Engineering Design

Professional Studies

Courses aligned to the Years 9 to 12 Curriculum Framework belong to one of the five focus areas of Discipline-based Study, Transdisciplinary Projects, Professional Studies, Work-based Learning and Personal Futures.

Engineering Design Level 2 is a Professional Studies course.

Professional Studies bridges academic courses and career-related study to provide learners with a combination of academic and practical knowledge, skills and understanding to pursue a particular pathway of interest. Courses integrate exposure to professional environments, processes and practice through inquiry-based learning. Professional Studies reflect professional processes and standards and provide learners with an equivalent experience to that of someone working within that profession. Professional Studies enhances learners' cognitive capacity, efficacy, creativity and craftsmanship in readiness for higher education, internships, apprenticeships, or work in a designated field of interest. Professional Studies courses connect with recognised professional study pathways and contextually align with key Tasmanian industry sectors.

In this course learners will engage in opportunities to research and appraise existing ideas, products, processes and solutions to problems. They will learn to generate imaginative and creative solutions of their own and communicate their ideas within the parameters and requirements of engineering-based tasks while gaining and applying knowledge of industry standards of design, manufacture and safety. Through practical experiences, learners will learn to use technology to design, test and appraise products, systems and solutions and have the opportunity to identify and articulate further improvements and developments.

Technologies enrich and impact on the lives of people and societies globally. The practical nature of the Technologies learning area engages learners in critical and creative thinking, including understanding interrelationships in systems when solving complex problems. (ACARA, 2021).

The Engineering Design suite provides a flexible framework for learners to engage with engineering principles and systems through integrated Science, Technologies, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) inquiry. Engineering is a broad term covering a wide range of skills and diverse disciplines but fundamentally, engineering is about improving people’s lives through engineered solutions.

The Engineering Design suite encourages learners to become aware of factors that influence innovation and enterprise, and the subsequent success or failure of a product.

Learners will develop a specific skill set that will enable them to confidently explore a challenge or identify an existing problem and develop a solution in an engineering context. They will achieve this through using an engineering design process and gain valuable experience in designing engineered components and in project management.

Learners will learn to generate imaginative and creative solutions of their own. They will communicate their ideas within the parameters and requirements of engineering-based tasks whilst gaining and applying knowledge of industry standards of design, manufacture and safety. Through practical experiences, learners will learn to use technology to design, test and appraise products, systems and solutions and identify and articulate further improvements and developments. 

The purpose of Years 9 to 12 Education is to enable all learners to achieve their potential through Years 9 to 12 and beyond in further study, training or employment.

Years 9 to 12 Education enables personal empowerment, cultural transmission, preparation for citizenship and preparation for work.

This course is built on the principles of access, agency, excellence, balance, support and achievement as part of a range of programs that enables learners to access a diverse and flexible range of learning opportunities suited to their level of readiness, interests and aspirations.

On successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:

1. use design thinking to generate creative ideas in response to an engineering design challenge
2. apply an engineering design process in the development of prototypes
3. use project management strategies when working independently and collaboratively with others
4. apply an engineering design process to test, review and refine engineered solutions against success criteria
5. communicate engineering design decisions and solutions
6. describe the roles and responsibilities of engineers
7. describe the impact of existing, new, and emerging technologies on people and engineering practice
8. explain how engineering solutions are utilised and their impact on society

This course is designed for learners who are interested in studying the design life cycle as it relates to the engineering process. Engineering Design Level 2 builds on learners’ prior learning in Years 9-10 Australian Curriculum: Technologies and Science.

Engineering Design Level 2 may provide background and support for vocational programs within training packages, where some engineering knowledge and experience is useful. It may also provide links with Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs, traineeships and apprenticeships. 

This course may also provide pathways to several Level 3 TASC-accredited courses including: Agricultural Systems, Computer Science, Electronics, Housing and Design, Information Systems and Design Technologies and Physical Sciences.

The general capabilities addressed specifically in this course are:

• Critical and creative thinking
• Ethical understanding
• Information and communication technology capability
• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Personal and social capability

The cross-curriculum priority enabled through this course is:

• Sustainability

This course has a complexity level of 2. 

For a full description of courses at a complexity level of 2, please refer to the Levels of Complexity - Tasmanian Senior Secondary Education document.

This course has a size value of 15. Upon successful completion of this course (i.e., a Preliminary Achievement (PA) award or higher), a learner will gain 15 credit points at Level 2 towards the Participation Standard of the Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE).

This course consists of three 50-hour modules.

Module 1: Understanding the engineering design process

Module 2: Engineering solutions

Module 3: Negotiated design project(s)

Modules 1 and 2 must be delivered before Module 3. There is no further prescribed order.

Scaffolding a design project response in engineering design

Teachers will scaffold initial design challenges more heavily and provide more significant support in sections for learners as they develop their knowledge and skills of working through the design process. Teachers may also combine sections or unpack and further expand sections in their delivery and expectations of the project response in order to meet the needs of their learners. Learners develop their skills in responding to a design brief throughout this course, working towards a more learner-initiated and managed approach in the Module 3 negotiated design project.

Access

Learners enrolled in this course are required to be able to work responsibly and safely in practical situations.

This course requires learners to collaborate with others. This could include peers, community members and industry professionals.

Resource requirements

Delivery of this course requires specialised workspace(s)^Δ and associated facilities for prototypes to be created and tested safely and effectively. Learners need to be able to access a wide range of reliable sources of information about the uses and applications of engineering within the wider community.

^Δ Specialised workspaces may include equipment such as 3D Printers, electronic components and tools, microprocessors, sensors, robotic equipment, CNC routers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters, VR headsets, drones, power and hand tools, construction materials and equipment, computers with appropriate systems requirements and software to enable computer-aided design, operate additive manufacturing equipment and display high-end graphics.

Consumable resources

Providers will make available a basic stock of consumable materials relevant to the engineering context. Additional consumable resources may be required for specific design briefs. 

Module 1: Understanding the engineering design process

Engineering design is a process. It is a way of thinking that is usually represented as a series of steps that guides the problem-solving process from problem identification to the development and improvement of solutions. 

(diagram based on Design Thinking : a non-linear process, Teo Yu Siang, 2016)

Module 1 learning outcomes

The following learning outcomes are a focus of this module:

1. use design thinking to generate creative ideas in response to an engineering design challenge 
2. apply an engineering design process in the development of prototypes
3. use project management strategies when working independently and collaboratively with others
4. apply an engineering design process to test, review and refine engineered solutions against success criteria
5. communicate engineering design decisions and solutions
6. describe the roles and responsibilities of engineers.

Module 1 content

Exposure to professional practice:

• engineering design challenges
• managing projects
• investigate roles and responsibilities of engineers.

Ideation, research, discovery, and integrated learning:

• design thinking and engineering design processes.

Production and sharing replicating professional paradigm:

• communicate with purpose
• solve problems
• prototype
• collaborate
• use a design journal.

Learners will be immersed in the engineering design process and practices through a variety of engineering design challenges. They will unpack the elements of an engineering design cycle, detailed in Appendix 6, and develop an understanding of iterative problem solving. Learners will work with established safety protocols when using a variety of tools and equipment and will develop visual communication skills to communicate their ideas and understandings through the process of design development and the presentation of a final product. In this module learners will investigate the varied roles and professional responsibilities of engineers.  They will investigate the role played by engineers in supporting communities and improving peoples' lives.

Module 1 key knowledge

• think critically and creatively
• design thinking methodologies
• use techniques for recording and reflecting on decision making
• use research techniques
• use visual communication skills including sketching and graphic communication
• use prototyping and product development frameworks, such as rapid prototyping, lean product development, agile product development, design sprints
• use relevant prototype production techniques such as soldering, cutting, coding etc
• operate a range of tools, equipment, and processes to produce practical projects safely
• evaluate engineered solutions using success criteria 
• manage projects.

Module 1 key skills

• critical and creative thinking
• techniques for recording and reflecting on decision making
• research techniques
• visual communication skills including sketching and graphic communication
• prototyping and product development
• relevant prototype production skills such as soldering, cutting, coding etc
• operate a range of tools, equipment, and processes to produce practical projects safely
• analysis using success criteria
• collaboration
• project management skills including time management and self-imposed deadlines.

Module 1 work requirements summary

This module includes the following work requirements:

• a poster or infographic
• one project presentation and an accompanying production diary or equivalent such as a folio or blog.

See Appendix 3 for the specifications of the work requirements of this course.

Module 1 assessment

This module has a focus on criteria 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Module 2: Engineering solutions

In Module 2 learners build upon their understanding of engineering design processes and develop and apply their core understanding and skills using theory related to their specialist area in order to better understand the scientific, mathematical, and technical concepts that explain how engineered products function. In this module, learners will investigate the impact of existing, new and emerging technologies on people and engineering practice.

Module 2 learning outcomes

The following learning outcomes are a focus of this module:

1. use design thinking to generate creative ideas in response to an engineering design challenge 
2. apply an engineering design process in the development of prototypes
3. use project management strategies when working independently and collaboratively with others 
4. apply an engineering design process to test, review and refine engineered solutions against success criteria
5. communicate engineering design decisions and solutions
7. describe the impact of existing, new and emerging technologies on people and engineering practice.

Module 2 content

Exposure to professional practice:

• respond to and create engineering design briefs
• manage projects including identifying objectives, setting targets and timescales, managing resources and carrying out risk assessment
• understand and apply professional standards such as ethical conduct, safe work practices and fundamental principles of intellectual property rights and protection 
• investigate existing, new and emerging technologies.

Ideation, research, discovery and integrated learning:

• design thinking and engineering design processes.

Production and sharing replicating professional paradigm:

• communicate with purpose
• assess and develop engineered solutions
• collaborate
• use a design journal
• produce engineering reports.

Learners will respond to engineering design briefs focusing on a personal, local or global problem. They will communicate using engineering drawing and technical information and identify the science, technology and mathematics that is used to explain the key function of their engineering solutions.

Module 2 key knowledge

• interpret and respond to a design brief
• identify and represent the operation of components and systems in diagrammatic and symbolic form, referring to the applicable science, technology and mathematics principles
• know how engineering solutions are used by people and communities, the impacts they have and how the impacts are managed.

Module 2 key skills

• collect data and perform appropriate manipulations
• apply materials, technique, and technologies to achieve solutions
• apply suitable communication techniques in the development, planning, production and presentation of ideas and projects
• use initiative and organisational skills to work both independently and collaboratively
• use project management skills including time management and self-imposed deadlines.

Module 2 work requirements summary

This module includes the following work requirements:

• one extended research task
• a design process and solution.

See Appendix 3 for the specifications of the work requirements of this course.

Module 2 assessment

This module has a focus on criteria 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7.

Module 3: Negotiated design project(s)

This culminating module provides learners with the opportunity to apply the practical skills and knowledge developed in the previous modules to the study of an area of special interest. This can be undertaken as a class, in groups or individually in consultation with the teacher.

Module 3 learning outcomes

The following learning outcomes are a focus of this module:

1. use design thinking to generate creative ideas in response to an engineering design challenge 
2. apply an engineering design process in the development of prototypes
3. use project management strategies when working independently and collaboratively with others
4. apply a process to test, review and refine engineered solutions against success criteria
5. communicate engineering design decisions and solutions
8. explain how engineering solutions are utilised and their impact on society.

Module 3 content

Exposure to professional practice:

• develop an engineering design brief
• manage projects
• consider the needs of the present with the needs of future generations.

Ideation, research, discovery and integrated learning:

• design thinking and engineering design processes.

Production and sharing replicating professional paradigm:

• communicate with purpose
• appraise, design and create engineered solutions
• collaborate
• produce an engineering design report.

Learners design and produce an engineered solution to a specified design problem, challenge, situation or opportunity.

Learners will develop a design brief, conduct their own research, design and construct a prototype and then perform an evaluation of their final product as outlined in Appendix 6. Learners must consider within their project the ethical, economic, environmental and sustainability factors that may influence design decisions.

Module 3 key knowledge

• components of a design brief
• strategies to achieve an objective
• factors that impact upon engineering design decisions 
• role of innovation and the impact of engineered solutions on society
• iterative engineering design processes
• modes and contexts to articulate the design process in an engineering context.

Module 3 key skills

• collect, assess and interpret data
• apply iterative engineering design processes
• use production processes
• test, review and refine engineered solutions
• reflect on actions and processes
• manage projects, including identifying objectives, setting targets and timescales, managing resources and carrying out risk assessment
• collaborate with others.

Module 3 work requirements summary

This module includes a folio incorporating a negotiated design project as a work requirement.

See Appendix 3 for the full specifications of the work requirements of this course.

Module 3 assessment

This module has a focus on criteria 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8.

Criterion-based assessment is a form of outcomes assessment that identifies the extent of learner achievement at an appropriate end-point of study. Although assessment – as part of the learning program – is continuous, much of it is formative, and is done to help learners identify what they need to do to attain the maximum benefit from their study of the course. Therefore, assessment for summative reporting to TASC will focus on what both teacher and learner understand to reflect end-point achievement.

The standard of achievement each learner attains on each criterion is recorded as a rating ‘A’, ‘B’, or ‘C’, according to the outcomes specified in the standards section of the course.

A ‘t’ notation must be used where a learner demonstrates any achievement against a criterion less than the standard specified for the ‘C’ rating.

A ‘z’ notation is to be used where a learner provides no evidence of achievement at all.

Internal assessment of all criteria will be made by the provider. Providers will report the learner’s rating for each criterion to TASC.

The following processes will be facilitated by TASC to ensure there is:

• a match between the standards of achievement specified in the course and the skills and knowledge demonstrated by individual learners
• community confidence in the integrity and meaning of the qualification.

Process

TASC will verify that the provider’s course delivery and assessment meet the course requirements and community expectations for fairness, integrity and validity of qualifications TASC issues. This will involve checking:

• scope and sequence documentation (Provider Standard 1):
  • course delivery plan
  • course assessment plan (assessment matrix)
• student attendance records (Provider Standard 2)
• examples of assessments tools / instruments, and associated rubrics / marking guides (Provider Standard 3)
• examples of student work, including that related to any work requirements articulated in the course document (Provider Standard 1 and 3)
• class records of assessment (Provider Standard 4).

This process will be scheduled by TASC using a risk-based approach.

Providers must retain electronic copies of each learner’s major folio in a centralised storage system for three (3) years. TASC may require these to monitor the integrity of folios produced in other courses in subsequent years.

The assessment for Engineering Design Level 2 will be based on the degree to which the learner can:

1. apply critical and creative thinking to the design of a solution
2. apply an iterative design cycle to prototype engineering design solutions
3. apply self- and project management skills
4. test, refine and appraise engineered solutions
5. communicate to different audiences using a range of methods
6. describe the roles and responsibilities of engineers
7. describe the impact of existing, new, and emerging technologies on people and engineering practice
8. explain how engineering solutions are utilised and their impact on society

Criterion 1: apply critical and creative thinking to the design of a solution

The learner:

Criterion 2: apply an iterative design cycle to prototype engineering design solutions

The learner:

Criterion 3: apply self- and project management skills

The learner:

Criterion 4: test, refine and appraise engineered solutions

The learner:

Criterion 5: communicate to different audiences using a range of methods

The learner:

Criterion 6: investigate the impact of existing, new and emerging technologies on people and engineering practice

The learner:

Criterion 7: describe the roles and responsibilities of engineers

The learner:

Criterion 8: explain how engineering solutions are utilised and their impact on society

The learner:

Engineering Design Level 2 (with the award of):

EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT (EA)

HIGH ACHIEVEMENT (HA)

COMMENDABLE ACHIEVEMENT (CA)

SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT (SA)

PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT (PA)

The final award will be determined by Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification (TASC) from 8 ratings.

The minimum requirements for an award in Engineering Design Level 2 are as follows:

EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT (EA)

6 ‘A’ ratings, 2 ‘B’ ratings

HIGH ACHIEVEMENT (HA)

3 ‘A’ ratings, 4 ‘B’ ratings, 1 ‘C’ rating

COMMENDABLE ACHIEVEMENT (CA)

4 ‘B’ ratings, 3 ‘C’ ratings

SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT (SA)

6 ‘C’ ratings

PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT (PA)

4 ‘C’ ratings

A learner who otherwise achieves the rating for a CA (Commendable Achievement) or SA (Satisfactory Achievement) award but who fails to show any evidence of achievement in one or more criteria (‘z’ notation) will be issued with a PA (Preliminary Achievement) award.

Version 1. Accredited on 23 September 2021 for use from January 2022 to 31 December 2026. This course replaces Engineering Design Level 2 (EDN215118).

Version 1a. Approved on 4 December 2023. Minor refinements made in the referencing of criteria in Work Requirements. 

Version 1b. Approved on 13 December 2024. Amendments made to re-order and clarify learning outcomes and criteria standards. Minor changes to Module 1 and 2 work requirements.

Line of sight

Alignment to curriculum frameworks

No relevant curriculum frameworks apply to this course.

Work requirements

The work requirements of a course are processes, products or performances that provide a significant demonstration of achievement that is measurable against the course’s standards. Work requirements need not be the sole form of assessment for a module.

Module 1 work requirements specifications

Work requirement 1 of 2

Title of work requirement: Roles and responsibilities of engineers

Mode or format: poster or infographic

Description: identify the key characteristics of engineers, describe how these characteristics apply to the engineer's role in a particular engineering context, that is, civil engineering, software engineering.

Size:1 single-sided A3 page (digital/non-digital)

Timing: no specified timing

External agencies: not required

Focus criteria: 3, 5 and 6.  

Work requirement 2 of 2

Title of work requirement: Engineering design challenge

Mode or format: project presentation and production diary – design process and engineering challenge solution

Description: learners experience the design process by responding to engineering design challenges.

Through this area of study, learners develop an understanding of effective collaboration and how they, as individuals, contribute to project success. They develop skills in prototyping, product development and project management within specific constraints such as resource, time and relative complexity of the project.

Size: recommended maximum is 750 words or 5 minutes of recorded oral communication, or equivalent in multimodal form.

Timing: no specified timing. Learners may have the opportunity to undertake multiple mini design challenges throughout Module 1.

External agencies: not required

Focus criteria: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Module 2 work requirements specifications

Work requirement 1 of 2

Title of work requirement: Research task - existing, new, and emerging technologies

Mode or format: extended response

Description: investigation of the impacts of existing, new and emerging technologies, for example, the development of the mobile phone.

Size: recommended maximum of 500 words or 3 minutes of recorded oral communication, or equivalent in multimodal form.

Timing: no specified timing

External agencies: not required

Focus criteria: 3, 5 and 7. 

Work requirement 2 of 2

Title of work requirement: Learner-selected engineering design project

Mode or format: project and accompanying design journal

Description: learners are required to keep a journal to document the elements of the engineering design process as they develop their chosen engineering solution including:

• a description of the science, technology, and mathematics (using scientific symbols, diagrams, and formula where appropriate) that are used to explain the key function of the engineering solution
• a plan to collect data to assess the solution:
• data collected and represented to enable interpretation
• reasoned conclusions made from the testing process using scientific, technological, and mathematical theory and the data collected

It is expected that this process will form an inquiry cycle where the application of science, technology and mathematics is used to inform choices including data collection, and refinements are made through an iterative process. The completed diary entries should reflect this process and document the learner’s evolution of knowledge and exploration, including the role and value of failure when engineering systems do not behave as expected.

Size: recommended maximum of 750 words or 5 minutes of recorded oral communication, or equivalent in multimodal form

Timing: no specified timing. 

External agencies: not required

Focus criteria: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. 

Module 3 work requirements specifications

Work requirement 1 of 1

Title of work requirement: Negotiated engineering design project

Mode or format: folio – design and production

Description: design and production of an engineered solution to a specified project brief as provided by the course instructor. 

The process that learners have followed must be documented in a production diary. The production diary must be presented as a design folio, including:

• problem identification and analysis
• project plan
• iterative testing plans and implementation
• a discussion of where the engineering solution could be used in society, the impacts it has, and how those impacts are managed.

This is to be presented in an appropriate format including evidence of design development sketching and annotated photos of production process and documentation of testing processes. 

Providers must retain electronic copies of each learner’s major folio in a centralised storage system for three (3) years. TASC may require these to monitor the integrity of folios produced in other courses in subsequent years.

Size: recommended 40 hours

Timing: this is the major task for this module.

External agencies: not required

Focus criteria: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8.

General capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities

Learning across the curriculum content, including the cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities, assists students to achieve the broad learning outcomes defined in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (December 2019).

General capabilities
The general capabilities play a significant role in the Australian Curriculum in equipping young Australians to live and work successfully in the twenty-first century.

In the Australian Curriculum, capability encompasses knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions. Students develop capability when they apply knowledge and skills confidently, effectively and appropriately in complex and changing circumstances, in their learning at school and in their lives outside school.

The general capabilities include:

• Critical and creative thinking
• Ethical understanding
• Information and communication technology capability
• Intercultural understanding
• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Personal and social capability

Cross-curriculum priorities

Cross-curriculum priorities enable students to develop an understanding about and address the contemporary issues they face, for their own benefit and for the benefit of Australia as a whole. The priorities provide national, regional and global dimensions which will enrich the curriculum through development of considered and focused content that fits naturally within learning areas. Incorporation of the priorities will encourage conversations between students, teachers and the wider community.

The cross-curriculum priorities include:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
• Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
• Sustainability

Glossary

Engineering design process

Engineering design is a process. It is a way of thinking that is usually represented as a series of steps that guides the problem-solving process from problem identification to the development and improvement of solutions. 

Engineering design is iterative. The steps of the engineering process are not always followed in sequence, and will vary depending on the project itself, allowing for steps to be repeated enabling lessons to be learnt from failures and improvements to be made to develop the best possible solution. 

Engineers use a design process to define the problem and brainstorm ideas before creating a prototype to test that is then modified and improved until the solution meets the needs of the project. 

The process allows for the application of science, mathematics and engineering concepts to be used to achieve a high level of optimisation to meet the requirements of an objective. There are numerous versions of an engineering design process. Typical steps include problem solving processes such as those identified below.

(diagram based on Design Thinking : a non-linear process, Teo Yu Siang, 2016)

Design brief

The brief is usually the starting point of a design and is a statement of the project’s purpose and the need it is being designed to fulfil. This details the requirements of the project or can be an explanation of a design problem to unpack and work from. The brief forms part of the criteria by which the final design solution is appraised. Learners will begin by having design briefs given to them to work from and work up to developing their own design brief for their final project.

Research

Research involves the collection of information, including data and background information to assist in the understanding of the brief and development of the design solution. This can include research to:

• further understand the intended design scenario or audience
• consider existing similar products, problems or solutions
• develop understanding of technologies that might be used in the product development phase.

Generation, development and refinement of ideas

This includes preliminary sketch designs and concept designs drawn as sketches with annotations which relate back to the brief and needs. Following on from sketches this can also include photographs of prototypes. This documents the learner’s design progression, reflection and refinement of ideas. This is part of the iterative approach which can cycle back through further research to inform concept development and testing of product development which may then go back to the development stage to further refine concepts.

Production

This shows the development of the designed solution. There needs to be evidence of decision making that gives reasoning for final design decisions.  This section should include well annotated drawings or photos of the development of the final solution.

Appraisal

An appraisal reflecting on how well the brief and aims have been met by the final design, identifying any aims that have not been fully resolved.

References

Learners must reference all images, information, ideas and words which they use that are not their own creation. Images include, but are not limited to, pictures, tables, graphs, charts and graphics. This includes creations that are based on the works of others that learners manipulate, edit or otherwise transform.