Engineering · Past QCAA questions All past questions
2021 · Section 2 · Short response

Question 12

[4 marks] Simple familiar
Topic guidesPremiumTopic guide 1 · The three domains of expertiseTopic guide 1 · The verb tells you the shape of the answer
Game planPremiumT6 Recall ladder
The question

State four fields of knowledge used by a biomedical engineer to perform their role.

Watch the situation first

One biomedical device draws on four fields of knowledge, and each field is one mark

A powered prosthetic knee is a typical biomedical engineering job. Watch each part of it light up with the field of knowledge it needs.

Mechanical: the knee joint and how it moves Materials: a strong, light carbon-fibre and titanium frame Electronics: a sensor and a microcontroller read each step Electrical: a battery powers the knee motor Four fields, four marks. Stop there. socket + − knee joint carbon-fibre pylon microcontroller sensor battery knee motor Four lines on the paper 1. 2. 3. 4. Mechanical Materials Electronics Electrical 5. Biology a fifth field earns nothing also accepted: chemical, medical, nuclear, molecular biology, biology, computer software

State asks for the name and nothing more. Four correct fields earn all four marks, whichever four they are.

Now for the engineering

Fill the four lines and see which entries the marker accepts

Tap an entry to write it on the next empty line, and tap it again to rub it out. Some entries are fields of knowledge and some only sound like answers. Then switch on the explanations to see what they add.

Things you could write
Your four lines
The response:

QCAA marking guide · 4 marks

Work through the solution one mark at a time

Write your own four before you reveal them. The entries shown are QCAA’s sample response.

Step 1 · Line 11 mark

1. Electronics

One word. Biomedical devices such as pacemakers, hearing aids and powered prostheses run on sensors and circuits.

Marker: provides a correct knowledge type

Step 2 · Line 21 mark

2. Electrical

QCAA counts electrical and electronics as two different fields, so both lines earn a mark.

Marker: provides a second correct knowledge type

Step 3 · Line 31 mark

3. Mechanical

Joints, forces and motion, the Unit 4 content you already know.

Marker: provides a third correct knowledge type

Step 4 · Line 41 mark

4. Materials

Any four from the sample and the Notes earn full marks.

QCAA’s sample response and Notes

1. Electronics
2. Electrical
3. Mechanical
4. Materials

Other knowledge types are:
  • chemical
  • medical
  • molecular biology
  • nuclear
  • biology
  • computer software.

Marker: provides a fourth correct knowledge type

Putting it all together

Each phrase of the question gave you something

“State”
Express it clearly and definitively. A name on each line, with no explanation.
“four fields of knowledge”
Four marks, one per line. A field is a body of knowledge, such as electronics, not a product, a skill or a workplace.
“used by a biomedical engineer to perform their role”
Picture one device the engineer builds, then name the knowledge each part of it needs.
What makes this simple familiar

It is pure recall: no stimulus, no reasoning, four nouns on four printed lines. QCAA did not publish a band for this question. It reads as simple familiar because it is the recall opener that ran from 2020 to 2023 and asks for nothing you have to work out.

If I had to guess where you might lose marks, it would be writing an application such as prosthetic limbs, or a skill such as teamwork, on a line meant for a field of knowledge. The other leak is time: an explanation on every line earns nothing extra. For 2026 the Topic 1 careers dot point names mechanical, mechatronic and biomechanical engineering, so the same four-line question could arrive for any of those careers. This recall form has not appeared since 2023, so drill it because it is cheap and do not bank on it.

Only mark this done when you could do it without help. Reading the solution does not count.

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Question wording, any figures and marking-guide steps are from the 2021 QCAA Engineering external assessment, © State of Queensland (QCAA) 2021, licensed under CC BY 4.0, and have been adapted, except where a third-party source is named. Tangent Tuition is not affiliated with the QCAA.

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