Level 5

ARCHITECTURE & CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

LEVEL 5: Equivalent Study (SCQF points) to a National 5

Key points:
240 – hours of study, including private study.
24 – SQCF Points
4 Units – Mandatory

Introduction:

Architecture and Creative Industries at Level 5, introduces students to the world of creative industries and design within Scotland. Research, investigation and creativity are all at the heart of the course, making it interesting and varied. The Architecture and Creative Industries course develops the knowledge and skills required for employment or further study within the Creative Industries.

Within Scotland, there are several Creative Industries. This course offers an insight into the industry sectors of Architecture, Product Design and Graphic Design. Pupils will be afforded the opportunity to gain an insight into all of these sectors and choose the one that they are most interested in to explore further. Throughout the course, pupils will complete varied research and investigation tasks, towards given briefs, culminating in final design proposals. There will also be opportunities for physical modelling in response to tasks.

Course Aims:

The aims of the course are to enable students to gain invaluable experience within areas such as:

• Job roles and responsibilities of those working within the Creative Industry sector
• Transferrable skills within areas such as organisation, communication and evaluative practices. All of which are desired by employers.
• Key aspects of the creative process (media platforms, commissions and legal parameters)
• Structure and language of creative briefs and how they can be interpreted
• Skills in responding to a creative brief through appropriate investigation, design and presentation

Course Structure and Assessment:

In order to gain an award within this course, pupils must pass all of the mandatory units and assessments outlined within the course. There are four units within the course, and all of them are mandatory.

The units are structured as follows:

1. Unit One: An Introduction to Creative Industries within Scotland

Unit one will consist of a research task that will focus on the following areas:

• Introducing learners to different sectors of the creative industries and the career paths, job roles and responsibilities of those working within the industry.
• Raise awareness of the employability skills valued by employers and provides opportunities for learners to evaluate their own progress, taking into account peer and teacher/lecturer feedback, and to set targets to improve their employability profile
• Allows learners to work on practical tasks such as gathering industry and career information, matching their career interests to job requirements and evaluating their personal employability skills for the creative industries.

2. Unit Two: Skills Development

Unit two will see pupils focus on areas such as:

• Practical skill building activities
• Designed to allow learners the opportunity to practise and develop their craft and improve practical skills associated with a chosen job role in the creative industries
• Learners required to set targets, plan and use a variety of approaches to develop their practical skills in a creative working environment
• Unit requires learners to seek feedback from others and evaluate the effectiveness of the approaches used

3. Unit Three: The Creative Process

Unit three will allow candidates the opportunity to:

• Focus on creative thinking and collaborative working
• Gain an awareness of the key stages of a creative process
• Interpret a design brief, and they will contribute their own creative ideas to an overall team response
• Discuss and explore different solutions to the given brief
• Work collaboratively to prepare and present a team response to the given brief
• Evaluate the team response to the brief

4. Unit Four: The Creative Project

The final unit will see candidates:

• Focus primarily on a project carried out in a creative context
• Work as part of a team throughout the planning and implementation of a creative project to a given brief
• Contribute to, and participate in all stages of the implementation of a creative project and evaluate the completed project and their contribution to it
• Use creative processes to plan, implement and evaluate a creative project
• Give learners the opportunity to develop their creativity alongside key employability skills such as working with others and problem solving

Candidates must pass all four course units in order to secure a course award.

Assessments will be ongoing throughout the course. Candidates will be assessed on areas such as research and investigation, analysis, communication and design. All course work produced by candidates, will be logged and displayed within a design folio and sketchbook. A substantial component of the course, will see candidates produce solutions to several design tasks, culminating in a large design project.

The course also requires a percentage of self and peer assessment, which will be carried out throughout the course duration. These assessments will all contribute to a final course award. Candidates will also be expected to undertake a final examination in the form of a question paper to coincide with the course work that they have produced.