What is the future challenge?

‘All education springs from images of the future and all education creates images of the future.’
Alvin Toffler, Learning for tomorrow

‘The curriculum cannot remain static. It must be responsive to changes in society and the economy, and changes in the nature of schooling itself.’
UK National Curriculum

Industrial technology shops such as woods, metals, and mechanics are all but gone in most secondary schools. Shop teachers have been replaced, usually through attrition and lost of interest, by technology teachers. The focus has shifted from hands-on to simulations and Web-based experiences. These new solutions are engaging and have proven to increase student interest and learning.

So instead of making a book cabinet or shoe rack, students are creating Web pages, learning about designing structures, designing with SolidEdge 3D CAD software, and operating and programming CNC manufacturing equipment. In some instances the old and the new coexist, usually older schools with shop facilities and a staff that is moving in the direction of digital bytes. This is the best of both worlds. But most new schools are not designed for shops and technology labs. Physical space, class schedules, and staffing do not afford the old and the new.

Effectively, the drills, saws, and lathes are displaced, and students have little or no access to them. The tools are migrating from the old shops to make room for modular labs. In some instances, science teachers are adopting them, integrating them into their curriculum. For example, students build birdhouses, which require saws and drills, while studying habitats in life science.

The learning grid initiatives and Challenge encourages the science teacher to integrate the older and the newer technologies: drills are essential and software are beneficial for data collection. The industrial technology teacher has the advantage of living in both worlds: hands-on and newer digital technology. Ideally, the science and technology teachers will work collaboratively with the mathematics and language teachers.

Learners only flourish if education successfully adapts to the needs and demands of the time.

There are some six million eager children in  Malaysian schools. They will leave their mark on the 21st century towards 2020. The quality of the school and curriculum they meet is crucial to their development.

These children will experience a curriculum that has many timeless values and purposes. However, the curriculum cannot remain static. The current national curriculum recognises that the way we organise learning must be responsive to change. If we are to provide an excellent education for all learners, our education system must be responsive to the changing demands of life and work in the 21st century.

• What forces for change should influence the development of our national curriculum?
• How should we adapt our system to meet the needs of the time?
• How do we guarantee an entitlement for all learners and at the same time allow scope for innovation and personalisation in the ways we organise learning?

While there is broad consensus about the underlying aims, purposes and values of education, there is also room for debate about the best way to organise learning to achieve our goals.

What is Learning Grid Strategy

F1 Inschools Sdn Bhd initiatives aim to offer students of all ages a chance to get involved in engineering from its basic principles to the design and manufacture of  not limitted to cars, either in model form or as actual track-worthy vehicles that compliments the Malaysia Curriculum Development Centre (PPK), Ministry Education of Education. The transfer of knowledge acquire through the franchise Design & Technology program namely Primary Engineer and Formula One Technology Challenge curriculum.

Each initiative has its own organisation structure but all come under our umbrella; there are, of course, other programmes and competitions which aim to promote engineering, but these are well-established and have proven track records as co-curriculum activity with embedded design & technology curriculum for fun learning and project based management.

A wide range of skills is used by students in each of these initiatives, making them ideal projects on which to focus as part of their overall learning.

Aims and purposes of design and technology

Design and technology offers opportunities for children to:

• develop their designing and making skills;
• develop knowledge and understanding;
• develop their capability to create high quality products through combining their designing and making skills with knowledge and understanding;
• nurture creativity and innovation through designing and making;
• explore values about and attitudes to the made world and how we live and work within it;
• develop an understanding of technological processes, products, and their manufacture, and their contribution to our society.

Content of design and technology at key stages 1 and 2

In design and technology, children acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of:

• materials and components;
• mechanisms and control systems;
• structures;
• existing products;
• quality;
• health and safety.

Children:

• develop designing skills, including generating and developing ideas, clarifying a task, creating design proposals, communicating ideas, planning and evaluating;
• acquire and refine the practical skills associated with making, including working with materials and components, tools and processes, eg planning, measuring and marking out, cutting and shaping, joining and combining, finishing, and evaluating;
• apply scientific skills, eg predicting and fair testing;
• apply mathematical skills, eg measuring to an appropriate number of decimal places, drawing and interpreting tables, graphs and bar charts;
• apply IT skills, eg making things happen by the use of control, handling information through the use of a database or spreadsheet;
• apply art skills, eg investigating texture and colour or recording visual information.

Language and communication

Children:

• develop language skills through questioning, describing and explaining, presenting their own ideas using different kinds of writing suitable for different audiences and through discussion, eg of their ideas, of existing products, and of their work and that of others;
• use technological, scientific and mathematical language including appropriate technical vocabulary and drawing, eg diagrams and charts, to communicate ideas and findings;
• develop drawing skills, eg sketching and formal drawing, and practise specific skills in relation to symbols and conventions;
• seek information and data, and determine what is valuable and what can be used in their work, eg nutritional information, research results, trend analysis;
• read non-fiction texts and extract information, eg from reference books, CD-ROMs and the Internet;
• use correct and precise language. The vocabulary appropriate to describe a concept may change at different stages of a child's development, eg 'up and down movement' at key stage 1, 'linear movement' at key stage 2.

Values and attitudes

Children:

• work both independently and with others, listening to others' ideas and treating these with respect;
• can be creative, flexible and show perseverance;
• critically evaluate existing products, their own work and that of others;
• develop a respect for the environment and for their own health and safety and that of others;
• recognise the strengths and limitations of a range of technologies and appreciate which are appropriate for particular situations;
• develop their cultural awareness and understanding and appreciate the value of differences and similarities;
• develop an understanding that all people are equal regardless of age, race, gender or ability and that there needs to be alternative solutions to meet the needs of individuals and groups of people;
• find enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose through designing and making;
• apply value judgements of an aesthetic, economic, environmental, moral, scientific and technical nature.

Building on children's earlier experiences

Many children will have attended nursery and reception classes where they will have had opportunities to find out and learn about the world they live in. These experiences are likely to have included:

• asking questions about how things work, eg everyday objects;
• talking about what they are doing and what they have discovered;
• learning about a variety of customs and cultures;
• responding to drawings and pictures and drawing their own;
• investigating and using a variety of construction kits, materials, tools and products;
• using a range of materials to express ideas;
• exploring colour, shape, texture and form;
• selecting their own resources;
• developing making skills, eg cutting, folding, mixing, joining, and building for a variety of purposes;
• handling appropriate tools and construction materials safely and with increasing control.

This scheme aims to build on these early experiences.

Expectations

Broad issues of progression can be expressed as expectations for each key stage.

By the end of key stage 1, most children will be able to:

• use a range of materials to design and make simple products;
• select materials, tools and techniques and explain their choices;
• understand simple mechanisms and structures;
• measure, assemble, join and combine materials in a variety of ways using basic tools safely;
• investigate and evaluate simple products, commenting on the main features.

By the end of key stage 2 (10-12 years old), most children will be able to:

• use knowledge and understanding of a range of materials, components and techniques to design and make quality products;
• evaluate work as it develops and, if necessary, suggest alternatives;
• produce designs and plans which list the stages involved in making a product, and list tools and materials used;
• accurately measure, mark, cut, join and combine a variety of materials, working safely and recognising hazards to themselves and others;
• understand the use of electrical and mechanical systems and more complex structures;
• evaluate what is or is not working well in a product.

The Primary Engineer Curriculum  in Primary School

Working in collaboration with the CDC/PPK, the Primary Engineer Challenge is open to primary schools in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore complying the Design & Technology school curriculum. The challenge introduce to primary one to six in schools.

The ‘Primary Engineer Challenge’ comprises of two important elements. The first is in-service training for Key Stage 1 & 2 (KS1&2) primary school teachers. These teachers will be offered this training at Schools. The training will be over twelve hours and will cover essential aspects of Design and Technology focusing on Structures, Mechanisms, and Basic Electrics from the award winning ‘Jinks Technology’ curriculum material. The second element is a competition for girls and boys aged 6 to 12 at local and, if successful, regional levels. Pupils, working in pairs, will have the task of designing and making a Land-Based-Wheeled Vehicle. Teachers will receive certification for completing the course together with entry, for their class, into their local Primary Engineer Challenge.

Construction

Marks will be awarded for:

the selection and imaginative use of both re-cycled and other materials

the practical skills displayed in building the vehicle

the distance the vehicle travels in a straight line from the bottom of the ramp

Vehicle Performance 

Each vehicle will run down a ramp (inclined surface) to determine how far it will travel along the floor of a classroom or hall.  Competitors will locate their vehicle against a starting block at the top of the ramp before releasing it to run down the ramp and along the floor. 

The ramp will be 122cm long and 50cm wide.  There will be rails along each side of the ramp (50mm x 25mm) to prevent vehicles falling off the ramp.  It will be raised to a set height of 20cm at one end with the other end resting on the floor.  There will be a line marked down the centre of the ramp from top to bottom.  Vehicles are expected to run down this line and continue in a straight line until they stop.

Vehicle Design

Each vehicle should be designed and built using materials, tools and mechanisms associated with the Primary Engineer Project (those used on the teacher training courses).

Marks will be awarded for:

annotated freehand, formal and/or computer generated drawings

the selection and imaginative use of materials for the vehicle and switching device

the selection of appropriate mechanisms for their final design

children’s written evaluation of their vehicle

Design & Technology Units

Unit 1A. Moving pictures
Unit 1B. Playgrounds
Unit 1C. Eat more fruit and vegetables
Unit 1D. Homes
Unit 2A. Vehicles
Unit 2B. Puppets
Unit 2C. Winding up
Unit 2D. Joseph's coat
Unit 3A. Packaging
Unit 3B. Sandwich snacks
Unit 3C. Moving monsters
Unit 3D. Photograph frames
Unit 4A. Money containers
Unit 4B. Storybooks
Unit 4C. Torches
Unit 4D. Alarms
Unit 4E. Lighting it up
Unit 5A. Musical instruments
Unit 5B. Bread
Unit 5C. Moving toys
Unit 5D. Biscuits
Unit 6A. Shelters
Unit 6B. Slippers
Unit 6C. Fairground
Unit 6D. Controllable vehicles

Support Resources

Available support resources include books and Interactive whiteboard materials.

The Promethean Interactive Whiteboard materials are comprehensively designed to support the teacher through all stages of the lesson. They are designed to encourage pupils to research, design, test and evaluate their work. Workbooks can be used electronically to form part of a pupil’s e-portfolio or as a paper-based resource which are also available.

CD resources for Interactive WhiteBoard Promethean www.prometheanworld.com

Formula One Technology Challenge in Secondary School

The Formula One Technology Challenge is intended for secondary school students studying design, mathematics, technology, and/or science. With little effort the materials can be made appropriate for younger students, and with slight modifications the materials can be appropriate for a school physical science or physics class.

The gains are exponential: students are engaged, data is relevant, parents are well aware of what is happening at school. The Formula One Technology Challenge is event based and has curb appeal. It is fun. Word in the halls will reach you, and younger students will ask whether they will design and race when they enroll in the class. Be sure to invite them to the races!

Principally, this investigation centers on the physical sciences and includes sufficient structure for the teacher and students to ensure success; yet the parameters are sufficiently broad that all students are engaged.

The Formula One Technology Challenge works well in a heterogeneous class of students. There's no single solution to the challenge, although there are parameters. A variety of tools and techniques afford all students the opportunity to investigate and explore. In many ways, The Formula One Technology Challenge becomes very personal for the students.

F1 in Schools gives students the chance to design and create a model CO2-powered car of the future, testing their skills against other schools in their region, nationally and internationally.

The challenge includes using computer-aided design (CAD) packages for the first stage, transferring the design into computer numerical control (CNC) language using computer-aided manufacture (CAM) software. The car can then be manufactured on CNC machines and then tested by students. The team, of between three and six students, must support the design with a folder of evidence, showing an orthographic projection of the car and a colour isometric drawing or 3D rendering of the team’s final idea.

Teams and teachers can draw on resources from the project to provide them with a design guide offering a tutorial and downloadable files, a manufacture guide, portfolio examples, a virtual wind tunnel tutorial and a list of manufacturing, test and racing centres in their area. If schools don’t have the equipment needed to manufacture the model, they can, through video conferencing, see it done at a manufacturing centre.

Students not only experience the excitement of creating their own racing car in model form, but because familiar with CAD and CAM packages, visualising their ideas in 3D and developing the design for manufacturing. Virtual reality packages allow machining and processing tasks to be practised in real time and in total safety, even if a school doesn’t have CNC hardware. The CAD software is not limitted to car models but to wide variety of any imaginations from handphones to airplanes. The CNC machine able to manufacture with material from soft metal, plastics and wood.

Teaching Design and Technology at Secondary School

The Formula One Technology Challenge integrates physical science, mathematics (data collection, analysis, and graphing), technology, and language (technical writing and english). The discrete disciplines use the design, building, testing, and racing as core experiences. A self-contained teacher (science, mathematics, and so forth) can deliver all the elements or work with colleagues and employ a team management approach. The language (English) teacher could use the writing prompt, "Technical Changes Sheet," to develop technical writing skills. Similarly, the mathematics of data collection, analysis, and graphing are all the more meaningful when the data is relevant to the student.

Effectively, a collegial approach has three advantages:

•Collegiality strengthens the instruction. Each teacher brings strengths to the investigation.

•Collegiality lightens the load. The time on task is shared so that no one teacher is responsible for all elements. The science teacher, for example, has more time to engage students in science because the language teacher is managing the technical writing component.

•Collegiality strengthens teams. If teachers are working on a common investigation, dialogue is frequent and meaningful. We learn from one another. We are more likely to share student learning. We interact more often and more meaningfully. Students will see and, perhaps, emulate this team approach.

Features of progression

Progression in design and technology can be characterised by:

• an increase in knowledge, skills and understanding;
• moving from familiar to unfamiliar concepts;
• meeting needs which demand more complex or difficult solutions;
• an increase in a child's own understanding of their learning.

The Formula One Technology curriculum encompass elements that consist of Research, Design, Analise, Make, Test, Race, Documentation, Marketing and Intellectual property rights.

The design and technology curriculum involves 16 phases tailored for students from Form 1-Form 5 in secondary schools.

Phase 1: Form Team of 2-4 students and Preliminary Activities - 5 hours
Phase 2: SketchDesign (graphics and layout) - 4 hours/ 3D CAD Software from Form 3 onwards
Phase 3: Design Phase - Go/No Go - 1 hour
Phase 4: Car Manufacturing  - 5 hours ( CNC manufacturing starts in Form 4-5)
Phase 5: Collect Data - 1 hour
Phase 6: Trial Phase - Go/No Go - 1 hour
Phase 7: Trial Races - 1 hour
Phase 8: Collect Data - 1 hour
Phase 9: Analyze Data - 2 hours
Phase 10: Propose Technical Changes - 2 hours
Phase 11: Design Modifications and Detail - 4 hours
Phase 12: Race-Ready Phase - Go/No Go - 1 hour
Phase 13: Design and Aesthetic Judging - 1 hour
Phase 14: A Day at the Races - 1 hour (races for all classes 1 day)
Phase 15: Collect Data - 1 hour
Phase 16: Final Documentation Project Submission 10-20 pages A5- 1 hour

Phase 17: Marketing 4Ps ( Form 4-5)

Phase 18: Intellectual property rights ( Form 4-5)

Total: 32 hours ( Form 1-3)

Total: 50 hours ( Form 4-5)

The Land Rover 4 x 4 in Schools Technology Challenge

To design and build a remotely controlled (RF) four wheel drive vehicle that will negotiate challenging road surface obstacles and electronic tests, on a model off-road track that emulates the concept of a Land Rover for higher secondary schools, polythechnics and university.

The Process: Research:

Use ICT.
Investigate ‘web’ information.
What makes a 4 x 4 different?
What is the Land Rover concept?
Remotely controlled commercial vehicles evaluation (teardown).
Component suppliers.

Design: A vehicle:

Using ICT – CAD.
Based on documented research.
To a specification set by Land Rover Engineers.
Incorporating commercially produced and self-build components.
To provide mechanical linkages, suspension, electronic systems, drive systems etc.

Manufacture: The designed vehicle using: 

ICT - CAM/CNC.
Vacuum Forming.
Electronic Solutions.
Printed circuit boards.

Test and Evaluate:

The prototypes.
The Manufactured vehicle against the specification and demonstrate the development.

Compete!

Specification Page

The specification and guidelines of this Challenge are designed not only to mirror a full scale engineering project, but also to test the students in each one of these given areas.

The aim of this challenge is to create a curricular design and make activity, which draws heavily on Engineering, Applied Science, Applied Mathematics, CAD/CAM, Electronics, and ICT. The specification and marking scheme are configured so as to encourage the teams to design and manufacture as many of the individual parts on the vehicle as possible, with the emphasis on design and make skills.

Personnel:

A maximum number of 6 young people in each team with a minimum of 4, all from within the Key Stage 4 age group ( 17-19 years old).

Track:

 The track may or may not also include;

 Simulated sand – this will be a non abrasive material of approximately
 5 mm in diameter.

 Water crossing with a maximum depth of 50 mm.

Wheels and Drive:

The vehicle must be powered by an electric motor or motors. The vehicle must have 4 wheels and all wheels must be driven. The vehicle must be capable of being driven forward and in reverse. Caterpillar tracks are not permitted.

Standard Equipment:  

The only speed controllers and battery packs permitted are those as supplied by 4 x 4 in Schools Ltd in the Starter Pack. These items are also available separately from the starter pack from 4 x 4 in Schools Ltd.

Vehicle Weight:  

There is no weight restriction on the vehicle.

Vehicle Body:  

The vehicle must have a body shell.

Steering:

Must be able to turn left and right, tank or skid - steer is not permitted.

Vehicle Electronics:

The vehicle must have a tilt detection system to trigger lights or a buzzer on the vehicle when the angle of tilt is greater than 25°. The vehicle must have an electronic system to turn on the vehicle lights if the light level drops below a set level (dark). The vehicle must have a system to activate lights and/or a horn that can be triggered by a 38kHz infrared signal from the track. The detector must be mounted on a horizontal top surface of the vehicle.

Scrutineering:

This will take place on the day of the challenge by the organisers and is a check on various elements:

Vehicle Size: 

Maximum dimensions of the vehicle are;

L 350 mm  W200 mm  H200 mm

Length, width and height will be checked. Vehicles failing any dimension will be penalised but not excluded from the Challenge.

Declaration of the R/C frequency being used:

You will be asked not to turn on your transmitter except when it is your turn to compete. You may also be asked to hand in your transmitters at the beginning of the day and only issued with them when it is your turn to compete. The organisers may make additions to the vehicles e.g. the addition of a self-adhesive sensor. The decisions of the scrutineers/stewards will be final; names of stewards will be provided at scrutineering.

Team Accounts Format: Teams are encouraged to seek sponsorship as part of entrepreneurship and marketing as much as possible themselves. If this is not possible they are encouraged to seek donation for parts, finally if this is not possible they should buy in parts. Hence the following should be applied when drawing up accounts:

For more informations please vist the www.f1inschools.com.my or contact:

F1 Inschools Sdn Bhd

Project Director – Ray Choo

Malaysia Franchisee of Formula One Technology Challenge and Primary Engineer

E: info@f1inschools.com.my

M: 012-3239309

Appendices

www.learninggrid.uk.co

www.qca.org.uk

www.primaryengineer.com

www.4x4inschools.co.uk

www.promtheanworld.com