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VOL 28.1 | AUGUST 2019 TECH NOTES JOURNAL In this issue STEM programs for students: Model Solar Boat Challenge, VEX Robotics, Robogals and SolarBuddy Teacher professional learning: Design thinking Community: TOM: Melbourne Makeathon at FAB9 ISSN 2206-3331 Contents Welcome to Technotes, August 2019 A message from Joanne Heide, President of DATTA Vic 5 Letter to the editor An extract from the response to the Victorian Auditor-General’s report on teacher professional learning, given on behalf of the Council of Professional Teachers’ Associations of Victoria (CPTAV) by President Dr Deb Hull on 27 February 2019 6 Updates: news briefs So You Think You Can Design 9 Victorian Premier’s Design Award 9 NGV Contemporary 10 NGV forthcoming exhibitions 10 STEM programs for students Model Solar Vehicle Challenge 11 VEX Robotics World Champs from Templestowe College 14 Celebrating a successful partnership: Akorn Educational Services working with Robogals to promote an understanding of engineering 17 SolarBuddy 20 Teacher professional learning Design thinking 21 The Future of Design and Technology Education 24 The Design and Technology Teachers’ Association and International Research Conference (DATTArc) 2018 26 Top Designs Exhibition 2019 Product Design and Technology SAT – Medication/tablet retriever 28 Systems Engineering SAT – Fully automated mop 30 Systems Engineering SAT – Remote controlled crane 32 Don’t be regular be BOLD (Fashion) – republished from BOLD magazine 35 Community Meet Mat Bowtell, engineer and assistive devices innovator 40 The 2019 TOM: Melbourne Makeathon 44 FAB9 makerspace 46 DATTA Vic Educator of the Year Awards 50 Book reviews The Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions 53 100 Ideas that Changed Design 53 Technologies Education for the Primary Years 54 BONUS OFFER BUY 4 SETS GET 1 SET FREE SAVE $$$$$$$$$$ Choose your LEGO Education Set BONUS NOW Valid May 1st - August 31st 2019 (Not available with any other discounted pack offer. 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Code BE5: 4 X 45544 EV3 Core Sets + 1 X 45544 Code BX5: 4 X 45560 Expansion Set + 1 X 45560 WAS $3350 NOW $2680 ex gst WAS $900 NOW $720 ex gst 45544 EV3 Core Set 45560 EV3 Expansion Set Code BW5: 4 X 45300 WeDo 2.0 + 1 X 45300 Code BM5: 4 X 9686 Powered Mech Set + 1 X 9686 WAS $1400 NOW $1120 ex gst WAS $1500 NOW $1200 ex gst 9686 Powered Mech Set 45300 WeDo 2.0 Set Freecall: 1800 684 068 [email protected] www.mooreed.com.au Technotes: Vol 28 No 1 2019 DATTA Vic – ABN: 97 353 363 318 ARN: A00145751G The Dream Factory, Level 2, 90 Maribyrnong Street, Footscray 3011 Technotes is a membership service of Design and Technology Teachers’ Association (DATTA Vic) Phone: (03) 9349 5809 (Executive/Education Officer) and (03) 9349 1538 (Office Administration) Website: www.datta.vic.edu.au Email: [email protected] (workshop, conference and general enquiries) or [email protected] (admin, membership and finance enquiries) ISSN: 2206-3331 Contributions, including letters to the editor, articles and resources are welcomed and should be sent to the editor at DATTA Vic. While every care is taken, we accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the statements, opinions or advice contained in the text and advertisements. The information contained in this journal is in no way associated with or endorsed by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) or the Department of Education and Training (DET). Suggested approaches to VCE assessment and the implementation of VCE study designs contained in this journal are the opinions of the authors only. While every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of all articles, in some cases this may not have been possible. The editor would be pleased to hear from rightful owners in such cases to redress this. Material presented in this publication is presented for the benefit of DATTA Vic members and newsletter subscribers. Therefore, the editor does not enforce copyright on most of the materials provided within schools, institutions or associations where the members/subscribers work. From time to time, material is represented which has copyright limitations clearly indicated. Reprinting of such material can only be done with due regard to the current legislation relevant to copyright. DATTA Board President: Joanne Heide Vice Presidents: Jill Livett and Michael Essex Secretary: David Fletcher Treasurer: Travis Burroughs General committee members Jacinta O’Leary, Rohan Bevan, Zowie Moselen, Peter Murphy, Michael Slinger, Tony Herceg DATTA Vic staff Executive/Education Officer: Laura Murphy Office Administrator: Hannah Lewincamp Editor: Lorraine Tran Graphic design: Kim Daly Cover photo: 2018 International Champions of the Model Solar Open Boat Challenge from Mt Monica’s College, Epping: Paris Mascetti, Ross Alexopoulos and Natalie Straube proudly display their trophy, model solar boat and certificate. Image supplied. DATTA Vic acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of the land and pays respect to their Elders past, present and emerging. Welcome to Technotes, August 2019 A message from Joanne Heide, President of DATTA Vic Welcome to the 2019 edition of DATTA Vic’s journal, Technotes. Student exhibitors in Top Designs 2019 discuss their VCE Product Thank you to all those who contributed to this edition by sharing Design and Technology and Systems Engineering products information about their organisations, programs and projects, along with comments from their teachers. We are most grateful ideas and experiences. to BOLD magazine and headspace Mildura for allowing us to reproduce an article about the design process and fashion garment Lorraine Tran, the Technotes content manager and editor again produced by Grayce Norton, from St Joseph’s College, Mildura. took on the role of contacting teachers, students and others in the community to source a variety of articles and images of interest In the ‘Community’ section read about how design and technology to Design and Technology and Systems Engineering teachers. is being used for social good including a heartwarming story by multiple award winner Mat Bowtell about how he developed In this issue, you can read CPTAV’s response to the his charity, Free 3D Hands following the closure of Toyota, where Auditor‑General’s report on teacher professional learning. he was employed as an engineer. Learn about a new facility FAB9 Find out the latest news about So You Think You Can Design, – a makerspace that has opened at the Dream Factory in Footscray the Premier’s Design Award and from the NGV. There is a report and the 2019 TOM: Melbourne Makeathon for Assistive by Associate Professor Dr Kurt Seemann about the proceedings Technologies that was held there recently. and latest research being done from the Design and Technology Teachers’ Association and International Research Conference Meet the dedicated and innovative DATTA Vic Award recipients (DATTArc) held in December 2018 along with the main points of the Primary and Secondary Educators of the Year Award, from Peter Murphy’s keynote presentation on the Future of Design and the New to Teaching Award. and Technology Education at the conference. I attended and Thanks to Laura Murphy at DATTA Vic and Jill Livett, DATTA Vic have provided an article on a Design Thinking Masterclass Vice President, for their guidance and support in helping to bring conducted at Monash University earlier in the year. this issue of Technotes to fruition. There are some great STEM focused programs being conducted We hope you enjoy reading the articles and viewing the images in schools that you may be interested in learning more about. in this edition. If you have any ideas for articles for future editions In our cover story, St Monica’s College Epping students who gained that you’d like to share with your colleagues, we’d love to hear first place in the Australian International Model Solar Challenge about them! Please contact Laura at DATTA Vic if you’d like 2018 in the Model Solar Open Boat Challenge section, along more information. with their teacher, tell us about their boat and experiences in the competition. An all-girls team from Templestowe College recently Happy reading and all the best for the remainder of 2019. competed in Kentucky and won the World Championship of the VEX Robotics Competition. Their teacher, Rianne Burroughs Joanne Heide tells us about their amazing victory. Also included are reports President, DATTA Vic on Robogals, a program that encourages female students to learn more about engineering. Participants in the SolarBuddy program learn about energy poverty, renewable energy, global citizenship and make a solar light to donate to a child in a remote community. TECHNOTES | 5 I am quoting here from the report: ‘This audit did not examine Letter to the editor the efficacy of a specific initiative, rather, we evaluated whether VIT and DET have a clear and accurate understanding of the professional learning that occurs in government schools, including its planning, cost, and impact.’ Despite this, the Auditor-General did refer to conferences and seminars. Twice in the whole report. Briefly. Firstly: ‘Research suggests that traditional professional learning activities, such as conferences and seminars, have limited long-term effectiveness because they passively convey information with minimal follow-up. These once-off, generic events often occur outside the classroom and have limited capacity to explore the diverse needs of every teacher.’ An extract from the response to the Victorian There was no reference provided for this research, so there is Auditor‑General’s report on teacher professional no way to assess whether it is relevant or applicable to all types learning, given on behalf of the Council of of conferences and seminars, or whether the methodology or the Professional Teachers’ Associations of Victoria research questions addressed the kind of professional learning (CPTAV) by President Dr Deb Hull on 27 February 2019.