Design Technology Innovation
International AS/A Level
2-year Course (Subject to validation)
Course Overview
The LRN ‘Design, Technology, Innovation’ International AS/A Level course is designed to provide students with a foundational understanding of creative problem solving through innovative and technological design solutions. The curriculum will guide students through various stages of creative and technical development, from foundational skill-building to more advanced project work, ensuring they graduate with a portfolio that is both technically impressive and conceptually rich. The academic structure offers a rigorous yet flexible approach that combines technical know-how with hands-on practice, engaging with materials, processes, and theoretical concepts. Students will navigate through a series of iterative units and projects created to introduce contemporary technologies, platforms and formats supporting practical and conceptual development and skill sets. The course will be delivered and taught through a blend of onsite and online delivery with Chinese and Western tutors. The course will require students to develop and enhance their language skills as well as their creative practice. Individual expression is a key aspect of the learning process, developed through sustained practical, theoretical, conceptual and technical engagement, coupled with cycles of critical reflection and analysis. The learning journey will support students to gain a firm foundation of discipline specific practices and processes, combining digital and analogue working methods and approaches, alongside coproduction activities and collective problem solving. The curriculum emphasises the importance of research and contextual studies, encouraging students to examine technological innovation, influential global practitioners and practices that inform contemporary design technology disciplines. This theoretical grounding not only enriches students understanding of their own work within a broader context but also strengthens their ability to analyse and discuss their creative development - a skill highly valued in higher education interviews and personal statements. Throughout the course, students benefit from one-on-one mentorship and group critiques, both of which play a pivotal role in refining their portfolios. Tutors will provide guidance, helping each student identify their strengths and areas for improvement. Group discussion and feedback facilitate a collaborative working environment where students can exchange diverse perspectives, mirroring the multicultural interactions they will encounter in international educational contexts. As the course progresses, students progress through a selection of specific specialisms, supporting insight into key technological disciplines and practices that will inform their progression to the final stage. The Final Major Project is where the students apply all the foundational skills to more complex, self-directed approaches and outcomes. Students will focus on curating and presenting their work in a professional format, receiving guidance on selecting, organising, and refining outcomes, facilitating cohesive portfolios that reflect their growth, individuality, and readiness for higher education. Each of the units and briefs that form the curriculum have been designed to support portfolio development, facilitating students to generate bodies of work that reflect their unique creativity and innovative design technology potential. The course equips students with not only the tools to succeed in their studies but also to create a portfolio that stands out in an increasingly globalised art and design landscape. By the end of this course, students will have developed sound technical, practical, conceptual and critical skills positioning them competitively for applications to Higher Education, vocational courses, apprenticeships, and careers in art and design.
Curriculum
The curriculum structure is designed around a 2-year experience, which will support engagement with a range of innovative technological approaches and design thinking. Each of the units (Identify, Investigate, Interrogate, Innovate) provide a structured framework that supports the learning and guides the students through each stage of the course. The curriculum design equips students with not only the tools to succeed in their studies but also to create a portfolio that stands out in an increasingly globalised art educational landscape. By the end of this course, students will have developed sound technical/practical and critical skills positioning them competitively for applications to Higher Education, vocational courses, apprenticeships, and careers in design technology disciplines. The Curriculum will support students to: ● Master fundamental design technology skills, practices, knowledge and understanding. ● Explore creative problem-solving through project-based learning, where critical thinking and innovation are nurtured. ● Engage with international perspectives in design technology practice, and creative expression. ● Expand capabilities in independent and collaborative problem-solving ● Build a comprehensive portfolio that showcases technical proficiency, originality, and conceptual depth, aligned with the requirements of premier international universities.
Aims and Outcomes
Aims ● Providing foundation in design technology principles and practices ● Introduce research and reflection skills and concepts ● Introduce cultural and historical foundations and key practitioners ● Provide a supportive environment for enquiry and debate ● Encourage intellectual and personal development ● Facilitate awareness of ethical and socially aware practices ● Facilitate portfolio development supporting progression towards future study in higher education Outcomes ● Develop ideas and concepts through sustained and focused investigations ● Develop key technical, practical and conceptual design technology skills ● Develop skills with research, analysis, critical thinking and problem-solving ● Understand specialist subjects within design technology specialisms ● Utilise independent learning to support development ● Engage with collaborative practice and co-production ● Demonstrate resilience and the ability to engage with uncertainty, flexibility and decision making ● Use practice-based learning to generate, refine and resolve creative technological outcomes ● Build a portfolio of work supporting progression to future study in Higher Education
Learning & Teaching
The course utilises a curriculum that is focused on tacit learning and project-centred approaches to design technology practice. Each of the course units introduces projects that will support the students in developing bodies of work within various technical specialisms and disciplines. ● Blending of theory and practice ● Rigorous and in-depth ability to use research and experimentation ● Develop personal approaches to creative design technology ● Develop independent learning skills ● Collaboration and co-production ● Creative problem solving ● Synchronous and asynchronous modes of learning.
Year 1
The first year of the course introduces key design technology processes and practices through a series of linked units, briefs, workshops and lectures. The structure will provide a technical, practical, conceptual and theoretical foundation for study across a range of interconnected disciplines and specialisms. Unit 1: Identify (25% of final grade) This is the first unit of the course and will introduce the students to a range of disciplines and skill sets that are key aspects of creative computational study. The unit will support the students to engage with a series of specialist disciplines through distinct briefs and aligned workshops, lectures and tutorials. Students will rotate between specialist areas, experimenting with the key aspects of each practice and discipline. The practical and technical indicative content may include: Creative computing, Arduino and basic robotics, AR, VR, open-sourced software, coding and user generated UX/UI. Unit 2: Investigate (25% of final grade) This unit adds to the skill sets acquired in the previous units and projects and requires the students to enhance their research skills and further develop their skills with innovative thinking, problem solving and critical reflection. Students will explore ways to reinterpret and represent primary data and secondary research material to generate original, unique and innovative outcomes and ways to visualise data. The unit will scaffold learning and enable students to express outcomes sensorially, or experientially synthesising conceptual ideation with technological know-how and practical problem solving. The practical and technical indicative content may include: Snapseed, Canva, Photopea, Hydra. Students will explore and experiment with materials and techniques to create innovative outcomes. The Year 1 programme will also support the development of personal skills with research and analysis, and an ability to utilise independent study to support development and creative progress. * Students exiting the course after the first year will receive an AS certification in Design Technology Innovation, upon successful completion.
Year 2
The second year of the course builds on the learning; teaching forming the first year of study and expands students; engagement with core technological processes and practices and essential problem-solving skills. The units, culminating in the Final Major Project will equip students to identify personal creative skills and support diagnosis of potential directions and intentions for future study. Unit 3: Interrogate (25% of final grade) This unit expands the notion of research-into-practice as a required and valuable working methodology that facilitates subject specific knowledge and an immersive attitude regarding personal progression. The technical aspects of the unit will require students to engage with contemporary media and technology mediums to reimagine traditional stories through new and original narratives. The practical and technical indicative content may include: Glitch, Capcut, OBS Studio. Unit 4: Innovate (25% of final grade) The final unit of the course requires the students to select specific disciplines and processes to inform and guide the technical, conceptual and practical approach to their Final Major Project (FMP). The (FMP) will identify the student’s trajectory and choice in selecting their preferred discipline and highlight their engagement with the aligned skills that showcase their abilities through the self-directed project/s and final outcomes. The FMP can be a single project with a distinct output, or a culmination of smaller projects collated and curated into one submission. * Students exiting the course after the second year will receive an A Level Design Technology Innovation, upon successful completion.
Summary
The curriculum will facilitate engagement with a range of contemporary technologies, platforms, formats, Apps and pipelines supporting discipline specific technical skills and knowledge. The ability to create innovative solutions using computational technologies, is a transferable skill that can be applied to a range of practices and disciplines and is an essential aspect of contemporary international education and professional industry practices. The qualification is awarded by Learning Resource Network (LRN) who are an Internationally recognised body awarding AS/A Level certification.