PATT40 (LJMU)
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Reinventing Secondary School:: An Investigation of a Polytechnic School Model Focused on Industry/Community-driven Design Projects
Full text linkHigher education and industry leaders seem to continuously call for transforming the way learning occurs within schools to better meet the needs of students, society, and the workforce. Many attempts have been made to address these calls such as increasing integrated STEM programming in schools, providing after-school robotics activities, as well as developing novel school models. One such innovative model, the focus of this study, is a polytechnic high school model developed in collaboration between a public research-intensive university and several industry/community partners. This model was developed to be implemented in urban settings with an emphasis on serving minoritized youth through design project cycles created with local industry/community partners rather than through subject-specific classes. It can be valuable to investigate a school model that has been created to have this design-based learning approach as its central focus. The purpose of this exploratory study was to understand 1) how teachers perceive the influence of the school model on the learning of students from diverse backgrounds and 2) how teachers view their own experiences working within the school model. This study examined pre/post teacher surveys to provide insights into how the teachers believe the school model is working with respect to students\u27 ability to perform within this style of design-based instruction and any challenges faced by the teachers to implement the school model. This information can help to inform those who seek to provide different learning environments for students through restructuring schools around industry/community-focused design projects. This paper will introduce the components of the polytechnic school model, detail the emphasis of the industry/community-driven design cycles, highlight the methodology used, present some preliminary findings, and discuss insights and recommendations for secondary schooling.  
Great expectations – A Finnish perspective on international students’ choice of university-level craft courses
Full text linkUniversity students have different motives and expectations when it comes to going on exchange and taking university courses in another country. Similarly, different motives and requirements impact course choices. Some exchange students who come to Finland choose to participate in craft courses. Craft as a school subject can be a new and foreign experience for many of them. The aim of this study is to investigate international students’ rationales for taking craft courses during their university studies in Finland. It also focuses on what kinds of expectations they have from a craft course and how they are met.
This was a qualitative study. Data was collected through questionnaires at the beginning (n=26) and end (n=15) of a craft course in which both international students and Finnish students had enrolled. Only international students’ answers were reported. Students answered open-ended questions about why they chose the course and their expectations from the course. At the end of the course, they were asked how it met their expectations. Themes for motives and expectations were identified using reflexive thematic analysis. Motives for the students’ choices related to their interests in the craft subject, their development, benefits in future work, new opportunities and practical studio work. Expectations related to, among other things, participants’ learning and development, learning from and helping each other, and learning things that would be useful in future work. The findings suggest that the content of craft courses is important and relevant to learn among students with diverse cultural backgrounds, regardless of whether they have similar subjects in their home countries
Student teachers’ preconceptions of programming as a content in the subject technology
Full text linkIn many countries, student teachers are not adequately prepared to teach programming in technology education once they have completed their training. There is a corresponding inadequacy of research regarding pre-service programming education in technology, although in recent years research in this area has increased. There is a lack of research specifically regarding student teachers’ experiences and development of knowledge during programming sessions in their teacher education. A knowledge important for developing competences needed for teaching in technology.
This article presents a study with the aim of describing student teachers’ preconceptions about teaching programming in technology.The study uses a phenomenographic approach investigating eight student teachers’ experiences after a five-week technology course preparing for primary education, grades 4-6 (teaching pupils aged 10-12). Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with student teachers from two different higher education institutions in Sweden. From the first step of the analysis, three tentative categories have been obtained, describing student teachers’ experiences as: 1) an understanding of a language and/or a tool, 2) an understanding and use of language or tool to solve technological problems, and as 3) a way of understanding and describing a technological environment.
The results of the study will contribute to new approaches on how to vary and design the teaching of programming in technology for student teachers to develop skills that are important for their future profession
Developing student teachers’ PCK for teaching technology with a sustainability edge in primary school
Full text linkIn Swedish primary schools, technology teaching may appear different depending on what educational setting the pupils meet. Many pupils experience the subject of technology as taking part in practical making-activities without recognizing the technological knowledge involved, and many teachers feel uncertain of what and how to teach technology, especially concerning sustainability. Thus, it is necessary to pinpoint these issues within teacher education. This paper presents the first iteration of a Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR) study on a teaching module that provides student teachers with theoretical and practical knowledge in technology education. The purpose of the study is to capture and understand how student teachers transform acquired knowledge and skills into Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) for teaching technology in primary school. Special attention is on how student teachers evolve relations between technology education and sustainable development. The study is designed and implemented in line with DBIR based on principles of collaboration and has strong connections between practice and theory (Fishman & Penuel, 2018). The participating researchers, also the teacher educators, have together with teachers at a municipal technological resource facility jointly identified underlying premises such as policy document statements; topics and content of value for all participants; potential participating schools; and reviews of previous research. The study includes 12 student teachers enrolled in a science and technology course. Data is collected in several steps including student teachers’ written individual reflections, their project assignments, their lesson plans, and focus group interviews. Based on qualitative content analysis, components of PCK are traced to elucidate the transformation of student teachers’ PCK for teaching technology with a sustainability edge. The results contribute to knowledge of what efforts, such as teaching module design features and connections to sustainability, should be made to develop student teachers’ PCK for teaching technology in primary school
The Impact of an Integrated Literacy and Design Activity on Student Attitudes Toward Coding
Full text linkCoding is a growing and important area within Design and Technology Education and is also one of the arenas of education where the most significant effort is being given to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion. To introduce young learners to coding and engineering design, a pioneering curricular unit was designed for upper elementary schools, intertwining literacy within its framework. To reasonably fit in the already overcrowded standards for elementary schools in the United States, the integration of multiple subjects was a defining feature of this unit which we termed “Digital Storyboards.” Digital Storyboards integrate engineering design, literacy, and coding into one unit which emphasizes students’ ability to design, develop, and automate an illustration from a favorite story using a variety of electronic elements including LEDs, copper tape, and micro:bits. Students are intentionally taught core content from literacy (the elements of a story), engineering (design), and computational thinking (variables, loops, Booleans) while they create and program their own digital storyboards as part of a 10-week unit in class. While initial implementations of digital storyboards in one classroom positively impacted all students, a more significant impact was discovered with female students specifically – an important idea since females are traditionally underrepresented in coding. Following our pilot work, the digital storyboard project was expanded into 16 classrooms with more than 200 students. Our findings, as well as the practical implications for teachers engaged with elementary and secondary content related to literacy, engineering, design, and computer science, will be shared
The Impact of Teacher Preferences in Learning by Evaluating
Full text linkPeer review and the evaluation of samples are common tools used in education and our research has shown positive impacts on student learning through the intentional evaluation of samples as a priming exercise—an experience we have termed “Learning by Evaluating (LbE).” While previous work in design and technology (D&T) classrooms with LbE has demonstrated positive student learning gains, we have not yet investigated the impact of the classroom teacher on the effectiveness of LbE and student learning. Therefore, our research sought to analyse the impact of a classroom teacher on student learning within a LbE experience situated in a D&T classroom. To better understand the impact the teacher has during LbE, multiple D&T classrooms engaged in LbE sessions were enrolled in this study. Each D&T classroom followed a similar protocol which had students engaged in an open-ended design problem who used LbE to evaluate samples of related work as part of their designing process. Specifically, we collected data from student LbE decisions to explore if students in different D&T classes valued different elements of the samples (e.g. did students in one class focus on aesthetics while students in another emphasized brevity in explanations). An online software platform (RMCompare) was used to engage students in LbE and collect both the quantitative data associated with the ranked preferences of the students and the qualitative data from their justifications for their selections. All students were enrolled in the same course, provided the same prompt to base their selections, and presented with the same samples. Key findings—both similarities and differences—between classes will be shared in alignment with implications for design and technology classrooms
Promoting Creativity in the Secondary Design and Technology Classroom in England
Full text linkThis study explores the use and implications of biomimicry as a design method in a secondary school Design and Technology classroom in England. The study’s aim was to explore biomimicry as one of the design approaches in a Design and Technology classroom. The goal of this research was to develop an appropriate teaching strategy for including biomimicry in the design process as a means for encouraging students to “use a variety of approaches to generate creative ideas and avoid stereotypical responses when responding to design briefs” (DfE, 2013, p. 2). The Biomimicry approach takes inspiration from natural solutions adopted by nature and imitates the concepts when designing products. Working with a class of year 9 pupils (aged 13 - 14) the research team introduced the principles of biomimicry, which was chosen as an innovative approach for promoting creativity. This action research took a qualitative approach to gain insights into pupils\u27 thought process as they applied biomimicry in the given design brief. Action Research was used to understand if the introduction of biomimicry as an intervention would develop pupils’ creativity. The data that was used for analysis includes responses to open-ended questions, drawings, and artefacts. The findings of the study show that with the support of teachers, pupils used inspirations from nature in their design and make tasks to creatively think through and create original artefacts that meet an identified design need. The biomimicry approach was embraced by pupils who developed a range of nature inspired designs. The paper also presents interesting findings on pupils’ knowledge and learning process through demonstration of acquired skills of originality and creativity represented through interventions in natur
Implementation and analysis of a spatial skills course for Secondary level STEM education
Full text linkHigh spatial skills have been directly linked to enhanced performance in STEM disciplines, with improvements in spatial skills linked to an increase in female retention at the university level. Spatial skills development and direct training are well researched and implemented within university level engineering education but are less defined at earlier stages of education. It is hypothesised that a spatial intervention implemented at the secondary level could be beneficial in order to boost student performance in STEM, where it still influences their interest in subjects and future career paths. The purpose of this paper is to present the implementation process of a spatial intervention in Irish secondary schools and the initial analysis of combined teacher and student data. The intervention was implemented with Transition Year (aged ~15 to 16 years old) students. Fifty teachers undertook a tailored professional development training to prepare them to deliver the spatial skills intervention, some of which then took part in various qualitative data gathering activities. The intervention was delivered to approximately 1500 students. They were administered a range of psychometric tests, including multiple spatial tests and a fluid reasoning test to investigate their development in a variety of cognitive aspects. This paper will focus on investigating the possible relationships between teacher spatial ability and student gains in spatial ability. The findings of the study were positive, indicating the successful implementation of the intervention and showing promise for future iterations
Development of System Modules for Children’s Games with Vision and Music-Based Interactive Real-Time Feedback Modules - A Design-Based Research Approach
Full text linkMost past research on young children’s attention focused on the design of multimedia games based on visual stimulation. In contrast, few studies have been on the development of teaching tools focusing on auditory stimulation. This study aims to develop a real-time interactive digital game with music and eye tracking for young children. The Design-Based Research (DBR) approach was adopted. Melodic tunes and lyrics composed by the researcher constitute the auditory stimulation, paired with visual images, in a game emphasizing interactivity between game content and players. Discussions were held between the various members of the developing team, during which the game developers and domain experts proposed suggestions to the researcher, who then continuously fine-tuned the game in line with the research objective. Our preliminary findings suggested that DBR, which emphasizes child-centered design, provides a novel and innovative approach to digital game design
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PATT40 (LJMU)Biomolecular Research Reports (BRR) (LJM...Design and Technology Education (LJMU)BLResearchDay (LJMU)Journal of Living Labs (LJMU)Journal of Natural Products Discovery (L...Journal of Social Media for Learning (LJ...Student Law Journal (LJMU)PRISM (LJMU)Public Health Institute Journal (LJMU)SPARK (LJMU)Student Experience Proceedings (LJMU)Transformation in Education (LJMU)Innovations in Practice (LJMU)Links to Health and Social Care (LJMU)Access Repository Dashboard
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