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VCE Systems Engineering Unit 1 — Electrotechnological systems design · Stage 6

Weeks 17-18 · Diagnostic testing and evaluation

Test the finished system properly and judge it honestly against the criteria you set.

VCE-SE-U1-O2

Open this deck on the projector and press F for full-screen. N toggles speaker notes. The accompanying teacher guide is at /curriculum/vce-systems-engineering-unit-1/teacher/lessons/10.

Before this lesson:

Insist on expected results before each test is run. Written after the fact, they are worthless.

intention 2 min

Diagnostic testing and evaluation

Test the finished system properly and judge it honestly against the criteria you set.

Insist on expected results before each test is run. Written after the fact, they are worthless.

concept 10 min

What we're covering

  • Design tests that produce data across a range, not a single yes or no.
  • For each test: purpose, expected result and why, method and equipment, actual result, and any discrepancy.
  • Compare your results to the datasheet or to theory and explain the differences.
  • Evaluate your system against the criteria you wrote, using your test data as evidence.
  • Evaluate your use of the process: what worked, what did not, what you would do differently.
  • Propose improvements to the system and to how you worked, with reasons.
  • Separate does it work from how well does it work. The second needs data.
  • Teach diagnostic testing as designed procedure: state the purpose, the expected result and why, the method and equipment, then the actual result and the discrepancy. A test without an expected result is just fiddling.
  • Have students design tests that produce numbers over a range, not a single pass or fail. Sensor response across conditions, output behaviour either side of the threshold, current draw under load.
  • Require comparison against the datasheet or against theory, and an explanation of any discrepancy. Discrepancies are findings, not failures.
  • Evaluate the system against the evaluation criteria written in sequence 6, and the process separately: where the work plan held, where it did not, what they would do differently.
  • Require proposed improvements with reasons, which is where the strongest students separate themselves.
  • Third assessment point.
check 5 min

Quick check

My evaluation uses my own test data as evidence, and my proposed improvements have reasons.

Students report only the tests that went well. A discrepancy explained is worth more than a clean result asserted.

reflect 5 min

Before you pack up

If a stranger used your system tomorrow, what would go wrong first?

Test reports with expected and actual results; evaluation against criteria; evaluation of the process; proposed improvements. Third assessment point.

End of lesson 10

That's it.

Tomorrow / next lesson: evaluation & sharing.

Teacher guide All decks