Teachers learning about technology and technology education: Insights from a professional development experience

The introduction of technology education in primary and secondary schools during the past 10–15 years around the world has presented a number of difficulties for teachers, primarily related to their coming to understand the phenomenon of technology and to conceptualise the technology learning area in line with national frameworks. This paper reports on a professional development experience that aimed to assist a small group of primary school teachers to develop their understandings of technology and technology education. A theoretical model framed a series of professional development interactions between the researchers and the experienced teachers who were new to teaching technology. Data sources included teacher interviews, video recordings of the activities, teacher made models, and extracts from their reflective journals. The study presented some insights into how professional development experiences for teachers new to technology could be organised and implemented to best support their developing technology practices and understandings.     

Tracing design students’ affective journeys through reflective writing

Affection in learning embraces emotions, attitudes, values and beliefs that emerge during the learning process, and it is a vital and hidden element of learning. Studies focusing on affective, or emotional, aspects of design learning in the context of design education underscore the significance of the affective process and inform us of the connection between the creative dimension and emotions during a design activity. To this point, this paper addresses the following research question: to what extent does reflective writing disclose design students’ affective journeys throughout a semester? An empirical study is conducted to observe first-year industrial design students’ affective processes during a semester using their structured reflective diaries. The longitudinal study results show that the students exhibit certain tendencies in terms of the affective processes throughout a semester. The findings of this study are discussed in reference to peak points, anomalies and tendencies of the affective processes observed based on excerpts from the diaries. It is concluded that affective responses in design learning are multidimensional and wide-ranging.     

Using software to engage design students in academic writing

First year undergraduate design students have found difficulties in realising the standards expected for academic writing at university level. An assessment initiative was used to engage students with criteria and standards for a core interdisciplinary design subject notable for its demanding assessment of academic writing. The same graduate attribute categories linked to assessment criteria and web-based software (REVIEW?) were used for assessing students’ other design assignments. Students engaged with criterion-referenced assessment of an essay exemplar in order to reflect on their own essay writing process. Tutor marking of the exemplar and student essays used a visual mark on a grading scale to reveal the variation between the tutor’s marks and students’ own judgments against each criterion. Data from the software and post-semester focus group discussions and questionnaires showed that the initiative promoted engagement and dialogue between tutors and students and fostered independence and confidence. Results suggest that students’ understanding of the required academic writing standards was improved by this reflective intervention and increased their appreciation that writing and research skills are important attributes for designers.     

The social agenda of education for sustainable development within design & technology: the case of the Sustainable Design Award

The paper explores the adoption of the social dimensions of sustainability in technological design tasks. It uses a lens which contrasts education for sustainability as ‘a frame of mind’ with an attempt to bridge a ‘value-action gap’. This lens is used to analyse the effectiveness of the Sustainable Design Award, an intervention in post-16 technology education in three countries to encourage students and teachers to strengthen design for sustainability in their work. In each country, the intervention project provided varying combinations of teacher professional development, provision of learning resources, in school student support, lobbying of key curriculum policy makers and a student Award. Three types of teacher are identified by reference to their motivation for introducing sustainability into their teaching of design. These teacher types are linked to a hierarchy of teachers’ understanding of the social dimension of sustainability. The consequences for continuous professional development are examined. The findings are then used to critique the value of the lens.     

Rehearsal of professional practice: impacts of web-based collaborative learning on the future encounter of different disciplines

This study argues that the shift towards a more multidisciplinary professional life in contemporary design practice requires design curricula to equip students with collaborative skills. The study offers that by the aid of web-based collaborative learning (WBCL) in design education, different disciplines may be brought together during their education. A case study is held as a rehearsal of professional life; involving architecture and interior architecture students collaborating on a common project, using WBCL. The evaluations of the participating students about the process were analyzed. The findings convey that there is a mutual problem of recognition of professional domains. In order to diagnose and possibly reconcile tensions that may occur due to this problem in professional life, this paper asserts that integrating interdisciplinary work to the design curricula would be beneficial.     

Preservice Primary Teachers' Thinking About Technology and Technology Education

It is apparent from previous research that primary school teachers have very limited or narrow perceptions of design and technology and such views may affect adversely their ability and confidence to teach the key learning area of design and technology in the classroom. Therefore, it is the task of technology teacher educators to provide experiences that will broaden preservice teachers' perceptions of technology and technology education. This paper reports an investigation, using an interpretive research methodology, of preservice primary teachers' prior perceptions of design and technology and changes in their perceptions of design and technology as a result of their engagement in independent technology projects. Students enrolled in a one-year postgraduate teacher education program were the participants in the study and the methods of data collection included the use of survey instruments, interviews, field notes and students' reflective journals. The results indicate that the independent projects broadened and deepened the students' understandings of technology as a process. The implications of the approach for the design of technology education courses for preservice and inservice teachers are discussed.     

Similarities and Differences in the Academic Education of Software Engineering and Architectural Design Professionals

This article focuses on the similarities and differences in the academic education of software engineers and architects. The rationale for this work stems from our observation, each from the perspective of her or his own discipline, that these two professional design and development processes share some similarities. A pilot study was performed, in which 24 practitioners (12 software engineers and 12 architects) were interviewed concerning the main characteristics of the two professions. The characteristics were classified according to four categories: discipline-related characteristics, professional skills, characteristics of typical problems and processes, and characteristics of a typical product. Data analysis indicates that according to the practitioners, while the professional skills required of professionals in the two disciplines are mostly common, the difference between the two disciplines is reflected most significantly in the features of the product created in the two professional processes. Based on this observation, some conclusions are outlined with respect to the academic education in the two fields.     

Incorporating museum experience into an in-service programme for science and technology teachers in Taiwan

This study presented a course on preparing in-service teachers to learn communication technology education and how to integrate museum resources into their teaching. The course was organised and conducted by a teacher educator and museum educator together. Forty-two participants enrolled in this course, including 29 elementary school teachers, nine senior high school teachers, and four future teachers. During the course, data were collected and analysed to address issues and problems emerged from the study and to assess if it is appropriate to be suggested for further adoption. The data sources included reflective journals, lesson plans and peers’ comments, video-tapes, and final reports. Findings, issues, and problems were presented and discussed including a lesson developed through an interdisciplinary approach. To be concluded, a professional development programme that will make changes need to include three important components: student involvement, heterogeneity of the participants, and role models provided by teacher educators.     

Enhancing teachers’ technological pedagogical knowledge and practices: a professional development model for technology teachers in Malawi

This paper reports on a professional development that was designed and implemented in an attempt to broaden teachers’ knowledge of the nature of technology and also enhance their technological pedagogical practices. The professional development was organised in four phases with each phase providing themes for reflection and teacher learning in subsequent phases. On-going support, reflection and feedback underpinned the professional development processes to enhance teachers’ prospects of putting aside old traditions and culture to implement new practices in their classrooms. The teachers collaboratively explored new concepts through readings of selected scholarly papers, making presentations of their views generated from the readings and engaging with peers in discussing learning, curriculum issues and concepts related to the nature of technology and technology education. A qualitative analysis of the teachers’ journey through the phases of the professional development showed the teachers’ enhanced knowledge of technology and technology education. However, their classroom practices showed technological pedagogical techniques that reflected their traditional strategies for teaching technical subjects. It is argued that although the teachers’ conceptualisation of learning in technology was still fragile at this point, attempts to shift teachers’ beliefs and practices require deep theoretical grounding and transferring that into technological practices. A professional development built on existing ideas and context helps expand the teachers’ views about the nature of technology and technology education.     

Applying quality function deployment in industrial design curriculum planning

Industrial design is a discipline that combines multiple professional fields. Enterprise demands for industrial design competencies also change over time; thus, the curriculum of industrial design education should be compatible with the current demands of the industry. However, scientific approaches have not been previously employed to plan industrial design curriculums. Therefore, a gap exists between the expectations of enterprises and the professional competencies of numerous graduates in the industrial design discipline. To solve this problem, we first identified the professional competencies required of industrial design professionals in industry and academia, and then ranked these competencies based on their degree of importance using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Subsequently, we planned an industrial design curriculum that meets practical workplace needs by applying quality function deployment (QFD), and proposed items that require special attention for the industrial design curriculum. The results of this study are as follows (1) we obtained a ranking of various items of the professional competencies in industrial design based on their degree of importance to determine which professional competencies should be specifically cultivated; (2) we planned an industrial design curriculum that addresses the needs of enterprises according to industrial design ability index (IDAI); and (3) we recommend the courses and subjects that should be emphasized and enhanced in the existing industrial design curriculum.     

Identity development in school makerspaces: intentional design

Makerspaces are increasingly popular in K-12 schools, particularly when associated with STEM learning. Many schools are successfully entering the makerspace arena. Others face significant barriers in ideating their design, often resorting to tinkering, or the purchase of commercial kits as resources. At the heart of a makerspace is its intent, as well as anticipated learning outcomes. This paper proposes design as being the process-base of a makerspace, and the transformation of learner identity as being its core learning outcome. The literature is drawn together to present an overview of identity as it relates to learning. It draws on the Funds of Knowledge and Funds of Identity approaches to outline how makerspaces are able to operate as third spaces, drawing together experiences in both formal and informal education. The paper then presents a makerspace design approach that draws together three identity resources, namely material, relational and ideational. Literature on equity-oriented makerspace design and facilitation is drawn upon to describe makerspace design features organised by each type of identity resource. This design can initiate the conversation of educational makerspace designers that supports focused questions about the potential purpose, resourcing, structure and facilitation of school makerspaces.     

The impact of the internet on students’ enhancement of cultural aspects in design projects: a case study on interior design graduation projects,University of Dammam,Saudi Arabia

The paper explores the impact of the internet on students and their enhancement of their Identity and culture in the world of globalization. It is based on two stages; a theoretical background in the literature that provides criteria for examining the issue of the study. Then, the analytical study is done to the collected data. The paper incorporates two methods of data collection; a questionnaire survey to measure the instructors’ perception of how students should reflect the identity and local culture in their projects in the internet era, and statistical analysis of students’ implementation of cultural knowledge and identity features in their graduation projects in the new millennium before the usage of internet in the design education in the interval of 2001–2007 and after the usage of internet the interval between 2008 and 2015. Consequently, the paper is designed to generate both statistical quantitative and qualitative data. Despite the apparent impact of Globalization and internet based education on abandoning individual identity, yet it might lead to opening new horizons in front of dealing with cultural identity and heritage with a contemporary vision that integrates with nowadays architecture and at the same time refer to the unique identity.     

高职教育中专业基础课教学改革

根据教高[2006]16号文件精神,职业院校纷纷启动,为提高本校的教学质量做出多方努力,修订培养计划,重构课程体系,对专业核心课程开启精品课程建设等等工作。但专业基础课的职业化改革落后了,成为制约专业发展的瓶颈。专业基础课教学应根据高职教育特点,以"必需、够用"为度,以专业人才培养服务为出发点设计教学内容,抓住90后学生特点,进行教学方法、考核方式等一系列改革,重在能力培养,为社会输送大量面向生产、建设、管理服务第一线需要的高素质技能型专门人才奉献力量。     

分析设计师在品牌服装设计中的作用——谈现代服装设计师的培养

设计师的综合能力在很大程度上制约着品牌的发展。品牌服装企业对优秀服装设计人才的渴望日趋明显。如何培养适应现代企业发展需要和适应市场变化需要的专业性高素质人才,成为现代服装高等教育所面临的一个重要问题。改变现行的教学模式,以服装企业的人才需求模式为依据,与市场变化紧密结合,改变教学内容,培养适合品牌服装企业发展需要的专业设计人才是改变品牌服装企业人才供需矛盾的必由之路。     

谈发挥高校图书馆在素质教育中的作用

本文论述了21世纪的高校图书馆在大学生素质教育中的地位和作用,重点是德育、专业知识学习、人文素质和科学素质的培养这三个方面。     

Supporting conceptual understandings of and pedagogical practice in technology through a website in New Zealand

This article reports on the up-date and development of an on-line resource to support of teachers’ conceptual understandings and pedagogical practice in New Zealand. Techlink is a website dedicated to supporting technology teachers, students and those with an interest in technology education. This research documents part of a Ministry of Education initiative to develop materials to support teaching and learning in technology education. The research was conducted by educational researchers contracted through Technology Education New Zealand the professional subject association. This research was a component of a larger contract with an overall aim of improving student achievement particularly at Years 12 and 13, the final 2 years of schooling in New Zealand. The aims of the initiative reported in this article were to provide ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of the materials developed by the writing team, to support teacher shifts in understanding and pedagogical practice. This article gives an overview of the 3 year research study, focussing on teachers and teacher educators perceptions of Techlink as a professional development resource. An iterative process was used to critique and give feedback on existing and developed materials. The article also discusses enhancements made to ensure that the resource reflected the needs of technology teachers and The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education 2007).     

高校设备管理人员应有的基本素质

随着信息时代的到来,科技进步日新月异,知识更新速度不断加快,这一切都为我国的高等教育的发展提供了良好的机遇和强大的动力。在全新的形势下,对高校设备管理人员的素质建设提出了更高的要求。一个优秀的设备管理人员,必须具备坚定正确的思想政治素质、健康向上的身心素质、高尚的职业道德素质、过硬的业务素质以及良好的服务意识,才能跟上时代的脚步。     

Assessing the long-term impact of a metacognitive approach to creative skill development

The goal of this research was to determine the long-term impact that selected instructional interventions, based on research in metacognition and learning theory, have on students’ creativity. The study builds off research that has been conducted documenting the impact of creative thinking based instructional interventions. The study tracked design students beginning their freshman year to determine if observed improvements have been maintained throughout 4 years of undergraduate study. Preliminary research statistically tested the introduction of structured metacognitive skills on the development of creative thinking ability for a diverse population of undergraduate design students. This research indicated that an approach to education influenced by research in learning theory and metacognition does, in the short-term, result in students who are more creative. By continuing testing throughout students’ education an equally important question was answered. To what degree do students maintain or improve this level of enhanced creative thinking ability over an extended period of time? The findings showed that students who participated in one or both interventions finished with significantly higher levels of creative thinking. The knowledge gained also demonstrated how newly structured educational interventions utilizing online blogs and other Internet based technologies were successful in enhancing and maintaining students’ creative thinking abilities. The goal was to provide educators with insight and guidance in the application of a metacognitive approach and to introduce available technologies to aid in this process. This study provides educators with a plan of action consisting of a toolbox of creative strategies and a framework for a reflective approach.     

Examining professionals’ identification in the workplace: The roles of organizational prestige,work-unit prestige,and professional status

Drawing on social identity theory, we hypothesize that professionals develop their organizational and work-unit identifications through organizational prestige and work-unit prestige respectively. We further hypothesize that professional status negatively interacts with organizational prestige and work-unit prestige to affect the development of their organizational and work-unit identifications from the perspectives of self-enhancement and uncertainty reduction. A two-phase survey on 386 hospital nurses in central China provides general support for the hypotheses. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Learning creativity and design for innovation

This paper puts the case for using a pedagogical framework based on the principles of grammatical design in conjunction with conventional creative problem solving strategies in higher education to foster learning for innovation and creativity. It explores the design and delivery of an inaugural creativity and innovation course that used a combination of individual and group projects to explore the combinatorial use of creative problem solving strategies and grammatical design schemas. Using established creative thinking evaluation techniques and reflective practice journals offers a powerful path for the creative development of innovative ideas. Testing (Torrance, Creativity in the classroom, 1977) found that the figurative based creative thinking scores of an experimental group of non-designer undergraduate students significantly improved according to pre and post course tests. Two dimensional and three dimensional design assessment tasks were completed in conjunction with a series of creative problem solving teamwork sessions. Standard SELTS course evaluation also strongly suggests there is value in the active teaching of creativity strategies for the recognition of valuable problems and the development of innovative solutions.