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This unit focuses on understanding and applying the design development cycle when creating a new product or improving an existing product or service.  The design development cycle encompasses the process from initial concept through  to design and production, including reviews at various stages. Learners will explore the stages and methodology relating to design methods and apply them to their own work. Learners will be encouraged to develop an analytical and methodical approach and to use evaluation  and review to develop work. Design methods used to develop products or services should be innovative and could involve a new product, an improvement to an existing product or the application of new technology or materials.

This unit is designed to enable learners to become confident in using research techniques and methods. It addresses the elements that make up formal research including the proposal, a variety of research methodologies, action planning, carrying out the research itself and presenting the findings. To complete the unit satisfactorily, learners must also understand the theory that underpins formal research.

This unit gives learners opportunities to develop  skills in decision  making, problem  solving and communication, integrated with the skills and knowledge developed in many of the other units within the programme to complete a realistic project.

The unit requires learners to select, plan, implement and evaluate a project  and present the outcomes, in terms  of the process and the product of the project.  It also allows learners to develop  the ability to work individually and/or with others, within a defined  timescale and given constraints to produce an acceptable and viable solution.

The BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND) provides a fresh, alternative pathway to tertiary education. While serving the same interests as a traditional pathway it also differs in significant ways, with a strong focus on students being able to continuously demonstrate competencies, using assessments with a very strong   practical, contemporary and vocational character.

While the shift in emphasis guarantees a graduate that can more effectively enter either industry or further study, it may pose challenges to learners who, up to this point, have internalised traditional teaching and learning and to whom this approach would require some adjustment. We believe that this adjustment, while not onerous, should be explicitly addressed very early. This course serves to re-orient students to a more flexible, immersive and enjoyable approach to learning.

This unit gives learners an opportunity to investigate selected references within the context of their own work, through encouraging independent selection and analysis of historical, contextual and contemporary sources. Learners will be encouragd to investigate factors which determine cultural and creative influences in art and design. These will not only include the influences of artists and designers, but also the social, technological, ecological and economic global forces which can shape modern thinking and direction.