Design and Technology Education (LJMU)
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Development of Students’ Technical Abilities between 1993-2022 in Finnish Comprehensive Schools
Full text linkThe aim of this study was to find out if there have been any changes in technical abilities among Finnish school children during the last 30 years. Technical abilities were first measured in the affective, psychomotor, and cognitive areas in the year 1993 and these results were later compared with the results from 2012 and 2022. The number of test participants was 267 in the year 1993, 317 in 2012 and 282 in 2022. The age of the student respondents was 11–13 years. The measurements were done with exactly the same research instruments in all three years. Some positive changes were found in affective area among girls’ test groups. Unfortunately, in all research groups the development was negative in the psychomotor and cognitive area. The reason for the decline could be in the reduction of craft and technology education lessons available, especially for boys. From a broader point of view, the changes can be due to the changes in society as a whole. It seems that the curriculum changes during last 30 years have not worked as they have been planned. Especially, boys underachievement is explained by the fact that, even if students work with systematic planning models and use their creativity, aesthetical design usually overshadows technological issues. It is assumed that progressive teaching and assessment favour girls and traditional methods are more congenial to boys
"How am I supposed to tell my mother what happened in today\u27s class?" At the intersection between blended learning and design (thinking) education
Full text linkSince the beginning of the 21st century, design education has been gaining momentum across disciplines as a means to equip students with skills relevant in the job market as well as to tackle wicked problems. One of the core assumptions behind integrating design education to other disciplines focuses on the need for hands-on and experiential opportunity exploration and collaborative learning, often prevalent in studio-based settings. However, as the Covid-19 pandemic has shown, physically accessing the campus or the studio is not always feasible, so how might this impact multidisciplinary design education? Acknowledging the notion that we no longer can take face-to-face learning for granted, this paper ask what aspects of design (thinking) education could be delivered in blended environments. I contribute to this body of knowledge by investigating students’ perceptions of their learning about design methods and processes in a problem-based blended learning course focusing on design and multidisciplinary teamwork. Visual learning diaries of forty-seven students were analyzed to better understand how blended learning can support or hinder learning about applying design to societal issues. Data analysis revealed three aspects – triggers for personal development, exploring ambiguity, and technology as providing structure – that form the concept learning frame. This concept sheds light on how the students perceived blended learning elements influencing their learning about how design could be applied to societal issues. Findings contribute to further dissolving the physical-digital dichotomy in design studio and education. Pedagogical implications focus on how blended learning can promote student agency in design education across disciplines
A Study on Designers’ Attitude for Open Innovation in Turkey
Full text linkIn design education, students benefit not only from their project courses’ content but also from the information resources they contain. When it comes to the repetition of unique problems and solution-oriented approaches in the design professions, the resources used to research solutions for the problems encountered in design education are also specific to that problem. This situation highlights resource diversity, and especially resource sharing, at various stages and thus opens a view into innovation habits among designers’ behaviors. This empirical study explores whether or not designers’ behaviors can be related to their practices in design project courses, regarding their open innovation tendencies. Semi-structured interviews with 20 designers are used to form a case study. Interviewees had experience with both in-house designers and freelancers, therefore purposive sampling was used. The results were analyzed thematically and discussed under open innovation practices
Effects of Curriculum Intervention on Divergent Thinking Abilities
Full text linkThe primary objective of this study is to evaluate the divergent thinking abilities of first-year architecture students who are currently enrolled in a course focused on thinking in architecture. The statistical analysis of student’s studio works with Wallach Kogan`s divergent thinking pre/posttests results demonstrated that the post-test score for verbal stimuli fluency was higher than the visual posttest score. In addition, the post-test score for visual flexibility was higher than the verbal posttest score. In originality students got the highest scores in posttests both in visual and verbal tasks. Besides the correlation analysis indicated a strong correlation between fluency and originality. These results revealed that design training considerably enhances students\u27 capacity to produce original ideas both in visual and verbal thinking. In terms of their ability to create considerably more and qualified ideas on related themes students demonstrate more improvement in their verbal reasoning abilities than their visual reasoning skills. The present study determined that curricular intervention in the first semester training where the instructor emphasized development of divergent thinking skills improved students\u27 both visual and verbal divergent thinking skills, to a greater degree in originality and to a lesser degree in fluency and flexibility in idea generation
Teacher perceptions of critical thinking skills within primary school design and technology
Full text linkCritical thinking skills and creativity have been lauded by many as key attributes sought from prospective employees for the future workplace in an ever changing world. Furthermore, a review of existing literature suggested the prevalence of critical thinking skills within design and technology (D&T) tasks. This study aimed to garner the perceptions of primary school teachers in the UK and establish, from a practitioner’s viewpoint, whether critical thinking skills were evident within their classrooms during D&T sessions. The interviews followed a phenomenological approach and identified commonalities and differences between the teachers’ viewpoints as they described the phenomena they had experienced. The eight interviewees were from different schools in different areas of the UK and ranged from experienced teachers to early career teachers. Teachers were asked about their experiences of teaching D&T before completing a hierarchal ordering exercise of skills they perceived were gained from D&T activities in primary schools. The data produced experiences, thoughts and opinions about teaching design and technology in primary schools and teacher perceptions of the role of critical thinking within them. Analysis of the interview transcripts identified critical thinking throughout the responses and categorised three main themes around the teaching of design and technology in primary schools: approaches, attitudes and outcomes. This study suggests that, for primary teachers to develop their pupils’ critical thinking skills within design and technology, and thus develop technological literacy, there are issues that need addressing at both leadership and classroom levels such as training, resourcing and leadership priorities. Nevertheless, teachers interviewed in this small scale study confidently believed that primary school pupils benefit from promoting critical thinking within D&T activities.
The Place of Design Education in Achieving 4IR Sustainability through the 4Cs Skill-sets
Full text linkThe Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) merges the physical, digital, and biological spheres, reshaping societies and individuals worldwide in unprecedented ways. With the fast-moving globalization and rapid rate of technological development of the 4IR, the world is also facing unprecedented social, economic, and environmental challenges. As the 4IR continues to reshape industries across the globe, there is an increasing need for educational systems to adapt and equip students with the necessary skills to thrive in this rapidly evolving landscape. With its diverse socio-economic context and pressing environmental concerns, a specific emphasis on design education is required to develop a skilled workforce capable of driving sustainability in the 4IR. Given the needs of the 4IR, students need to possess a set of skills that are highly sought after. These skills, commonly known as the “4Cs,” encompass communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. Design education plays a substantial role in preparing students for the demands of the 4IR, as it cultivates a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to problem solving, innovation, and sustainable development. This paper explores the place of design education in nurturing the 4Cs skill sets for achieving 4IR sustainability, focusing on how design education can address the unique challenges and opportunities faced in the 4IR era
Guest Editorial: Building Research Capacity and Engagement in Design and Technology Education (BRACE), Special Issue
Full text linkA framework for analyzing technological knowledge in school design projects including models
Full text linkAbstract
This study investigates, and further develops, a framework for analyzing technological knowledge emanating from school design projects; a framework that has the potential to be used as a tool for teachers when choosing and planning design projects. The study also intends to answer the research question: What technological knowledge, associated to physical models, emanates from design projects common in Swedish secondary schools. To answer the research question, the framework is used to analyze three design projects common in Swedish secondary schools. The design projects were video-recorded during actual classroom work by using a self-following robot camera. The projects involved three teachers and 70 students in grades 7, 8 and 9. Deductive content analysis of the video-recordings revealed that technological knowledge from four categories – Technical skills, Technological scientific knowledge, Socio-ethical technical understanding and Engineering capabilities – within the framework emanated from the three projects. A new category of technological knowledge was also found, namely Technological research capabilities. This fifth category is related to the capability to search for, and interpret, information about solutions when doing a design. An implication of the conducted study is that design projects are important to enable development of technological knowledge in the school subject technology. However, considering the amount of time a design project requires, there is only room for a few projects in secondary school. Therefore, technology teachers have to carefully choose and combine projects to educate technological literate citizens as well as prepare students for studies and future careers within engineering and technology
Affordances of models and modelling: a study of four technology design projects in the Swedish secondary school
Full text linkThis study aims to investigate affordances of models and modelling in design projects in technology education. To learn more about affordances when working with models and modelling, four Swedish technology teachers were interviewed using a narrative approach. Despite a small number of informants data were rich, containing detailed descriptions of sequences where students used models and modelling in ways not planned by the teachers. By using a qualitative, generic inductive approach, the narrative interviews revealed seven different affordances of models and modelling in the projects: Seeing different solutions; Finding possibilities and limitations in solutions; Representing an idea, structure or function; Communicating solutions with drawings; Making problems and solutions visible; Trial and error and learning from mistakes and finally Taking inspirations from each other’s solutions. Some conclusions and implications of the study are that when the students can see and use a wide variety of materials when modelling, they are more creative in finding solutions to design problems. The use of conceptual design in schools, leading to students performing trial and error using models to solve problems, might also be connected to the importance of a variety of materials. In the study, teachers describe how their students used models, trying different solutions, representing ideas, and trying, failing and trying again. All these modelling activities are important parts of a design process and might prove that the doing itself is a process of reflection
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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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