Design and Technology

Course summary

Both science and technology have a fundamental relationship with design. Technology preceded science, but now most technological developments are based on scientific understanding. Traditional technology comprised useful artefacts often with little understanding of the science underpinning their production and use. The application of scientific discovery to solve a problem enables designers to create new technologies and these new technologies, in turn, can impact on the rate of scientific discovery. The aim of the IB Design and Technology course is to foster the skill development required to use new and existing technologies to create new products, services and systems. It achieves a high level of design literacy and students are required to develop critical thinking and design skills, which they can apply in a practical context. While designing may take various forms, it will involve the selective application of knowledge within an ethical framework. The creative tension between theory and practice is what characterises the subject within the Diploma Programme.