Design and Technology FAQ

What is the LJ Create Design and Technology Program?

The Design and Technology program is a set of short project-based courses designed to
give students a taste of how science, technology, engineering, and math concepts are
applied in a wide range of different career clusters; not just in STEM, but also in
manufacturing, energy, agriculture, health, transport and logistics, and Information
technology. The projects help to make the students career-aware and will allow students to
develop their interests and options as they move into later grades and make choices about
careers and college courses.
The Design and Technology Program:
 Gives students a foundation in a wide range of Career Clusters
 Aimed at students in Gr6 through Gr10
 Suitable for students of all abilities and aptitudes
 Helps Integrates academic subjects, technical skills and knowledge, and 21 st Century
Skills.
 Has been Mapped to educational standards
Students experience academic subjects and disciplines via inquiry and problem solving in
specific career pathways, they “learn by doing” with practical applications, such as hands
on activities, projects and problem based learning. They practice team work and
collaboration with group projects. They use technology as a tool.
Each project is designed to last 15 hours and includes: a pretest, a series of lessons, a final
project, and a post test.
The Design and Technology Program is a project-based program. Students work on projects
as part of a multidisciplinary team to produce a solution to a real world problem. The
project-based nature of the program gives students the opportunity to:
 Learn, develop and apply academic skills and knowledge.
 Gain a foundation in STEM based career pathways.
 Develop “21st Century Skills” such as critical thinking and problem solving,
communication, collaboration, and creativity .
How can the Design and Technology be used?
The Design and Technology Program is a flexible program and can be organized into 60 hr,
90 hr, 120 hr, 180 hr programs and more. The Design and technology program can be, and
has been, used in a range of different scenarios:

 A Foundational Career and Technical Education program (MS or HS)

 A Grade 9 and 10 CTE program ( E.g. TX concepts of engineering/ technology)
 An Introductory Exploring STEM program
 To meet the Engineering Design elements of the NGSS
 An introductory robotics program
 A program for Grade 6 gifted and talented students
 A Pre- Engineering course
In what order should I teach the Design and Technology courses?
The Engineering design course should be the first course that students study. In the
Engineering Design course, students will learn about how to use the Engineering Design
process as a method of problem solving. We would also recommend that the mechatronics
course be run as the second course. The first two courses should ideally be run as a whole
class activity.
Once these two courses are completed, then the options are:
1. Work though other courses as a whole class
2. Work through the other courses as part of a rotation system. This is particularly
relevant when only single sets of hardware are available (more economical)
3. Allow students to pick their courses based on their own interest.

What hardware do I need to run the Design and Technology courses?

The hardware requirements for each course are listed below:

Course
Engineering Design
Mechatronics
Industrial Robotics
Biomedical Technology
Construction Engineering
Transportation Technology
Agricultural Technology
Mobile Robotics
Generating Energy
Manufacturing Technology
Rapid Manufacturing
Energy in Buildings
Mass Transportation
Electronics Technology
Computer Science
(Mechatronics)
Computer Science (Robotics)
Programming Robots
Equipment
Engineering Construction Kit
Engineering Construction Kit + Fluid Power Student Resource Pack
Engineering Construction Kit
Biomedical Technology Kit + Engineering Construction Kit
Structures and Materials Teaching Set
Engineering Construction Kit
Engineering Construction Kit
Engineering Construction Kit
Sustainable Energy Production Student Resource Pack
Injection Molding Trainer
Injection Molding Trainer + 3D Printer
Green Energy in Buildings Trainer + Engineering Construction Kit
Research and Design Teaching Set
Electronic Circuits Trainer Teaching Set
Engineering Construction Kit
Educational Robotics Invention Kit
Educational Robotics Invention Kit
Is the Design and Technology Program suitable for a wide range of students?
The Design and Technology program has been designed to be accessible to all types of
students, not just those students that will go on to an engineering degree.
LJ Create has taken a very inclusive approach to project-based instruction and curriculum
design. We have integrated the type of support and help that would traditionally be
provided by the instructor or the teacher into an adaptive on-demand system. This support
system provides students with relevant support, as and when they need it.
Examples of support include:

 Fundamental science principles

 Mathematics
 English Language Arts
 Practical skills
 Programming support
The support lessons do not provide the students with a solution to their problem, but will
show a student examples that may form part of the project solution, or a solution to a
different problem that they can adapt.
Does the Design and Technology program include Extension activities?
Each of the courses contains a final capstone project for students to apply what they have
learned in the course. In addition to this, there are a number of extension projects which
require students to utilize the resources of a fab lab/ makerspace.
The Design and Technology program includes access to the LJ Create Exploring STEM
Library content, consisting of over 4000 learning components. If students want to take
their study of, for example, electronics further there are additional resources for them to
access.
Should students work individually or in groups?
Due to the project-based nature of the Design and Technology program students would
work through each course in small groups (3- 4).
Working in groups students can work as part of a multidisciplinary team; students can be
assigned or can choose specific roles as part of the project team. Some examples of
specific roles are listed below :

Role Description
Project Responsible for coordinating the project and making sure the solution
Coordinator meets the brief and is completed on time.
Programmer Responsible for developing programs for the project.
Responsible for documenting and presenting all aspects of the project
Communications
work.
Builder/ Architect Responsible for the physical design and construction of models.
Responsible for making sure all of the correct equipment and resources are
Inventory Control
available to solve the project.
Tester Responsible for testing and evaluating designs.

Presentations and assessments can be carried out individually.

Do teachers require training to run the Design and Technology Program?
There are no mandatory training requirements to run the Design and Technology program,
however to get the most out of running the program with your students we recommend
training. LJ Create provides professional development courses including a one-day training
session or a full 3-day training course.
In addition to training, the Design and Technology curriculum includes extensive teacher
resources, including:

 A detailed Program Guide, which includes an outline of each course and some typical
course sequences

 Lesson organization notes for planning

 Lesson plans

 Answer guides

 Sample completed projects

How is the curriculum delivered and tracked?

The Design and Technology courses are delivered using the LJ Create Learning
management system (LMS). The LMS is a cloud based system that provides delivery of the
curriculum, automatically tracks and records the progress of your students, and provides
reporting of student progress.
You can access the cloud from anywhere that you have an Internet connection and a web
browser. What’s more, the learning content updates automatically whenever we make
changes to keep it up to date.
Who are LJ Create?
LJ Create has been providing award-winning, world-class active learning solutions for
technical education for over 35 years. Today we create complete systems combining digital
cloud content and tailor-made hardware kits that deliver innovative, inspiring learning in
science, technology, and engineering.
Our mission is to enable learners throughout the world to achieve their full
potential in a wide range of science and engineering areas by providing teaching
solutions for schools and further education.
Our U.S. office is in Orlando, Florida.
Address:
LJ Create Inc
2400 Lake Orange Drive
Suite 105
Orlando FL 32837
United States

Get in Touch:
Telephone: 1-800-237-3482
Email: info@ljcreate.com
Fax: 407-250-5891