Looking ahead in Branksome Hall Asia Design for This Year
The Branksome Hall Asia Design Department has engendered much enthusiasm and energy so far this year, as each of our programs has brought exciting news and developments to share.
We welcomed 20 students into year one of our DP Design and Technology program. This makes our program the largest in Korea, and one of the largest in Asia. That we are an all-girls school with such great interest in this field is even more exciting and highlights the passion our students have for the subject of Design Technology
Our new DP DT students have begun the year by exploring some of the foundational concepts of product design: ergonomics and inclusive design. Ergonomics is the study of how the user interacts with the physical world around us. Students will learn how to gather and analyze data, and make design decisions based on this. Central to this decision-making is the concept of inclusiveness. Designers need to understand how to design in a way that includes users of a wide range and abilities. As students continue through the course, they will continually refer back to these concepts to refine their thinking about solving design problems.
The Class of 2021 graduates have completed their user research and are now starting the ideation and design stage of their design project. This project is their culminating project for DP Design Technology and is their opportunity to synthesize their knowledge and skills to create a unique solution to a problem they have identified. We are excited to see the different directions each student will take over the coming months.
Our DP Computer Science program is also filled with some talented and passionate students. Our program began the year by looking at problem solving and logic problems. Shortly, we will move on to the foundations in computational thinking that we developed in Grade 10.
Our MYP program is off to a strong start as we build on and develop our units of inquiry from previous years. Grade 6 is beginning the year with an inquiry into “Superb Design,” creating amazing designs for fictional characters in unique situations. This unit introduces students to the MYP Design Cycle, which is the process around which all design units are organized. Grade 7 students are designing escape rooms and learning how to create unique experiences for users. Grade 8 students are investigating Sustainable Housing, a unit we introduced last year. They will be creating prototypes that incorporate sustainable house design principles. Our Grade 9 design students begin the year investigating the product design and learning 3D CAD modeling skills. Grade 10 Computer Science students have started to explore how to develop effective educational games for young children. In Grade 10 Product Design, our students are learning about the fundamentals of product design such as aesthetics and user centered design.
Aidan Hammond
Head of Design Technology
MYP and DP Design Technology Teacher