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Five years construction kits in primary schools: Results and impacts of a project to facilitate technology education - an evaluation study
No full textIn March 2018, metal construction kits were distributed to all elementary and special schools in Rhineland-Palatinate. They were distributed to all elementary and special schools in Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the MINT project "Technikkiste" (transl.: technology box).
At the end of the year 2018, three more expansion sets with solar cells followed for each school. So far, no request has been made to the schools, even after five years of the project\u27s start made to the schools as to how and whether they use this material.
Therefore, within the scope of this research an evaluation study for the elementary schools in the form of a questionnaire was carried out in July 2023. The study is intended to find out both the current usage behavior with the metal construction boxes as well as to get an impression of the teachers regarding the in-service training measures that took place as part of the project.
921 elementary schools in Rhineland-Palatinate were invited to participate in the online survey. 69 answered the questionnaire some more gave informal feedback. The special schools, which were also supposed to have received the metal construction kits, were left out of the survey, as they are likely to have different usage patterns and therefore a different behavior and would therefore require a different questionnaire.
It is particularly noteworthy that only about 70% of the participants who responded are even aware of the metal construction boxes. Around 30% stated that they were not familiar with the metal construction kits. In addition, only about 43% of the participants indicated that the metal building boxes have ever been used in the classroom at their school. One of the main reasons that participating teachers do not use the metal building boxes is that the school has not received boxes or has too few for classroom use.
This brief excerpt from the survey results already shows that the MINT promotion project is not showing the success that the Ministry of Education had hoped for
A New Framework of Technology and Engineering Education Proposed by the Japan Society of Technology Education
Full text linkThe Japan Society of Technology Education (JSTE), an academic society for leading technology education research in Japan, has proposed a new framework of technology and engineering education in 2021 to impact the next revision of the Japan\u27s national curriculum. The proposal includes a triple-loop model of the engineering design process and a model of the problem-solving process in line with learners\u27 developmental stages. It also proposes to incorporate the connections between physical and cyber technologies, and between technology and other disciplines in the scope of technology education. However, this proposal was written in Japanese only, is not translated in other language. In this report, we will report of the result of survey conducted in this project, and introduce the contents of the proposal with some practical examples
“The main thing is practical work” – Teachers’ beliefs supporting the intellectual development of technology education
Full text linkAlthough technology shapes our world comprehensively, technical education has hardly been discussed in Germany in the special context on mental development. Even though technical education is anchored in the curriculum, it is not yet known which beliefs teachers at special schools have about technical education. Teachers\u27 beliefs play an important role in teachers\u27 attitudes towards student thinking and how lesson content should be selected and taught. These beliefs were assessed in the present study via a qualitative research design involving teachers from special schools in Germany (N:9).
The results indicate that technical education is strongly practice-oriented and is mainly used to teach manual skills and work-related soft skills. The production task plays a special role here, as it proves to be a consistently important method in teachers\u27 estimation. In the production process, teachers provide various forms of material and personal support. The aim is for pupils to achieve a successful and finished product and in the process experience themselves as successful. This production process requires a high degree of flexibility on the part of teachers regarding both the competence levels of the pupils and the technical requirements.
Important suggestions can be derived for the conceptual design of inclusive technical education, paying greater attention to pupils’ individual needs. At the same time, however, the results point to a need for qualification, since teachers predominantly focus on only one specific area of technical competence. The goal of technical literacy intended for technical education programmes does not yet seem to be sufficiently achieved in the context on mental development
Professional Learning Opportunities for the Hangarau Māori-medium Technology Curriculum
Full text linkThis paper is the third in a series of papers exploring the development of the Māori-medium Technology curriculum, specifically focusing on professional learning development. It utilises document analysis and interviews with curriculum experts, drawing on curriculum alignment and coherence theories. Curriculum coherence affects student learning across various levels: national, subject, school/classroom, and systems. Data comes from Ministry of Education records and interviews with teacher professional development facilitators. The study reviews professional learning literature, particularly meta-analyses and reviews, in the context of curriculum coherence. It examines how curriculum coherence relates to the professional development needs of teachers implementing the Hangarau curriculum, highlighting the challenge of interpreting broad learning outcomes. The paper suggests principles for aligning national curriculum content and professional learning, aiding facilitators and teachers in designing effective professional development for improved student learning
Do No Harm 2.0
Full text linkPreviously, I have proposed that the current incarnation of Design and Technology, version 1.0 is outdated and requires a new manifestation in the form of Design and / or Technology 2.0. Within this context a starting position for 2.0 subsequently acknowledges that on any given day students across the globe studying a form of version 1.0 are potentially doing more harm than good. Students are being ‘processed’ into a capitalistic consumption and production mode of thinking through contrived processes of generating ‘products’ under the pretence of solving problems. In this paper, a challenge to the community, I draw on the medical Hippocratic oath of "Primum non nocere", known as "Do no harm" and consider the pragmatic, ethical and philosophical implications of adopting this principle as a central feature of 2.0.
In this paper I will also consider an alternative discourse for the current pervasive materialistic ‘outcomes’ in the context of ‘do no harm’ through challenging the anti-democratic, exploitative, perpetual rapid growth-oriented capitalist ideologies that manifest within 1.0 as ‘artefacts’, driven by self-fulfilling ‘needs and wants’. Consequently, learner accountability, liability and culpability are located as central features of a 2.0 ‘activist’ strategy that is earth and sustainability centred. A 2.0 mantra of ‘do no harm’ consequently aligns with UNESCO’s commitment to equity and transformational Education Sustainable Development through empowering lifelong learners to take informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society, for present and future generations, while respecting cultural diversity
Problematising and unpacking the uncertainty of design within technology education
Full text linkTechnology education is a growing field internationally where developments are being made to conform to new agendas and goals of today’s society. The role of technology education is to improve the quality of human life through making meaningful advancements to our lives and the world we live in, which is underpinned by an innate ability that all humans possess, the ability to design. Developing designerly members of society that have strong design capability is identified as being of upmost importance, particularly within education. Fostering designerly students effectively and successfully is a complex domain and is evident within a large literature base, where researchers are trying to understand design, what it should look like in practice, and how it can be successfully developed and fostered within education. Design is a key component within technology education curricula, where teachers and students are required to engage in design tasks and activities in an attempt to foster an ability to design. Design is highly complex in nature and with ambiguity within the literature surrounding the construct of design ability, what defines the design process and what cognitive processes are necessary to design, leaves educators and students in an area of unknown.
In this paper, a theoretical model is presented and utilised to problematise and unpack the uncertainty of design within technology education. The unknown of designing is worse than the problems themselves, which is why this paper offers an initial attempt at identifying these problems through the lens of understanding, teaching and learning designing. Results offer insight into the problems and challenges associated with designing in technology education with the aim and objective to identify future research areas.
Key words: Design, Designing, Technology Education, Problematisin
Artificers, satisficers and optimisers: Echoes of Simon and ‘ways of being’ in Design and Technology Education
Full text linkHerbert Simon created the neologism ‘satisficing’ in order to address a particular issue he found regarding problem solving in organisations. His work also included such concepts as ‘bounded rationality’ and has influenced many areas of human endeavour including, at times, the theorising of problem-solving in Design and Technology (D&T) education.
The paper gives an overview of Herbert Simon’s work and neologism, drawing on his landmark text The Sciences of the Artificial (Simon, 1969/1996). Context is offered with comparisons between the (positivistic) problem-solving of the technical-rational 1960s zeitgeist and subsequent human-centred design practices and genres.
Imagining three ‘ways of being’ in the field of D&T, the paper explores how the roles of artificer, satisficer and optimiser can play out for pupils, teachers and D&T’s problematic (sic) curriculum. Whilst echoes of Simon’s work can still be found in D&T education, and the three roles can contribute to the design repertoire of pupils and teachers alike, it is argued that any application of them should be understood for their limitations as ‘problem-solving’ cannot equate designing – in theory or in practice
Electronic Sentences: A systems development tool for young children
Full text linkThis poster describes Electronic Sentences (ES). This is a suite of software and hardware tools, along with supporting curriculum materials, that uses high-level electronic elements to allow young children to easily develop age-appropriate systems to solve real-world problems. As the name suggests, systems are created by assembling grammatically correct sentences that are scanned to create a corresponding electrical system. ES thus helps children develop literacy skills, logical thinking, design thinking and systems thinking. ES is designed to be used in conjunction with a wide range of modelling materials, which teachers will select with an eye to suitability for the children using the system.
ES is being developed by a US/UK team. The target age for ES is anywhere between, in England, EYFS and Key Stage 1 and, in the US from grades pre-k-5. The design has focussed on useability for the youngest children in these ranges, i.e., children from 4 years on, while retaining attractiveness for older children, with the acknowledgement that teachers will use their judgement about when best to introduce ES.
Limited trials of a prototype, fully working, system have taken place in US classrooms. This paper will, along with describing the ES system and its design aims, report on initial trials in English classrooms. It will explore the effectiveness of the system in achieving its multiple aims (the development of literacy skills, logical thinking, design thinking and systems thinking) and, in the light of these trials suggest necessary developments in the various elements of hardware, software and courseware that will be required before the product is made widely available
Developing the Professional Knowledge of Technology Student Teachers via a Parallel Approach: A Longitudinal Study
Full text linkIn a small scale, four-year longitudinal, quasi-experimental research project, technology student teachers could study the school subject in parallel, together with the development of discipline knowledge (or their major) within the broader development of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). We investigated the performance of students – who had studied the school subject at school and those who studied it in a postschool-university context – in their (1) major, (2) specialised methodology/ pedagogy and (3) their experiences and competencies during their final year work-integrated learning period in schools. We interpreted the findings within the broader theoretical framework of Shulman’s PCK by relating the first aspect to content knowledge, and the second aspect to pedagogical knowledge. We found that the parallel approach to PCK development in technology teacher education seems to be viable to increase the number of prospective technology student teachers, with the requirement that it happens within a social constructivist, co-operative learning environment with ample opportunities for cognitive and practical apprenticeship in a community of practice. However, by building on Shulman’s PCK and Gardner’s cognitive theory, Banks has developed the internationally acknowledged model of teacher professional knowledge (TPK). It entails the active interaction between subject knowledge, school knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and experience which underpins the personal subject construct of the teacher. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to reinterpret the previous findings through the lens of Banks’ TPK model by following a qualitative meta-synthesis as research methodology. In conclusion, implications for curriculum design of initial professional education of technology teachers are drawn
Influence of Pre-professional Organizations on TEE Students
Full text linkSince the 1970’s, there has been a notable decrease in the number of Technology and Engineering Education (TEE) teacher preparation programs, as well as TEE teacher preparation program graduates within the United States. Previous studies have investigated reasons that post-secondary students pursue a TEE degree. However, no research is currently available regarding factors influencing student retention in TEE teacher education programs as well as factors that influence whether TEE preservice teachers enter the education field. Using the expectancy-value theory, this study investigates the relationship of participation of communities of practice in a student’s intention to graduate from the program and enter the teaching field following graduation. This is the first step to a cross-sectional study looking at the influence of exposure to and participation in the Technology and Engineering Educators Collegiate Association on TEE teacher preparation program students. Participation in TEECA was measured ordinally with varying levels of participation depending on a student’s activity level in student chapter meetings, conference attendance, and event participation
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