An evaluation of Technology teacher training in South Africa: shortcomings and recommendations

Compared to other subjects Technology Education (TE) is regarded as a new subject both nationally and internationally. In the absence of an established subject philosophy Technology educators had little alternative than to base their professional teaching and learning practices on approaches from other fields of knowledge and to adapt these. TE is one of the compulsory subjects for learners in South Africa from grade 4–9 since 1998. One of the challenges was the fact that no previous teacher training programmes existed for Technology thus new ones had to be developed. This research described what the necessary knowledge, skills and values are that a qualified Technology teacher should possess and determined if teacher training institutions in South Africa provide opportunities to develop this qualities. Qualitative research was used to provide insight into the nature of pre-service Technology training programmes in South Africa, in order to identify shortcomings in the pre-service training of Technology teachers. The population consisted of senior faculty who have experience in the developing of pre-service training programmes and the training of Technology teachers. Findings of the study suggest a greater focus on the training of Technology teachers as subject specialists by establishing standards that is appropriate for tertiary training in order to enhance the development of subject knowledge; subject specific pedagogical content knowledge by implementing micro lessons; revision of time, planning and facilities for the practising of subject skills; and sufficient opportunities to practise, analyse and reflect on teaching processes to develop appropriate teaching strategies.     

The road less travelled: a pre-service approach towards the technology teaching profession

This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study on the effectiveness of an innovative one-year pre-service Graduate Diploma of Teaching (secondary) for teachers of Technology. The timing of this study is significant. Over a decade of review and adjustment to the Technology curriculum, leading to the new learning area of Technology in the New Zealand curriculum, Ministry of Education (2007), has caused many teachers in New Zealand schools to retrench to an earlier approach or make their own interpretation of curricular requirements. This situation in schools created the need for those involved with pre-service teacher education to prepare programmes that signpost pitfalls while building on students’ own strengths and those of the curriculum to cope with the wide variety of interpretation and pedagogical approach of school communities. This paper suggests a way forward.     

Using the DEPTH model to facilitate learning in an integrated Science and Technology pre-service primary teacher course

The paper describes the development of an Integrated Curriculum Science and Technology subject offering as part of the Bachelor of Education (Teaching) degree for primary pre-service teachers at Massey University in New Zealand. The paper discusses some of the difficulties and concerns which arise when pursuing this type of endeavour. This paper also highlights differences from earlier studies carried out at the same institution using the DEPTH framework. The concept of teaching/learning via a project is not new. The innovation here is the integration of Problem Based Learning (PBL) and the DEPTH approach. The previous study (O’Sullivan, Proceedings of Second International Primary Design and Technology Conference—Quality in the Making, Birmingham, 2001) highlighted the usefulness of the DEPTH framework as an evaluation tool to focus students’ responses to critiquing school teaching practice experience and also informing their own personal constructs. This study again found the framework useful but as a diagnostic tool.     

Curriculum restructuring in technology in NSW secondary schools — Response to change

This research project aimed to analyse and clarify the impact of the formation of the Technological and Applied Studies (TAS) Key Learning Area (KLA) on school organisation, teachers and teaching method. It further aimed to examine the implications of this change for pre-service teacher education programs. In 1989 the NSW government White paper on curriculum reform mandated the restructuring of primary and secondary schooling. As a part of this restructuring the subjects that had been traditionally taught under the Home Economics and Industrial Arts departments, together with agriculture and computing studies were brought together under the TAS KLA. The government also mandated that every secondary school student would be required to study technology through a newly developed syllabusDesign and Technology Years 7–10. These changes have had significant implications for the organisation and delivery of technology curriculum in secondary schools and there are consequent implications for the provision of teacher education in the field of technology.Ms. Y. McDonald is currently the program director and practicum co-ordinator of the undergraduate bachelor of education secondary home economics: design, technology and health studies program in the Faculty of Education at Sydney University.Mr. J. Gibson is currently the program director and practicum co-ordinator of the undergraduate bachelor of education secondary industrial arts: design and technology program in the Faculty of Education at Sydney University. He has had extensive experience in curriculum development in the technology area through his membership of syllabus committees and the Technological and Applied Studies Key Learning Area Co-ordinating Committee of the NSW Board of Studies.     

Exploring pre-service teachers’ technology-integration belief and scientific inquiry in a teacher-development course

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - We implemented design practices for a total of 85 pre-service teachers in a teacher-development course. This mixed-method study explored...     

Characteristics of learning computer-controlled mechanisms by teachers and students in a common laboratory environment

Growing popularity of robotics education motivates developing its didactics and studying it in teacher training programs. This paper presents a study conducted in the Department of Education in Technology and Science, Technion, in which university students and school pupils cope with robotics challenges of designing, building and operating computer-controlled mechanisms. The university students were involved in developing robot prototypes and related instructional materials, and assisted in teaching robotics and guiding projects to middle school and high school pupils. The study focused on behaviors of the two groups of learners and aimed to elicit and analyze typical characteristics of learning in the developed robotics environment. We collected qualitative data on learning through robot design and experimentation activities and, by means of the ground theory method, elicited and analyzed typical behavioral characteristics of students’ and pupils’ learning: self-confidence, help, collaboration, interest, seriousness, self-dependence, learning effort, responsibility, coping with learning pressure, learning through observation, and perseverance. As found, the behavior characteristics evolve in the course of robotics studies and their evolution can give indication on the development of the desired competences.     

Delivering technological literacy to a class for elementary school pre-service teachers in South Korea

This study was conducted with the aim of creating a new introductory course emphasizing the development of technological literacy for elementary school pre-service teachers. This study also aimed to investigate elementary school pre-service teachers’ attitudinal transition toward elementary school technology education (ESTE) and its implementation. An introductory ESTE program within Practical Arts Education was developed through a procedure consisting of preparation, development, and improvement. The program was implemented among 127 elementary school pre-service teachers for 7 weeks in South Korea. The learning contents based on the ESTE research and national curriculum included (1) technology learning units in the Practical Arts textbooks, (2) technology and invention, (3) drawing and design, (4) wood products, (5) basic electricity and electronics, and (6) integrative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics/science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education. These contents were delivered via an instructor’s lecture, hands-on activities on technological design, and cooperative learning. A pre- and post-test on the study participants’ attitudes toward ESTE and on their knowledge, competency, and anxiety in relation to the six learning contents were conducted. The research results indicated a stable improvement in the study participants’ attitudes toward ESTE, their level of knowledge about ESTE, and their competency to teach ESTE. The developed program also decreased their anxiety in relation to teaching ESTE. The study findings may provide useful insights into the professional development of elementary school teachers in connection with ESTE, and into the implementation of technology education in the elementary school setting.     

Emerging Assessment Practices in an Emergent Curriculum: Implications for Technology

This paper reports on detailed case studies into emerging assessment practices in technology in two New Zealand primary schools (Years 1–6) with nine teachers. This research is part of the two year Research in Assessment of Primary Technology (RAPT) project and formed the basis for the one year New Zealand Ministry of Education funded Learning in Technology Education (Assessment) project.Emerging classroom assessment practices in technology, a new subject area in the national curriculum, are discussed. It was found that the existing subcultures in schools, teachers' subject expertise and the school wide policies impacted on the teachers' assessment practices. Assessment was often seen in terms of social and managerial aspects such as team work, turn taking and information skills, rather than procedural and conceptual aspects. Therefore teachers' formative interactions with students distorted the learning away from procedural and conceptual aspects of the subject, and the learning and the formative assessment interactions focused on generic skills rather than student technological understanding.The importance of developing teacher expertise in three dimensions of knowledge about the subject, knowledge in the subject and general pedagogical knowledge is highlighted. Thus the findings from this research have implications for thinking about teaching, learning and assessment in technology.     

Learning in DEPTH: developing a graphical tool for professional thinking for technology teachers

In this issue of the International Journal of Technology and Design, we report on a series of case studies from the second phase of an international project—Developing Professional Thinking for Technology Teachers (DEPTH2). The first phase of the project was a study conducted with both primary and secondary technology pre-service teacher education students in a number of different countries who were given the same teacher-knowledge graphical framework as a tool to support reflection on their professional knowledge. We discovered that, despite the different country contexts, student teachers of technology could articulate aspects of their developing teacher knowledge using the same framework for teacher professional development. As previously reported in this journal (Banks et al. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 14, 141–157, 2004), the common graphical tool enabled them to set out their subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and ‘school’ knowledge and was useful in helping them become more self-aware. In this second phase of the project we have developed this line of research in two ways. First, we extended the range of participants to include experienced teachers involved in in-service work connected to curriculum development. Second, we looked at the inter-relationship for pre-service teachers between their developing professional knowledge and their own ‘personal subject construct’. In this article, the theoretical framework for the subsequent papers is described and set in the context of recent debates surrounding the nature and importance of teacher knowledge; and the way such professional knowledge can be articulated by teachers.     

Identifying the gaps of fourth year degree pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in teaching engineering graphics and design

Engineering Graphics and Design is a technological subject which is offered in the Bachelor of Education degree from third to fourth year of the degree course. Fourth year pre-service teachers find EGD difficult to teach because of various reasons. Therefore the aim of the paper was to investigate fourth year pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge gaps in teaching EGD during their teaching practice. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach and eight pre-service teachers were purposefully selected to take part in the study. Findings of the paper found that pre-service teachers found teaching practice very short to do all the teaching tasks that is required of them. Some pre-service teachers did not have drawing models to make learning concrete to their learners. Assessment was done partially just to impress the university tutors and to conform to the schools’ rule and not to evaluate the learners’ understandings and their teaching.     

A review of Technology Education in Ireland; a changing technological environment promoting design activity

In Ireland, Technology Education’s structure and organisation across the levels of education is not delivered or governed in a coherent manner. Technology Education in primary level education, for students between 5 and 12 years of age, does not explicitly exist as a separate subject. In primary level education, Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (Science), encourages a child to examine and appreciate how technology and science impacts on their lives and the environment. It supports children developing design and make skills, and to apply scientific ideas to everyday situations and practical problems (DES in Primary school curriculum, science. Social, environmental and scientific education curriculum, 1999). In addition, various initiatives such as the Junior Lego League, supported by the Galway Education Centre, facilitate various perspectives of Technology Education. In second level education, which this paper primarily focuses on, Technology Education exists as a suite of eight subjects, for students of 12–18 years of age. In third level education students can choose from a wide range of bachelor degree programmes in science, technology, engineering or maths. The degree programmes available at third level also include programmes in initial teacher education (ITE). These programmes in initial teacher education are offered by two institutions, and graduate second level teachers to service the second level system. Technology Education in second level education was first introduced to Ireland in 1885. Since this introduction, revisions and changes have occurred, in both the Irish economy and syllabi. In 2006, Technology Education syllabi were revised to include more design activity at senior cycle. These changes reflect the forward thinking of policy makers in reflection of the progression from the industrial era to the information era to the conceptual era. The scope of second level Technology Education in an Irish context is still perceived by many as vocational, though progressive reformations are advancing towards a design-driven framework, grounded in a strong craft practice. This changing technological environment has resulted in the promotion of design activity in second level Technology Education in Ireland. This paper reviews the establishment of design education in Technology Education in the Irish second level education context, where an epistemological shift towards design activity has occurred.     

Exploring pre-service technology teachers’ content and instructional knowledge to determine teaching readiness

Instructional practice plays a significant role in revealing how well teachers understand the subjects they teach. Many studies have been conducted in South Africa on the relationship between teachers’ knowledge of well-established subjects like Science and Mathematics and how well teachers apply their knowledge in the classroom. However, relatively little research has been done on the subject of Technology, which was only included in the national school curriculum after 1994. The aim of this study was to explore pre-service (i.e. in-training) Technology teachers’ content knowledge and instructional knowledge in the context of various theories about teaching. The study followed a case study approach. Five female pre-service Technology teachers, who were in their final year of teacher training at a South African university of technology and were doing their in-school practicum were observed. Video recorder was used to capture the delivering of a lesson to a class of Grade 8 learners. The researcher used the 9E instructional model, which comprises nine phases in the presentation of a lesson, as the basis for her observation work and final analysis. A key finding was that the content and instructional knowledge displayed by most pre-service Technology teachers was inadequate, which weakened their effectiveness in the classroom. As a result, learners were deprived of the opportunity to sharpen their cognitive skills and develop authentic interest in Technology. This study, though limited in scope, has laid an important foundation for more in-depth studies to be conducted on the extent of content and instructional knowledge in the sphere of Technology Education, which should be of value to other universities offering teacher-training programmes.

     

The locating of emotion within a creative, learning and product orientated design and technology experience: person, process, product

Within this paper, a conceptualised triadic schema is hypothesised for locating emotion within a creative, learning and product orientated Design and Technology experience. The research is based upon an extensive literature review that has been synthesised and juxtaposed with the broad aspirational aims of the subject. The schema, based upon abductive reasoning and grounded theory, ultimately conceptualises the overarching theme of emotion within a creative, learning and product orientated Design and Technology experience within the Primary and Secondary stages of England’s education system. The triadic schema offers an additional opportunity in meta-theorising how the broad aspirational aims of the subject, as outlined in the English national curriculum statement of importance for Design and Technology, can be achieved through recognising the powerful overarching concept of emotion within three emerging domains: Person, Process and Product. The central tenet of this paper is the recognition of emotion within a triadic schema for meta-theorising the place of emotion within a creative, learning and product orientated Design and Technology experience. David Spendlove was previously a senior teacher in secondary education before moving into Higher Education and is now the subject leader for Design and Technology at the University of Manchester. He co-edits both Design and Technology Education: An international Journal and the DATA international research conference proceedings. He is a director of the Design and Technology Association and his research interests are broadly based around learning, pedagogy, creativity, emotion and gender.     

Designers as Teachers and Learners: Transferring Workplace Design Practice into Educational Settings

The nature of the design process and how to develop this skill in novice designers has been of considerable interest to technology educators. The relationship between workplace and school-based design is one area in which a need for further research has been identified by Hill and Anning (2001, International Journal of Technology and Design Education 11, 111–136). The research project described in this article had two aims. The first was to compare the workplace practice of six experienced designers with their practice when working on a technological assessment task as part of a pre-service teacher education programme. The second aim was to investigate their experience on teaching practicum in developing design skills with secondary school students. Findings from the research are described and the paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for teaching technology education.     

Developing the Teaching of Food Technology in Primary Schools in England through Curriculum Development and Initial Teacher Education

This paper investigates developments in the teaching of food technology introduced as an element of design & technology in the 1990 National Curriculum for Technology in the English primary curriculum for children aged five to eleven years. It reviews briefly the situation for food teaching before 1990 and identifies a number of relevant issues. This is followed by an overview of developments in food technology in primary schools between 1992 and 2001, highlighting the need for primary teachers and trainee teachers on initial teacher education courses to develop an understanding of how to teach food technology in their schools. The development of teaching materials through the Nuffield Approach to food technology in primary schools is outlined together with a case study of the use of the materials in initial teacher education at the University of Surrey Roehampton. The paper describes the uptake of Nuffield Primary food technology materials as measured by down loads from the Nuffield Primary Design & Technology web site. Alongside this, there are reflections of primary trainee teachers on the impact of using the Nuffield food technology materials on their classroom practice during school experience. It concludes with a discussion of the key issues arising from the paper and suggestions for future research. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

ASIT—a problem solving strategy for education and eco-friendly sustainable design

There is growing recognition of the role teaching and learning experiences in technology education can contribute to Education for Sustainable Development. It appears, however, that in the Technology Education classroom little or no change has been achieved to the practice of designing and problem solving strategies oriented towards sustainable design. Brainstorming, Brainwriting, SCAMPER, Metaphoric Thinking, Outrageous Thinking, Mind Mapping and other problem-solving strategies used in the classroom could be suitable for eco-design, however, there appears to be little research data on their use. This paper examines and presents the ‘Advanced Systematic Inventive Thinking’ (ASIT) system as an eco-design strategy. ASIT is derived from a more complex engineering-based problem solving strategy known as TRIZ (the Russian acronym for The Theory of the Solution of Inventive Problems). Drawing on Stable’s (in press) call for new approaches to address sustainable design and achieve solutions through Technology Education, this article traces the history of TRIZ and the development of ASIT. It then argues that the ASIT strategy can be an effective methodology to be taught and used in the Technology Education classroom to solve problems in the ‘eco’ or sustainable design context. Several design scenarios have been included to illustrate how ASIT can deliver eco-design solutions to problems. These examples demonstrate the flexibility of the methodology and the diverse range of applications in which ASIT can be applied.     

基于隐性知识管理的高职《印花技术及实训》课程教学改革

通过对《印花技术及实训》课程传统授课情况的分析,结合高职学生具有形象思维的特点,将隐性知识管理融入项目化课程教学改革中,从课程能力目标、课程效果评价、促进教师专业成长以及高职学生的可持续发展等方面阐述了基于隐性知识管理的项目化课程教学改革的可行性,最后提出了本门课程继续努力的方向。     

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).     

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.     

Teaching the nature of technology: determining and supporting student learning of the philosophy of technology

This paper reports on findings related to the Nature of Technology from Stage Two of the Technological Knowledge and Nature of Technology: Implications for teaching and learning (TKNoT: Imps) research project undertaken in 2009. A key focus in Stage Two was the trialing of different teaching strategies to determine how learning related to the components Characteristics of Technology (CoT) and Characteristics of Technological Outcomes (COTO) could be supported. These components fall within the Nature of Technology (NoT) strand of technology in the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) (Ministry of Education, 2007) and as such, reflect a philosophical understanding of technology as a discipline. During this stage of the research further exploration was undertaken to determine how student understanding of these two components of technology education progressed from level 1 to level 8 of the NZC (Ministry of Education, 2007). Common misconceptions and partial understandings related to these components are identified and explained and four case studies are presented to illustrate strategies employed by teachers and their impact on student learning related to these two components. The Stage Two outcomes resulted in the revision of the Indicators of Progression for CoT and CoTO in order to clarify the progression expected of students in each component and provide increased teacher guidance to support such progression.