NCEA Level 3 Technology cheat sheet

Technological Practice is the iterative cycle of planning, producing, testing and evaluating an outcome; evidence must show each stage, not just the final product.

Brief development: state the need or opportunity, then write a conceptual statement of the intended outcome and a specification of measurable attributes (fitness for purpose).

Specifications are testable attributes (dimensions, tolerances, performance thresholds); broad aims such as 'easy to use' must be converted to an indicator before they can be evaluated.

Stakeholder consultation is evidence: record who was consulted, what they said, and how that changed the design decision.

Functional modelling (mock-ups, CAD simulations, prototypes of parts) tests ideas before commitment; prototyping tests the whole outcome in the intended context.

Intervention by design means the technologist changes the made world; unintended consequences (waste, energy use, safety, equity) must be identified and mitigated.

Evaluation judges the outcome against the specifications and the context, using evidence (test data, user feedback), not opinion alone.

Risk management: identify hazards, assess likelihood and severity, then apply elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, PPE in that order.

Project planning tools (Gantt charts, critical path, milestones) allocate time and resources; the plan must be updated as evidence changes the direction.

Technological Knowledge covers how materials, components, systems and processes behave, and the design principles that explain why an outcome works.

Material properties: physical (density, thermal and electrical conductivity), mechanical (strength, stiffness, toughness, hardness), and chemical (corrosion resistance) properties drive selection.

Stress = force / cross-sectional area; strain = change in length / original length. Young's modulus E = stress / strain in the elastic region.

Tension stretches, compression shortens, shear slides, torsion twists, and bending combines tension and compression on opposite faces of a beam.

Factor of safety = failure stress / working (allowable) stress; a value above 1 means the design has reserve capacity.

Mechanical advantage MA = load / effort; velocity ratio VR = effort distance / load distance; efficiency = (MA / VR) x 100%.

Open-loop systems have no feedback; closed-loop systems compare output to a reference and correct the error, using a sensor, controller and actuator.

Digital electronics: logic gates (AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR) can be combined into truth tables and simplified Boolean expressions.

Design principles (aesthetics, ergonomics, sustainability, fitness for purpose) are criteria used to justify why a chosen form or material is appropriate.

Technology is purposeful intervention in the made world; it is not applied science, because technological knowledge develops through design and making as well as through science.

Technological outcomes include products, systems and environments; each has inputs, processes, outputs and feedback.

Technology is shaped by and shapes society: cultural values, ethics, legislation, economics and user needs all influence what is developed and adopted.

Technological determinism claims technology drives social change; the social shaping of technology view holds that people and context shape the technology.

Innovation is the successful implementation of a new idea; invention is the creation of a new idea or device, which may never be adopted.

Sustainability in technology considers environmental, social and economic effects across a product's whole life cycle, from extraction to disposal.

Mātauranga Māori and other indigenous knowledge systems can inform technological practice; intellectual property and cultural consultation obligations apply.

Technology transfer moves knowledge or devices between contexts; appropriateness depends on local resources, skills, culture and infrastructure.

Ethical frameworks (utilitarian, duty-based, rights-based) give different answers to questions such as data privacy, automation and job displacement.