Posts Tagged technology
Practical Craft Skills, 27 August 2010
Posted by Jim Black in Practical Craft Skills on August 28, 2010
These photos were taken by Dom Okigbo and James Lowe during a Friday double block. Daniel and Darren were absent from class.
This session, for the first time, we have two senior Practical Craft Skills classes, being taken by Mr Allan and myself. Currently, there are twenty-eight pupils on the course, down from a starting figure of thirty-four, as pupils have left school or re-coursed.
This session, I hope to make time to submit bowl and cook book stand projects to SQA for pre-verification. Together, they will replace the standard course project covering machining. I also hope to submit an Intermediate 1 level wind chime, as a final project. I’ll post examples here in due course.
You’ll see examples of Practical Craft Skills work from previous years over at our main departmental web site.
Class 1j Building Bookends
Posted by Jim Black in Uncategorized on April 30, 2010
Afton Davidson took this batch of workshop photos on 28 April, while most of her classmates were building bookends.
This is the class’s second practical project. The first was a wind chime.
Technical Drawing
Posted by Jim Black in technical drawing on October 19, 2009
Technical drawing in progress in Mrs Hislop's Higher Graphics class
Some of the girls in Mrs Hislop's Higher Graphics class
Higher Graphics interpenetration orthographic
We currently run Graphic Communication at Standard, Higher and Advanced Higher grades, and traditional technical drawing is still a major part of these courses.
With the new ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ subjects beginning to be rolled out over the next few years, will SQA use the reorganisation to reduce or completely remove technical drawing from the courses on offer? Just how useful is the skill out in industry? There’s no doubt that doing technical drawing helps pupils learn to read orthographic layouts, and I expect that reading drawings is a useful skill out in industry. However, interpreting drawings could be learned without actually drawing with a pencil and instruments. Additionally, industries are moving towards a workflow that goes direct to 3D CAD design, cutting out the need for ortho drawings / printed drawings.
A reduction in the time spent on technical drawing would allow time for pupils to learn such skills as:
Animation; 3D graphics for video games and product simulations; web design; 3D CAD for CAM; video recording, editing and compositing; more in-depth DTP and illustration skills.
We’re dabbling in most of the above skills, but as things stand there are limited opportunities to tie some of them in to SQA graphics courses, to allow pupils to gain credit for their work. In some cases we’re interpreting the current arrangements documents in unusual ways to do so.
Jim
Myrna MacLeod, Napier University Graphics Tutor
Posted by Jim Black in Guest Speakers on October 3, 2009
Myrna discussing her students' booklet designs.
Myrna is the lead tutor on the BDes(Hons) Graphic Design course at Napier University. She visited us on 01 October to deliver a presentation about the course.
Myrna brought along lots of work by current students on the course, including display boards and booklets. She also made use of students’ portfolio sites and blogs to show off their work.
Some of the key / interesting pieces of information she divulged:
- The number of applicants versus number of places is rising each year and is currently around 10:1. The figure will probably continue to rise.
- A good pass at Higher Art & Design is the most important entry qualification for those applying direct from school. Higher Graphic Communication is not a requirement.
- The course includes a fair amount of theory / essay writing, and applicants require to have a ‘C’ pass at Higher English. The requirement may rise to a ‘B’ pass in future.
- This year’s first year intake was thirty-two, up from twenty-four last year.
- Students are worked very hard, with demanding deadlines and high standards. The course is not suitable for those who aren’t committed to design.
- First year is a common course with other design degree courses such as product design. Specialisation commences in second year.
- Although students learn a wide range of technologies, drawing and the ability to draw, remains at the heart of the course.
- Currently, the availability and relative inexpense of ‘on-demand’ printing has made the production of booklets and books a popular presentation format.
- Post cards are another popular presentation format at present on the course.
- Students are required to create and maintain portfolio web sites and blogs.
- The course includes overseas placements at partner universities. Current third year students will soon be off to cities in Canada, Israel, France and USA, among others.
Jim
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