Children’s developing understanding of technology

The issue of children’s conceptions of technology and technology education is seen as important by technology educators. While there is a solid body of literature that documents groups of children’s understandings of technology and technology education, this is primarily focused on snapshot studies of children aged 11 and above. There is little literature relating to individual children’s changing conceptions over time, or to children younger than 11. This paper documents and discusses the changing understanding of the meaning of the word ‘technology’ of seven children over their first 6 years of primary school (age 5–10). It seeks to explain the source of the children’s understandings of the word ‘technology’ and to suggest some teaching and planning implications for technology educators.     

‘Enhancing the Creative Process for Learning in Primary Technology Education’

When undertaking design and technology activities, children are provided with opportunities to create solutions to problems in new and innovative ways. The mental processes involved in the generation of new ideas may be enhanced when children’s attention is not focussed and is allowed to wander in a relaxed and uncompetitive environment. Research indicates that the two mental states, generative and non-generative, cannot exist simultaneously. This paper reports on a research project which investigated the impact on children’s thinking when a period of non-focussed thinking became part of the technology process. The results support the previous proposition that a child’s non-generative/analytical mental state needs to give way to a generative state so that a child can be more fully creative. Moreover, from this study that documented children’s ideas during their involvement in a design and technology activity, teachers are urged to provide an incubation period as part of the technological process in the classroom, so that children’s creativity can be fostered.     

Promoting student-led science and technology projects in elementary teacher education: entry into core pedagogical practices through technological design

Future elementary school teachers often lack self-efficacy for teaching science and technology. They are particularly anxious about encouraging children to carry-out student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry and/or technological design projects. Moreover, because this often also is the case with practising elementary school teachers, it is difficult for student–teachers to gain practical experience facilitating student-led project work during practicum sessions. To provide student–teachers with expertise and motivation for promoting student-directed, open-ended project work, therefore, a group of future elementary teachers were taken through a constructivism-informed ‘apprenticeship’ during their university-based teaching methods course and then invited to make project work the subject of the action research that they were required to complete during their practicum. In this paper, successes that one student–teacher (out of 78 studied) experienced in promoting student-directed, open-ended technological design projects are reported. Although she judged children’s designs to be modestly successful, data indicate that her self-efficacy for promoting project work increased significantly. Analyses of qualitative data collected during the methods course and practicum also indicate that aspects of the curriculum, teachers, students and milieu appeared to contribute to this success. Such findings suggest that teacher educators should focus on helping future elementary teachers to develop expertise and motivation that would enable and encourage children to conduct technological design projects before conducting scientific inquiries. Such a tack may be the most pragmatic—and, arguably, epistemologically-sound—approach for helping ‘science- and technology-phobic’ student–teachers to move from the periphery to the core of practices in science and technology education.     

Comparisons and Contrasts Between Elementary/Primary ’School Situated Design’ and ’Workplace Design’ in Canada and England

There is a lack of evidence that examines, together, the triad of how teachers in elementary/primary schools are translating curriculum requirements for teaching design, within technology frameworks, in their classrooms, how their students then proceed with design, and how ’school situated design’ relates to ’workplace design’. This paper explores the relationships between designerly thinking and behaviours situated in classrooms and in the workplace, beliefs about how designing is learned in schools and in the ’real world’, and children’s, teachers’ and designers’ understanding of design. These are be illustrated by extracts from interviews with teachers, children and designers and evidence of designing in classrooms and in the workplace. Similarities and differences between evidence from ’school situated design’ and ’workplace design’ and from Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Motivating self-regulated learning in technology education

This paper proposes a compensative model for self-regulated learning in technology education (SRLT) comprised of cognitive, metacognitive and motivational domains. Discussion of the cognitive domain centers on problem-solving and creativity, with a focus on the need to engage students in open-ended assignments in informal contexts and to teach them a repertoire of methods, strategies and heuristics for inventive design and problem-solving, rather than letting them search randomly for ideas or use the trial-and-error method. The notion of metacognition deals with peoples’ ability to be aware of and control their own thinking, for example, how they selects their learning goals, use prior knowledge or intentionally choose problem-solving strategies. Self-regulatory behaviour is highly correlated with an individual’s motivation to handle challenging assignments, and with his or her internal satisfaction from being engaged in a task that contributes more to creativity than to receiving external rewards. Another important factor is an individuals’ self-efficacy belief in their ability to handle a highly demanding assignment determined by previous positive experience in similar tasks and the existence of a supportive social and emotional environment. The SRLT model highlights the interrelationships between the cognitive, metacognitive and motivational aspects of learning, problem-solving and invention. For example, teaching students problem-solving strategies could help them accomplish a task, improve their ability to monitor their own thinking and reflect on their learning, and enhance their self-efficacy beliefs about problem-solving and creativity. The teachers’ role in promoting SRLT education and directions for further research are also discussed.     

Taking part in technology education: elements in students’ motivation

The purpose of this study was to determine the elements motivating comprehensive school students to study technology education. In addition, we tried to discover how students' motivation towards technology education developed over the period leading up to their school experience and the effect this might have on their future involvement with technology. The research was carried out as a qualitative case study and the material was collected through individual theme interviews. The study group consisted of four 15 to 16-year-old students, each representing a totally different case of motivation towards technology education. In choosing individuals for the study the main criteria were gender and negative or positive motivation towards technology education. This study found that the artefact to be made in school and the student’s freedom of choice had the most significant effect on motivation. Although, we must be careful with final conclusions as the research group was relatively small.     

Drawing Out Ideas: Graphicacy and Young Children

Drawing offers a powerful mode for representing and clarifying one‘s own thinking and for communicating ideas to others. Young children instinctively use drawing in the same exploratory way that designers use sketching to ’converse with themselves‘ when generating ideas. The two distinctive traditions of drawing in Technology and Fine Art are replicated in the Design and Technology and Art and Design curricula in England and Wales. However, because we lack research evidence about (i) the processes by which children develop drawing capability and (ii) the effects of school culture and pedagogy on the development of children‘s drawing capability, teachers are confused about how to teach drawing and unsure about the role of graphicacy in promoting children‘s learning in both subjects. In this article the particular dilemmas of teaching design drawing to young children will be discussed. A research agenda for the teaching and learning of drawing in primary schools will be outlined. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Technology education for children in primary schools in Finland and Germany: different school systems, similar problems and how to overcome them

Even if the results of international student assessment studies such as PISA or TIMSS show that girls have been catching up in mathematics and natural sciences, there are still remarkable gender differences in the number of males and females studying and working in the technological fields after basic education. Technology is still a male-dominated area. This is true for the German and Finnish societies. Results of the studies conducted in the UPDATE project show that influences on interest in technological themes take place already in early childhood. Therefore, efforts should be put in developing early childhood education and elementary school education, to raise girls’ interests and motivation towards technology. This article reports the results of the UPDATE-WorkPackage3-project mainly in Finland and in Germany. It concentrates on studying elementary school pupils’ (age 6–12), particularly girls’ motivation towards the contents and methods of technology education. Various curriculum documents and national learning conditions are discussed and suggestions for the gender equitable technology education are made.     

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.     

A phenomenographic study of Greek primary school students’ representations concerning technology in daily life

The present research investigated and studied students’ representations about daily life technologies, in a prospect of studying technology in Greek primary education. In the research participated 60 Greek primary school students aged 9 to 12 years old. Research data were collected through semi-structured, personal, clinical-type interviews. Each interview investigated student’s conceptions and views about the following thematic areas: the concept of technology, daily life technologies, technological change, and the impact of technology use in everyday life. Data analysis revealed that the majority of students equated technology with modern tools and appliances, especially with computers, TV, mobile phones, satellites and other micro- and macro-technologies, whereas experience based technologies (de Vries, Technology education: Beyond the “technology is applied science” paradigm. J. Technol. Edu. 8 (1996), 7) have been hardly recognized by them as technology. Also students’ representations can be categorized either as technology-oriented representations, which focus on a collection of technical means without reference to humans, or as human-oriented representations, focused on technical means with substantial reference to human needs and activities. Depending on these types of representations, students seem to conceive differently the nature of the problems, which they recognize that the wide use of technology causes mainly to the environment and the responsibility of the user for these problems. Moreover, it seems that the concept of technological change is a quite difficult one for the students. In order to help students form adequate representations about daily life technology and technological change an appropriate teaching approach was designed on the basis of these students’ representations.     

Technological literacy: a multliteracies approach for democracy

Throughout history various grand narratives have impacted on technology education. In the current post modern era of globalization, technology education continues to struggle for relevance and definition, and takes various forms in different countries, but none seem resoundingly successful. The current development of what some have termed a digital democracy (Web 2.0)—the explosion of a new type of information technology which has become an integral characteristic of young people’s lives, is the starting point for this paper. Mainstream literacy theory was reconceptualised in the 1990’s with the foresight of anticipating the significance of a range of literacies. Broad conceptions of Technological Literacy have always accommodated multiple literacies, but must now essentially do so in a dynamic way through the pre-existing pedagogy of design.     

Factors that Influence Children's Developing Perceptions of Technology

Two instruments designed to ascertain children's conceptions of ‘technology’ were given to 315 English children in Years 2–6. A subset of 81 children and their teachers were interviewed. Responses to the same instruments were collected from 745 Western Australian children in the same year groups. Subsequently their teachers and 164 Australian children were interviewed. The Australian and English children had a similar range of concepts to explain technology, but the frequency of concepts varied. The results suggest that the stages of developing an inclusive concept of technology are mainly chronological, but the rates vary with individuals depending on a number of inter-related factors including home and school influence, ability, gender and opportunity to discuss ideas. Examination of these factors suggests there is a need for specific curriculum provision in technology based on adequate in- service training of teachers, which should also clarify the differences between science and technology. Children also need to be enabled to clarify their ideas through focused activities. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Teacher Perceptions of Design and Technology: A Study of Disjunction between Policy and Practice

This study examines the curriculum directions being charted by a sample of county secondary school design and technology teachers in England and Wales. The purposes of design and technology are analysed, and the syllabuses and examinations used reviewed, together with how design folios are incorporated into teaching. In addition, teacher reports on student-teacher classroom performance, and student-teacher evaluations of their teaching practice experiences are analysed. It was found that teacher perceptions are highly pragmatic and technical, with the pupils‘ intended learning outcomes largely being defined instrumentally in terms of product output rather than in design process terms. A disjunction is found between the statutory Order on Design and Technology and its implementation, with many teachers ’constructing‘ their design and technology education programmes within a ’craft paradigm‘. The discussion offers possible explanations for this and concludes that it has as much to do with the perceived status of Design and Technology as a school subject as with a ’product – process‘ debate. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

3D simulation technology as an effective instructional tool for enhancing spatial visualization skills in apparel design

The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of 3D simulation technology for enhancing spatial visualization skills in apparel design education and further to suggest an innovative teaching approach using the technology. Apparel design majors in an introductory patternmaking course, at a large Midwestern University in the United States, participated in this study. Three different teaching methods (lecture, 3D simulation instruments, and paper patternmaking) were employed in consecutive instructional phases, within a single day. A short questionnaire devised to assess students’ visualization abilities and overall evaluation on the three different teaching methods was administered to the students after each of the three phases. Overall, students’ abilities to visualize 2D patterns onto a human body were improved by all three teaching methods. The 3D simulation instruments anchored positive effects of training on spatial visualization abilities between lecture and paper patternmaking practices. The results affirm that 3D simulation technology has positive potential as an efficient instructional tool for improving students’ visualization skills in apparel design.     

Attitudes of Design Students Toward Computer Usage in Design

The success of efforts to integrate technology with design education is largely affected by the attitudes of students toward technology. This paper presents the findings of a research on the attitudes of design students toward the use of computers in design and its correlates. Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools are the most widely used computer applications in design. An instrument was developed and applied for the first time to relate computer attitude to design field through CAD. Interior architecture undergraduates of Bilkent University participated in the survey. As a result, students’ attitudes toward the use of computers in design were found to be positive. A significant gender difference in attitudes toward computers was observed with males having more positive attitudes than females. The results also revealed that students’ attitude toward computer usage in design was highly related to their general attitude toward computers, but it was not correlated with their perception of instructors’ attitude toward the use of computers in design.     

Learning in Design and Technology: The Impact of Social and Cultural Influences on Modelling

The paper introduces the highly problematic nature of modelling in design and technology education and examines the relationship between cognitive and concrete modelling. Its aim is to gain insight into what learners do, rather than what others say they ought to do in their learning activities. The variety of purposes that educators have for learners’ modelling are discussed through examining the contested curriculum justification for design and technology education itself. The paper proposes that learners’ modelling cannot be extracted from the social milieu in which they act and it provides some insights of these social influences through the analysis of two case studies. Their settings are a girls’ secondary school and a college of higher education. Each case study is presented independently but organised with a common format to consider a) the impact of assessment on learning intentions and outcomes; b) cultural influences on learning and modelling; c) social influences on learning and modelling. A discussion of the emergent themes considers implications for teachers. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Role of Published Materials in Curriculum Development and Implementation for Secondary School Design and Technology in England and Wales

This paper discusses the ways in which teachers exploited a set of curriculum materials published as a vehicle for curriculum innovation, and the relationship between chosen modes of exploitation and teachers’ own perceptions of how the materials had ’added value’ to their teaching. The materials in question were developed by the Nuffield Design and Technology Project (’the Project’) to offer a pedagogy appropriate to the statutory curriculum for secondary school design and technology education in England and Wales (DFE/WO 1995). The Project had sought both to inform the statutory curriculum, and respond to its requirements. An earlier case study (Givens 1997) laid the foundations for the survey that is reported here. This paper focuses on the teaching of pupils aged 11–14. It finds that while most teachers made at least some use of all the various components of the publications, they were selective. While the Study Guide, which carries out a meta-cognitive dialogue with pupils, was generally underused, those teachers who did use it perceived greater value added by the materials as a whole to the quality of pupils’ work, their effectiveness in design and technology and their autonomy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Using Linkography to investigate students’ thinking and information use during a STEM task

One of the characteristics of the twenty-first century is the increase in the information sources available to designers to make their design decisions. However, current verbal protocol analysis methods and theoretical frameworks do not explain how internal and external information sources contribute to novice designers’ moment-to-moment thought processes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of Linkography, a protocol analysis method, to investigate the nature of novice designers’ thought processes. We also introduce the use of coloured archiographs, as a complimentary tool, to analyse how novice designers use information sources during the early phases of the design process. In order to discuss and illustrate the use of these analysis methods, we report on a case study in which a group of Grade 8 participants completed a design task requiring them to design a heat retaining food container for street food vendors at a taxi depot. The findings of this study suggests that Linkography, in combination with coloured archiographs, is a novel method in technology education to analyse and visually represent how students think while they are designing.