Australasian Journal of Technology Education
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The Technological Knowledge Strand: Is that all there is?
No full textMany years' experience in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) training, reveals a disjunct between student career experience in communities of practice[i] and aspects of the technology learning area. ITE students find that little of the knowledge they bring from their careers is recognised by the strand designated to technological knowledge.After nearly twenty years of settlement and two national curriculum iterations, it is timely to review the efficacy of the learning area. This will establish whether there is indeed a common community understanding of the technology learning area and its intent.This paper looks at the Technological Knowledge strand. Further emphasis is placed on the strand's Technological Modelling component, as this is an area familiar to students from their feed–in career experience Communities of Practice are seen by Wenger (1998) as those where three key dimensions of mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire are present
Contributions to Technology Education through Funds of Knowledge
No full textThe value and place of cultural knowledge, particularly that of minority groups, is frequently overlooked in school settings. However, when teachers are aware of students' backgrounds, andcultural practices, the likelihood of students making use of this knowledge increases. This article reports on a study that explored the contribution of students' Funds of Knowledge in undertaking technological activity. It explores the Funds of Knowledge deployed in technological practice and the role these played when students collaboratively developed their technological outcomes.Set in a primary school with six and ten year old students, this study revealed that students deployed home and community knowledge when developing technological outcomes. The articleintroduces two sub-categories of Funds of Knowledge and compares the use of Funds of Knowledge between the two year levels and across a unit of work.This study highlights the use of Funds of Knowledge in technology education and examines aspects within Funds of Knowledge that are applicable to it
The effect of classroom activities on students' interest and career aspirations towards technology
No full textMany countries implement mandatory technology classes in the secondary education curriculum in the hope of stimulating students’ interest and career aspirations in the field of technology However, there is still a need for empirical studies on how teachers and their classroom activities could enhance interest in technological vocations. This paper focusses on the different effects of classroom activities on boys’ and girls’ interest and career aspirations towards technology. Students (n = 2228) from 20 different schools participated in this study. The effects of different classroom activities were explored: interaction, hands-on activities, student investigations, and applications in technology. A factor analysis of the items enhanced the composition of the four factors. The results of the multi-level analyses indicate that some activities are more effective than others, and this effect is different for boys and girls
A Comparative Analysis of Patterns of Girls’ Attitudes towards Design and Technology: Botswana and Swaziland.
No full textA convenient sample of 965 high school girls drawn from three different localities in Botswana and Swaziland was used to comparepatterns of girls' attitudes towards Design and Technology between the two countries. Factor Analysis and independent samples t-testresults revealed a somewhat different pattern. In Botswana, unlike in Swaziland the findings indicated significant differences between DT and NON DT girls in all factors that influenced their attitudes towards the subject. In terms of "support" for example, it became apparent that in Botswana unlike in Swaziland DT girls had more support from their parents, siblings and teachers as opposed toNON DT girls. As a socialization problem rather than a biological determination problem, and as raising issues of moral justification and problems of moral obligation, any intervention to promote Design and Technology among girls should target not only them but their families as well
E-portfolio environment design principles in practice: A case study of a collaborative project in technology teacher education
No full textThe design of an e-portfolio environment is key to its effectiveness. This paper explores the usefulness of a set of guiding questions for e-portfolio design through their application to a collaborative design project in a primary technology teacher education course. The responses to the design questions highlight the importance of considering the e-portfolio in the context of the environment in which it will be used. A number of key factors affecting implementation emerged from the case study: task design, supporting infrastructure, providing appropriate support, and the nature of the students themselves.Â
Criteria for Success: A study of primary technology teachers' assessment of digital portfolios
No full textTransparency regarding criteria for success in assessment processes is challenging for most teachers. The context of this study is primary school technology education. With the purpose to establish what criteria for success teachers put forward during the act of assessment, think-aloud protocols were collected from five primary teachers during an assessment act. Results are based on content analysis of think-aloud protocols and quantitative measures of reliability in order to ascertain teachers’ motives for decision-making when assessing Year 5 pupils’ multimodal e-portfolios.Findings show consensus among these teachers, focusing on the execution of the task in relation to the whole, rather than to particular pieces of student work. The results confirm the importance of task design, where active learning in combination with active tutoring is an integral part, including provision of time and space for pupils to finish their work
Initial Teacher Education PCK Development - Knowledge of Learners: A beginning technology teacher's journey.
No full textInitial teacher education is guided by understandings of what makes a good teacher. Through programmes, teacher educators bring theory and practice together to speed the development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). PCK development occurs intensely over the first few years and continues over a teacher’s career. A teacher’s PCK is specific and contextual, addressing issues of their own classroom practice. This paper adds to the literature by recounting the PCK development of a beginning food technology teacher in the area of understanding learners. It identifies the affordances that supported her development in line with current literature. In addition, it identifies the influence of theoretical models on teacher professional development and learning, in this case Choice Theory. The paper documents examples of specific pedagogies developed by the beginning teacher to address identified student learning needs in New Zealand. It also raises implications for initial teacher education preparation practices
Images of Technology and Sustainable Development in Swedish Children's Literature
No full textoai:ajte.org:article/11The aim of this article is to investigate images of technology and how technology is linked to sustainable development in Swedish children’s literature. Our perspective is that such images represent values that are conveyed to the young generation. We have chosen to study books by four Swedish authors, Elsa Beskow, Inger Sandberg, Jan Lööf and Sven Nordqvist, all of them still read by many children, parents and teachers, both in and out of school. In the examined books, technology is portrayed in several modes: as a servant to man, as a deterministic force, as a loyal and equal companion to man, and as a natural phenomenon in a nostalgic world. Technologies that have a leading role in the stories examined are placed in different kind of contexts, more or less social, more or less utopian or idyllic. In all four authors’ writings there is an optimistic faith in children’s ability.Â
Theoretical Implications of Gender for Technology Education
No full textThis paper explores issues of gender as they relate to secondary school technology education in recent decades. It examines the theoretical issues that have shaped gender participation and engagement in this area of learning over time and concludes with recommendations for Australasian educators.Since the 1970s, there have been efforts to address the stereotyping of areas of learning according to gender, with technology being a prime example of an area that has often been regarded as a male-only activity. However, more than forty years later, female students are still engaging in school studies that were traditionally regarded as gender specific, as are boys.This examination is concerned particularly with post-compulsory students. These are students in Years 10, 11 and 12 and those ready to make the transition from school to other learning and work pathways. Three orientations – the biological, socialisation, and cognitive/ ecological approaches – are examined with respect to students in technology education classes.Â
Exploring the Relationship between Science and Technology in the Curriculum
No full textThe position of science and technology in the curriculum has been debated, particularly from the perspective of their relationship. Some consider science and technology to be independent subjects while others believe that technology is applied science. This has led to a lack of a general consensus about the way science and technology should be taught, whether as independent or integrated subjects in the classroom. The general purpose of the paper is to provide a discussion about this issue by addressing the nature of science, the nature of technology and the nature of the relationship between the two. Based on the discussion, a model of the relationship between science and technology was developed as a pedagogical approach, which can be used as a guide to teaching science and technology separately, taking into account their interdependence and the way they can combine to produce solutions for society and the environment