Course Code: 1RES10

Level: Stage 1

Learning Area: Home Economics

Duration: Semester

Semester: Semester 1

Pre requisite: None required

Additional Cost: Yes

Further Enquiries:

Who Is This Course For?

  • Students who are interested in either hobby use or professional pathways in the ICT industry, and want to build a personal computer at a significantly lower cost than purchasing one off-the-shelf.
  • Students with an interest in the practical/hardware aspects of personal computers, who are interested in how they work and the process involved in choosing components, assembling the hardware, and configuring or troubleshooting software.

What Will I Learn?

  • Students develop the ability to initiate, create and develop products in response to a design brief, in the context of personal computers. They learn to use tools, materials and systems safely and competently assemble, repair and manage computer software and hardware.
  • Students analyse the impacts of technology, including consequences for individuals, society and the environment.
  • They use electrical, electronic and mechanical devices, and interface components including a range of grades and types of computer hardware.

How will I be assessed?

  • Skills and Application Tasks – practical tasks demonstrating the students’ understanding of the components and processes involved in building, configuring and troubleshooting a personal computer – 20%
  • Folio – Documenting the analysis of a problem (the desired use of a personal computer), and the processes used to develop a viable solution. – 30%
  • Product – Production of personal computer, and evaluation of the effectiveness of that solution. – 50%

A Note Regarding Product Costs:

  • There are opportunities within this subject to build products to a range of budgets and scales, dependent on the desires and resources of the students. To build a computer to take home, the minimum students could expect to pay is around the $500 mark. There is flexibility around payment methods to make this program as accessible to families as possible.
  • There are however school-owned parts available for student use, allowing students to demonstrate the skills involved in personal computer assembly without incurring a cost; the parts they use to build their computer will simply remain at school after they are done.