• Question: Do you still use everything you learnt in DT at school or is there some things that you think were uneeded to learn?

    Asked by ridgc001 to Amit, Joanne, Martin, Paige on 21 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Martin Wallace

      Martin Wallace answered on 21 Mar 2012:

      There were lots of things that I remember doing in DT classes that I thought were completely pointless, like creating design specifications and writing reports when I’d finished making something. I couldn’t see the point of writing about how I’d done something because I thought the most important thing was to make the thing.
      Now though I realise that all the paperwork side of DT is incredibly important and makes the whole design and manufacture process a lot easier. The more reports you write, the better and quicker at it you become, and being able to keep track of all the design changes and documents that you have in a project means that you can answer questions on things a lot easier and work out why things go wrong.
      I would say that everything I learned at school has had some impact on the job that I do now. Even small things that I thought would have no relevance have helped me to become a more rounded person and I feel more comfortable in my job because of it.

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 21 Mar 2012:

      I didn’t take DT in school. I was homeschooled, and actually the only things I studied were primarily math, physics, chemistry, biology, and english/literature. I mostly studied basic topics, as opposed to very specific topics in science and biology. I think because I was able to focus deeply on fundamental topics, I was more prepared to go deeper in these and more specialized subjects in college, and everything I learned was useful!

      Hope this helps!!!!!

    • Photo: Joanne Davies

      Joanne Davies answered on 21 Mar 2012:

      Hello ridgc001 🙂 Very pleased to meet you.
      I love this question and I hope you find my answer interesting.

      When I was at school they didn’t have DT.
      They had woodwork for boys and metalwork for boys. 🙁
      I would have loved to take those classes but I wasn’t allowed and I had to go to sewing classes for girls and cookery classes for girls instead.:( I hated those subjects.

      I did join a technical drawing class but apart from myself, that was all boys too.
      I left the class after my first lesson as I felt intimidated and I had no encouragement from the teacher.

      I was a student mentor in the DT Department in a Cardiff school after I left uni, so I know what you are taught and I can honestly say that you will use everything you learn in DT in the workplace if you become an engineer. You may put your skills in to practice or just use the knowledge you are gaining to help you along. 🙂

      I did my DT later at university where we had a workshop with lathes, a metal press, drills, vacuum formers, circular saw, bandsaws, a spray paint booth, CNC 5 & 3 axis routers and all the tools and materials we needed to make prototypes.

      I also studied technical drawing at university and CAD CAM. 🙂

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