembered that sustainability issues are only ONE part of exam board criteria and that those criteria offer students far more opportunity for scoring marks.

In order to receive an SDA Part 1 the student must show evidence of having met the compulsory criteria (in bold) as well as two of the other criteria.

A. Product Analysis and Design

1. Analysis of chosen product
• Shows evidence of thinking about at least one moral issue inherent in the design and use of the product (e.g. asks whether the product meets a genuine need, asks whether its production involves any toxic emissions, asks whether the production of the product supports fair trade).

• Shows evidence of how the product may have at least one environmental impact at any stage of its life cycle. (e.g. indicates that a coffee maker heat plate uses unnecessary energy or that difficulties of disassembly create problems for disposal).

• Shows evidence of having considered at least one social repercussion of the product’s design and use (e.g. indicates whether or not the product promotes conviviality or individual isolation).

2. Initial design of Improved Product
• Shows evidence of analysing the product having used a simple sustainability design process (e.g. has used a sustainability abacus for at least one element of sustainability).

• Indicates that the re-design can improve the sustainability of the design in at least two different ways (e.g. shows that the re-design will use less energy, recycled materials).

• Justifies at least one aspect of the re-design on a sustainability basis (e.g. decides to take forward at least one way of improving the sustainability of the product when modelling and testing).

B. Product Development, Modelling and Testing

• Shows an understanding that sustainability issues may be a constraint on the design proposal (e.g. shows why renewable energy sources are not available and non-renewable sources have to be used).

• Makes an experimental model that tests the re-design in at least one area of sustainability (e.g. tests whether or not recycled plastic can be as strong as new plastic in the product).

• Completes an evaluation showing how the re-designed model is an improvement on the initial design in at least one area of sustainability (e.g. shows how the re-designed model has less of an environmental impact than the original).

• Shows how the re-designed model could be improved further to make it even more sustainable. (e.g. indicates that because of available energy sources, only non-renewable energy is currently used in manufacture, but shows understanding that use of wind or solar generated energy will be an improvement).