NCEA Level 3 Technology flashcards
NCEA Level 3 Technology · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Technological Practice
- The iterative process of planning, producing, testing and evaluating an outcome to meet a need or opportunity, with evidence recorded at every stage.
- Brief
- A statement of the need or opportunity plus a conceptual statement of the intended outcome and a specification of measurable attributes it must satisfy.
- Specification
- A list of testable attributes an outcome must meet, such as dimensions, tolerances and performance thresholds, used later as evaluation criteria.
- Fitness for purpose
- The degree to which an outcome meets its specifications and performs as intended in the context for which it was designed.
- Functional modelling
- Testing part of a design idea, such as a mock-up or CAD simulation, before committing resources to full production of the outcome.
- Prototype
- A working version of the whole outcome, built to be tested in its intended context so that performance and user response can be evaluated.
- Stakeholder feedback
- Evidence gathered from people affected by or using the outcome; it must be recorded and shown to influence specific design decisions.
- Intervention by design
- The principle that technological outcomes change the made world, so designers must identify and mitigate unintended consequences of their work.
- Risk control hierarchy
- The order of preference for managing hazards: eliminate, substitute, engineering controls, administrative controls, then personal protective equipment last.
- Critical path
- The longest sequence of dependent tasks in a project plan; any delay on this path delays the whole project's completion date.
- Stress
- Force divided by cross-sectional area, measured in pascals; it describes the internal load a material experiences under an applied force.
- Strain
- The change in length divided by the original length of a material; it is dimensionless and describes deformation under stress.
- Young's modulus
- The ratio of stress to strain within a material's elastic region; a measure of stiffness, calculated as E = stress / strain.
- Tension and compression
- Tension pulls a material apart along its length; compression pushes it together. Bending produces tension on one face and compression on the other.
- Factor of safety
- Failure stress divided by working stress; a value above one shows how much reserve capacity a design has before it fails.
- Mechanical advantage
- Load divided by effort for a mechanism; it states how many times the mechanism multiplies the applied force.
- Velocity ratio
- Effort distance divided by load distance for a mechanism; it compares the distances moved by effort and load.
- Efficiency of a mechanism
- Mechanical advantage divided by velocity ratio, multiplied by 100 and expressed as a percentage; losses come from friction and deformation.
- Open-loop system
- A control system with no feedback path; it performs a set action regardless of whether the output actually reaches the desired state.
- Closed-loop system
- A control system that senses its output, compares it with a reference value and corrects the error using a controller and actuator.
- Logic gate
- A digital component such as AND, OR or NOT that produces an output determined by its inputs; combined gates form truth tables and Boolean expressions.
- Ergonomics
- The design principle of matching an outcome to human physical and cognitive capabilities, including reach, posture, force and information load.
- Material toughness
- The ability of a material to absorb energy and deform plastically before fracturing; it differs from hardness, which resists surface indentation.
- Technological outcome
- A product, system or environment created through technological practice; each can be described by its inputs, processes, outputs and feedback.
- Technology versus applied science
- Technology is purposeful intervention in the made world; its knowledge grows through design and making, not only by applying scientific findings.
- Technological determinism
- The view that technology itself drives social change; it is contrasted with the view that people and context shape how technology develops.
- Invention versus innovation
- Invention is creating a new idea or device; innovation is the successful implementation and adoption of that idea in practice.
- Life cycle assessment
- An evaluation of environmental effects across a product's life, from raw material extraction through manufacture, use and end-of-life disposal.
- Mātauranga Māori
- Māori knowledge systems including customary practice and environmental understanding; using them in technology requires consultation and respect for cultural ownership.
- Technology transfer
- Moving a technology or its knowledge from one context to another; appropriateness depends on local resources, skills, culture and infrastructure.
- Ethics of technology
- Frameworks such as utilitarian, duty-based and rights-based reasoning used to judge issues like data privacy, automation and job displacement.
- Sustainability in technology
- Meeting present needs without compromising future generations, balancing environmental, social and economic effects of technological decisions.