Design and Technology Education (LJMU)
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Young Pupils and Visual-Spatial Ability/Intelligence
Get PDFAt Key Stage 1, the programme of study for Design and Technology in the National Curriculum in Wales, in relation to ‘Designing Skills’ (ACCAC, 2000:8), simply states that, ‘Pupils should be taught to record their ideas, e.g. using words, pictures, sketches and ICT.’ This paper provides details of a small scale study centred on the extent to which infant children, as guided learners, are able to utilise a more formalised drawing strategy (orthographic projection) as a means of generating, communicating and recording ideas, thereby supporting young children’s ability to visualise objects, or parts of an object from different perspectives, in an appropriately realistic manner. A key rationale for the study was that of identifying ‘relatively exceptional performance’, in respect of visual-spatial awareness; that is, a recognition of children who display an aptitude for depicting objects (in this case design ideas) by way of utilising appropriate graphical representations/viewpoints as a means of achieving greater ‘visual realism’. Here, realism is seen to be reflected by the children’s recognition and representation of how their product is to function: a vehicle carrying a chocolate cream egg securely, while it runs down a slope, along their classroom floor and through a finishing line (details below). The study attempts to shed some light on this issue by comparing output from what are termed ‘free’ and ‘taught/guided’ drawings. Initial results suggest that, with guidance, young children generally depict design ideas with a sharper focus on elements relevant to the desired functioning of their product, including a move away from what I have termed, ‘personal contextualisation’: the desire to include components that, whilst indicative of young children’s personal experiences, have limited practical bearing in terms of that which will eventually be manufacture
‘Oh yeah, yeah you get a lot of love hearts. The Year 9s are notorious for love hearts. Everything is love hearts.’ Fixation in Pupils’ Design and Technology Work (11-16 years)
Get PDFThis paper focuses on the design ideas generated by young people aged 11-16 years when solving design and technology problems. A number of methods including focus interviews with pupils and teachers, lesson observations and analysis of documents and pupils portfolios are used to help explain how pupils aged 11-16 years generate their design and technology ideas. The findings indicate that a significant number of pupils produced stereotypical design ideas such as love hearts and sports logos. This was the case regardless of their age and gender and happens at various stages when designing. A review of the creative cognition literature suggests that this occurs as a result of a normal way of thinking and is referred to as fixation. Fixation, that is, what it looks like and how it manifests itself in the D&T classroom is discussed in detail. Fixation was also found to manifest itself in other ways such as a strong desire to do the first idea that comes into your head. It is argued that an understanding of fixation gives insight into why pupils find it difficult to generate creative design ideas. As fixation can be overridden, we believe that the role of the teacher in this process is important. Aspects of current practice that might be problematic are begun to be considered
e-assessment in project e-scape
Get PDFIn this paper I shall present a new model of assessment – derived specifically in the context of the latest research and development project being undertaken in TERU at Goldsmiths College. The paper starts with an analysis of some of the roots of our assessment practice in norm and criterion referencing, and I indicate some of the pitfalls of the criterion referencing approach that was developed as part of the England/Wales National Curriculum in the early 1990s. I then describe what we have done over the last couple of years in TERU to enable learners to create e-portfolios for assessment within project e-scape. Using these e-portfolios, I then present a completely new approach to assessment developed in association with the former head of research at the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. The approach was (on the face of it) simple, using a web-based interface. But the outcome was astonishing – producing reliability statistics of 0.93: far higher than can be achieved in normal coursework assessment. The issues that this approach raises are many and profound, not the least of which is the possibility of a new, trustworthy, conceptualisation of what coursework assessment might become. I conclude with a brief projection into the future – both in terms of how e-scape is planned to develop over the next few years and in terms of what
Factors Contributing Towards Low Ability and Disaffected Pupils Having a Positive Perception of the Relevance of Design and Technology: a case study in a Welsh secondary school
Get PDFDiscussion of the relationship between pupils’ perceived relevance of an activity and their levels of engagement has appeared on the UK educational agenda, (Ofsted 2005:51-52, Davies et al, 2004:147, Daniels et al 1998:5.5, Denton, 1992), but not with the frequency which might be expected. Initial research in the primary author’s school found that a group of low ability and disaffected pupils had a very positive perception of the “relevance” of design and technology. In contrast the literature reviewed suggested that pupils in their samples had a low perception of the “relevance” of design and technology. Pupil understanding of the term relevant / relevance has previously been explored by the authors (Thomas and Denton, 2006). Developing on this the findings from this paper suggest that there are a range of strategies employed to promote the relevance of the subject in classroom practice, departmental documentation, policies, development plans and schemes of work. The implications of these strategies for educational practitioners and other stakeholders are discusse
The Design and Technology Association Education and International Research Conference 2007 – Paper Abstracts
Get PDFThe 2007 Professor John Eggleston Memorial Lecture Learning to Design: Investigating the ‘Inner Activity’ of the pupil.
Get PDFThis paper will address five questions that emerge from the title of the Design and Technology Association Education and International Research Conference 2007: ‘Linking Learning’: (a) How can we think about learning so that it informs our work in design and technology? (b) What is known about design and designing that might help pupils learn to think in a designerly way? (c) What do we know about the ‘inner activity’ of designers that can support pupils learning to design? (d) What does the pupil need to learn in order to think in a designerly way? and (e) What do we know about ‘linking learning’ and how can this inform our work in design education? The paper begins with a review of learning, one of education’s central concepts. This is followed by a discussion of the term ‘design’, the knowledge required by a designer, and how a designer comes to know. The third section of the paper examines the meaning of the term ‘design’ in the context of design and technology classrooms. The fourth section (a) discusses transfer theory of learning, and (b) identifies a variety of ‘links’ that have possible meaning for design education. The paper concludes with suggestions for approaches to research in design education. Throughout the paper, questions that could serve as the basis for both short and longitudinal research studies are identified
A Global Curriculum: Design technology in the International Baccalaureate
Get PDFThis paper places the Design Technology curriculum of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO)in an historical and international context of global education. It seems paradoxical that in a postmodern era of respect for local and national cultures and educational systems, a curriculum could thrive that represents the antithesis of this by proposing that the same curriculum is appropriate for all students in all societies. The relevant structures of the IB and the nature of Design Technology will be described in order to enable judgements about its role and to explain its increasing popularity
Processes or/and Products – What do teachers assess?
Get PDFThis paper draws on research that is part of a larger project supported by the Swedish Research Councilinvestigating communication and learning in Sloyd practices. In the paper I provide a brief outline of what the Sloyd subject is in Swedish schools and what the similarities and differences are between Sloyd andTechnology. It is hoped that the issues raised through the Sloyd research will be helpful in consideringsimilar issues in Technology Education. What learning qualities and other values do teachers describe, when assessing their students? It is known that classroom talk is not very developed in Sloyd classes. How then is it possible to teach and to learn during Sloyd lessons? According to the result from the National Evaluation of all subjects in Swedish schools, Sloyd teachers and their students, to some extent, had different opinions about what qualities of learning were desirable. The teachers put priority on assessing the processes, while the students thought it was the result and finish of every product that was most important when teachers made their assessments. I will discuss what teachers think they assess, based on repertory grid interviews and using analysis frameworks from other research in art education. The results indicate some difference between the language used for thinking and the language used for communication. I argue for the need to develop professional languages for use in learning, teaching and assessment in Sloyd classrooms and suggest there may be parallel issues for Technology Education
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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)
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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