Assessing creative thinking in design-based learning

Infusing creative thinking competence through the design process of authentic projects requires not only changing the teaching methods and learning environment, but also adopting new assessment methods, such as portfolio assessment. The participants in this study were 128 high school pupils who have studied MECHATRONICS from 10th to 12th grades (16–18 years old). By the end of 12th grade, the pupils had created 57 authentic projects. The intervention program had two parts: first, the pupils documented their project according to a creative design process that had been introduced to them. Second, the projects were assessed according to a creative thinking scale. This scale was designed to assist pupils in documenting the design process. It could be used as a guideline for teachers and pupils during the course of the project. The research examined pupils’ performance during project-based learning. The research tools included: observations of class activities, portfolio assessment, and external matriculation assessment. The findings show first that pupils learned to document their design process. Second, pupils’ projects demonstrated various levels of creative thinking skill. Evidences for high-level documentation of the projects were found in pupils’ portfolios. On the other hand, there is much to be learned about documenting teamwork and pupils’ reflection. This research could assist researchers and teachers who are interested in assessing engineering education outcomes.     

Robotics projects and learning concepts in science, technology and problem solving

This paper presents a study about learning and the problem solving process identified among junior high school pupils participating in robotics projects in the Lego Mindstorm environment. The research was guided by the following questions: (1) How do pupils come up with inventive solutions to problems in the context of robotics activities? (2) What type of knowledge pupils address in working on robotics projects? and (3) How do pupils regard or exploit informal instruction of concepts in science, technology and problem solving within a project-based program? Data collection was made through observations in the class, interviews with the pupils, observations of the artifacts the pupils had constructed, and analyses of their reflections on each project. The study revealed that the pupils had often come up with inventive solutions to problems they tackled by intuitively using diverse kinds of heuristic searches. However, they encountered difficulties in reflecting on the problem solving process they had used. In robotics projects, the pupils deal primarily with qualitative knowledge, namely, the ability to identify specific phenomena in a system or factors that affect system performance. The study also showed that pupils are likely to benefit from implementing informal instruction on concepts in science, technology and problem solving into a project-based program. This type of instruction should take place in the context of pupils’ work on their projects, and adopt a qualitative approach rather than try to communicate in the class procedural knowledge learned by rote.     

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.     

Computer Support for Collaborative Designing

The purpose of the present study was to examine how collaborative designing could be facilitated by a new generation networked learning environment (Future Learning Environment, FLE-Tools) and to analyze whether and how students working in the environment were able to share their design process. The study was carried out by analyzing qualitatively knowledge posted to FLE-Tools’ database by three courses of first-year textile students (N = 34) who were engaged in a collaborative design project that focused on designing clothing for prematurely born babies. The study indicated that designing in the network environment facilitated engagement of expert-like designing in a sense of supporting specification of constraints related to designing clothing to premature neonates through in-depth problem structuring and search of new information. A design challenge of FLE-Tools is to provide more effective tools for collaborative work with visual sketches as well as developing tools and practices that would help to share knowledge emerging not only in the conceptual but also during the actual manufacturing phase of designing. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The role of space in interdisciplinary collaboration in design education

The growing interest in the collaborative design education for innovation has mainly been concerned with students and learning outcomes. We know less about the collaboration between the tutors who teach interdisciplinary design courses. Addressing this gap, this article explores the effect of space on the interdisciplinary collaboration between faculty members from the fields of industrial design, architecture, engineering and business administration, who come together to design and conduct an extra-curricular educational activity, Interdisciplinary Design Studio (IDS) at METU. The empirical basis of this study comes from the interviews with the faculty members and the participant observation notes generated during the IDS meetings. The findings show that the effect of space on collaboration becomes evident over three issues, (1) the participation of tutors, (2) the commonality of their expectations from a design project, and (3) the interaction not only between students and tutors, but also among tutors as an interdisciplinary team.     

Learning by collaborative designing: technology-enhanced knowledge practices

The purpose of the present article is to examine the knowledge-practice based approach to technology-enhanced learning. Toward that end, the article reports the efforts of an elementary-school teacher and researchers in promoting genuine inquiry at the 4th and 5th grade of a Finnish elementary school. We will describe implementation and social organization regarding ‘The Project of Artefacts––the Past, the Present and the Future’ that engaged students in collaborative inquiry and design across 13 months (almost three semesters). Knowledge Forum (KF), a virtual platform for the interchange of information, provided tools and practices that facilitated creative working within participating students and teachers. This was accomplished in a meaningful social setting which was culturally rich and where material and conceptual artefacts played dominant roles. In this article, the analysis of the teacher’s project diary and the contributions to the KF database provides an overview of the knowledge practices enacted during the project. The distribution of knowledge-creation activities during the project reveals that the teacher assumed a role of organizer concerning shared knowledge practices instead of controlling all aspects of students’ learning. Simultaneously, however, students were not left working without guidance; the teacher structured their collaborative efforts with the help of KF and by directing classroom activities.     

How do different background variables predict learning outcomes?

This article is a part of a research project aimed to find out how different background variables are related to learning outcomes in school subject Sloyd as found in the national evaluation of the Finnish National Board of Education. Results from this larger research project were previously published in this journal, where pupils’ readiness for Self-Regulated Learning were reported. Since then, pupils’ experiences of classroom techniques, attitudes towards the subject, leisure time interests and learning within the two domains of the subject (Technical Domain and Textile Domain, as the subject is usually divided in Finland) have been studied and results have been published in different journals. In this article, a new Structural Equation Model concludes the previous results. The new model highlights two paths of how the use of different learning orientations can predict successful learning outcomes. These paths can be followed using two pedagogical models: the Exploratory Production Approach and the Domain Specific Approach. Experiencing Learner-Centred Learning predicts positive attitudes and success in Exploratory Production activities. Experiencing Collaborative Learning predicts success in domain specific learning outcomes. Success in Exploratory Production predicts successful learning outcomes in both domains. The conclusion is that regulatory knowledge, “why”, is related to production activities and it is processed prior to domain specific knowledge, “what” and “how”. To develop the subject and pedagogy for schools and teacher training, it is not important to follow an approach defined by the domains (technical or textile). It is more important to teach pupils how to manage in the modern technological world and to understand why they need to be able to improve their life-world through Exploratory Production activities.     

Learning specific content in technology education: learning study as a collaborative method in Swedish preschool class using hands-on material

This article describes the process of a learning study conducted in technology education in a Swedish preschool class. The learning study method used in this study is a collaborative method, where researchers and teachers work together as a team concerning teaching and learning about a specific learning object. The object of learning in this study concerns strong constructions and framed structures. This article describes how this learning study was conducted and discusses reflections made during the process. Furthermore, we discuss how the learning study method could be implemented in technology education using hands-on material. Some of the results point to problems of delimiting an object of learning in technology education using hands-on material and the complexity in the relation between content and context in learning. The results also show benefits from the collaborative method where researchers and teachers work together with regards to specific learning content in the technology classroom.     

Inclusive design in the Key Stage 3 classroom: an investigation of teachers’ understanding and implementation of user-centred design principles in design and technology

This paper starts out with a discussion of the importance of user-centred design, outlining its history and current embodiment in national and international standards and considers its particular relevance in addressing the needs of ageing populations. The paper moves on to examine how the premise of user-centred design has been taken up in education and focuses on the specific example of user-centred approaches as part of the Design and Technology requirement of the English National Curriculum, taught in England’s schools since 1989. The initial stage of the Designing our Tomorrow project presented in this paper was an investigation of the extent to which user-centred design was integrated in current teaching practice. Analysing baseline data collected from teachers and pupils at two state secondary schools the project team found that many of the tasks teachers planned for pupils did not provide opportunities to identify users’ needs when solving design problems. Finally, the paper presents a discussion of the project’s implications for pupils’ learning and understanding of Design and Technology.     

Undergraduate design learning in multiple partnerships: joinedupdesign for academies

This article reports research into undergraduate design learning through an off-campus partnership. The Sorrell Foundation’s Joinedupdesign for Academies programme involved partnerships between university design departments, ‘failing’ 11–18 schools and professional designers, in the context of a funding commitment to rebuild/renew school buildings in the UK, and an ideological commitment to remodel schools as ‘Academies’. We investigated the impact on 12 undergraduate Design students’ learning as they partnered pupils at two secondary schools in a live regeneration project, following both schools’ redesign/relaunch as ‘Academies’. Using a mixed methods case study approach, we report the acquisition of a wide range of employability skills, vital for professional designers, through an innovative learning model in which pupils act as clients. In terms of design education, these partnerships provided a rare and authentic exposure to the complex demands of publicly-funded work for undergraduate design students, and as such offer a new and potentially interesting model for experiential design education, which bridges campus and off-campus learning.     

Design and technology productions among middle school students: an Indian experience

The focus of this paper is students’ design productions as they engaged in designing and making a windmill model to lift a given weight. This work is part of a project on the development of design and technology (D&;T) education units and its trials among Indian middle school students (Grade 6, age 11–14 years) in different socio-cultural settings. Since D&;T is not a part of the Indian school curriculum, the students had no earlier experience of design. Our trials included an exploratory phase followed by groups of students producing technical drawings and a plan for the making action (procedural map) before engaging in making the windmill model. The paper presents findings from a qualitative analysis of urban and rural students’ pencil and paper productions, complemented by observations from video recordings of the collaborative engagement of these naïve designers. Students used graphical symbols, analogical, spatial and functional reasoning in their design activities. Choice of materials and tools, the nature of exploratory sketches, variety in design and attentions to issues of stability showed differences between the urban and rural groups. Some potential implications of D&;T units for classroom learning have also been discussed.     

Procedural Justice Climate in New Product Development Teams: Antecedents and Consequences

With the increasing interest in the concept of justice in the group behavior literature, the procedural justice (PJ) climate attracts many researchers and practitioners from different fields. Nevertheless, the PJ climate is rarely addressed in the new product development (NPD) project team literature. Specifically, the technology and innovation management (TIM) literature provides little about what the PJ climate is, its nature and benefits, and how it works in NPD project teams. Also, few studies investigate the antecedents and consequences of the PJ climate in NPD teams enhancing the understanding of this concept from a practical perspective. This paper discusses the PJ climate theory in a NPD team context and empirically demonstrates how team members' positive collective perceptions of a PJ climate can be developed and how a PJ climate influences a project's performance in NPD teams. In particular, team culture values including employee orientation, customer orientation, systematic management control, innovativeness, and social responsibility were investigated as antecedents, and team learning, speed to market, and market success of new products were studied as outcomes of PJ climate in this paper. By studying 83 NPD project teams it was found on the basis of using partial least squares (PLS) method that (1) the level of employee, customer and innovativeness orientation as well as systematic management control during the project had a positive impact on developing a PJ climate in an NPD team; (2) a PJ climate positively affects team learning and product development time (i.e., speed to market); and (3) team learning and speed to market mediate the relations between the PJ climate and new product success (NPS). Based on the findings, this paper suggests that managers should enhance the PJ climate and team culture in the project team to enhance team learning and to develop products faster. In particular, managers should (1) open a discussion forum among people and create a dialogue for people who disagree with the other project team members rather than dictating or emposing others ideas to them, (2) facilitate information searching and collecting mechanisms to make decisions effectively and to clarify uncertainties, and (3) allow team members to challange project‐related ideas and decisions and modify them with consensus. Also, to enhance the PJ climate during the project, managers should (1) respect and listen to all team members' ideas and try to understand why they are sometimes in opposition, (2) define team members' task boundaries and clarify project norms and project goals, and (3) set knowledge‐questioning values by facilitating team members to try out new ideas and seek out new ways to do things.     

Linking learning and knowledge creation to project success in Six Sigma projects: An empirical investigation

This study investigates the impact of two organizational antecedents, (1) Six Sigma resources (technical) and (2) team psychological safety (social), on learning behaviour and knowledge creation and, in turn, on the success of Six Sigma process improvement projects. The paper proposes an integrated model to explain process improvement implementation success through two learning activities undertaken by Six Sigma project teams: Knowing-what and Knowing-how. The conceptualization of these knowledge types in this research is different from usual conceptualization as it represents the knowledge brought into projects through various phases of Six Sigma projects. The three hypotheses proposed in the model were tested using the data collected from 52 Six Sigma project teams from a single organization. Regression analysis showed psychological safety affects project performance through knowing-how. Regression and bootstrapping analyses showed resources influence project performance through the combined mediation of knowing-what and knowing-how.The paper provides an interdisciplinary treatment of knowledge management in process improvement teams, and offers a research model demonstrating how Six Sigma project teams promote deliberate organizational learning. By doing so, this study empirically establishes the notion that technical and social supports jointly impact the success of operations management initiatives such as Six Sigma through learning. The limitations of the study along with the future research directions are highlighted.     

Factors Affecting the Process of Collaborative Product Development: A Study of UK Manufacturers of Information and Communications Technology Products

Product development is inherently risky, particularly when new technology is involved. Although collaborative product development is promoted as a means for reducing or at least sharing risk, such partnerships present their own challenges. Collaboration can also accentuate many of the risks inherent in product development. For example, any product development project requires effective communication among development team members. In a collaborative effort, this challenge is even greater because the development team spans organizational as well as functional boundaries. Dale Littler, Fiona Leverick, and Margaret Bruce describe the results of a survey that was conducted to identify the risks and benefits of collaborative product development as well as the key success factors for such relationships. The main reasons cited for collaborating on product development projects include satisfying customer requirements, taking advantage of market opportunities for which the firm lacks necessary skills and technical expertise, and responding to changes in technology. Other reasons for collaboration include reducing the cost and risk of product R&D, improving time to market, and gaining access to new markets. In addition to the risks associated with product development by a single company, the partners in a collaborative effort face several other challenges. For example, one company might gain inside knowledge of its partner's unique skills and expertise. Despite the cost and time involved in managing the collaboration, such a relationship usually results in less direct control over product development. Of particular concern are the difficulties of coordinating the divergent management styles and budgeting processes of the collaborating firms. Collaboration requires frequent communication among all involved parties. The likelihood of success is greatly enhanced by the presence of a product or collaboration champion. Other success factors include ensuring that partners contribute as expected, creating the perception of equal benefits among partners, and building trust between partners. Firms that are more experienced with collaboration also cite the importance of flexibility in corporate systems and management style, fit with existing businesses, and the choice of a partner.     

Effective technology and design teaching: getting it right in the classroom

Technology and design was added to the Northern Ireland curriculum in September 1992 and through it, teachers seek to address the need for pupils to understand the ever-changing man-made world by developing skills and understanding in its four elements of designing, communicating, manufacturing and the use of energy and control. To be effective in attaining these goals, it is important that teachers allow pupils to have a voice in their learning. They should do this by taking account of pupil responses to the tasks they issue and using those responses as a basis for making choices about instruction and support strategies. This is particularly important in technology and design as pupils need to interpret instructions in light of their design ideas. This paper outlines how three case studies of technology and design teaching were used to identify a range of teaching and learning strategies and evaluate them for their potential to create a learning dialogue with pupils. Drawing on aspects of the effective teaching debate, this learning dialogue was then applied to how teachers exploited pupil histories, managed a range of collaboration strategies and provided effective task orientation. The case studies were based on observations, interviews and content analysis of work over a complete design-and-make project in each school. The paper outlines three continua for effectiveness in each of the three areas observed. The first continuum shows that teachers need a more individualised view of building on pupil histories, the second outlines a range of strategies for the management of pupil collaboration in learning and the third suggests that pupils need to be orientated into complex tasks in ways that support a progressively increasing level of independence in their thinking.     

Exploring the capability of evaluating technical solutions: a collaborative study into the primary technology classroom

Within the field of technology education, evaluating technical solutions is considered as an important topic. Research indicates that pupils have difficulties in evaluating technical solutions in terms of fitness for purpose, i.e. how effective a technical solution supports its intended function. By using the learning study, which is an iterative and collaborative research approach, the study explores the capability to evaluate technical solutions in terms of fitness for purpose, what it takes to know it and how to best enhance its learning in the primary technology classroom. Audio and video recorded interviews, teachers’ meetings and lessons are the base data for the study. A contribution of the study is the understanding of this specific knowing, and what is critical for learning and thus to an improvement of technology teaching practice.     

Reviewing the relations between teachers’ knowledge and pupils’ attitude in the field of primary technology education

This literature review reports on the assumed relations between primary school teachers’ knowledge of technology and pupils’ attitude towards technology. In order to find relevant aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge, scientific literature in the field of primary technology education was searched. It is found that teacher knowledge is essential for stimulating a positive attitude towards technology in pupils. Particularly, teachers’ enhanced Pedagogical Content Knowledge is found to be related to pupils’ increased learning and interest in technology. Six aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge that are likely to play a role in affecting pupils’ attitude are identified and schematically presented in a hypothetical diagram. It is concluded that more empirical evidence on the influence of technology-specific teacher knowledge on pupils’ attitude is needed. The hypothetical diagram will serve as a helpful tool to investigate the assumed relations between teacher knowledge and pupils’ attitude empirically.     

Developing physics concepts through hands-on problem solving: a perspective on a technological project design

In a contest featuring hands-on projects, college students were required to design a simple crawling worm using planning, self-monitoring and self-evaluation processes to solve contradictive problems. To enhance the efficiency of problem solving, one needs to practice meta-cognition based on an application of related scientific concepts. The objective of this study, then, was to analyze the physics concepts employed by the students as they completed a hands-on project named “Crawling Worm,” during which they had to overcome problems encountered by the requirements of their design as well as those brought on by competition. Based on the analysis of the participants’ working portfolios and on reviews and interviews by engineering professors, the results of this study show that the crawling worm design competition encouraged the practice of problem solving, and it facilitated the learning of physics concepts such as friction, torque, four bar link, material properties, and so on.     

Collaborative learning in technology education: D&T unit on puppetry in different Indian socio-cultural contexts

The paper reports on the trials of a Design and Technology (D&T) unit carried out in three different Indian contexts with a focus on collaborative learning. Both collaboration and technology education are not common to the Indian school system. As part of a larger project to introduce technology education, suitable for middle school girls and boys in urban and rural areas, three culturally appropriate and gender sensitive D&T units were developed. All the units were tried out with middle school students in different socio-cultural settings: two schools in urban areas (with different languages of teaching and learning) and one in a rural area. This paper presents details of a unit on puppetry which involved making a puppet and staging a puppet-show. Aspects of collaboration within and among groups were observed with respect to: roles played by the members, conflicts and their resolution, sharing of resources, communication and peer review among the students. The trials in the three clusters indicate the potential of this D&T unit to provide collaborative learning situations for the multicultural contexts of Indian classrooms.

From Experience: Harnessing Tacit Knowledge to Achieve Breakthrough Innovation

The ability to create a stream of revolutionary new products can represent a sustainable competitive advantage for firms in almost any industry. Whereas evolutionary product improvements often follow predictable trajectories, breakthrough innovations involve unexpected leaps of creativity and insight. Despite its strategic importance, however, little is known about the process by which innovators achieve these valuable breakthroughs. This article proposes that breakthrough innovations result from the harnessing of tacit knowledge possessed by individuals and project teams. Tacit knowledge lies below the surface of conscious thought and is accumulated through a lifetime of experience, experimentation, perception, and learning by doing. Managers who can tap into this vast pool of creative energy can elevate the innovative capabilities of their teams well beyond the incremental and mundane. The article begins by establishing the vital importance of breakthrough innovations to the competitiveness of firms. This strategic mandate is followed by a brief discussion of the nature and implications of tacit knowledge in the context of innovation. The remainder of the article describes three mutually reinforcing methods for encouraging the explication and sharing of tacit knowledge among design team members. The ultimate goal is to establish a generative atmosphere for breakthrough innovation, in which divergent thinking, improvisation, and artistic creativity merge with the practical demands of the product development process. The first step toward harnessing the creative power of tacit knowledge is to foster the emotional commitment and deep personal involvement of design team members. Managers can accomplish this goal through the development of inspiring “innovation stories,” encouragement of reasonable risk‐taking and experimentation, building of unique team identities, and displaying unbridled confidence in a team's creative abilities. Once the emotional commitment of team members has been assured, two techniques are proposed as catalysts for breakthroughs derived from tacit knowledge. These methods are based on evidence that intimate physical interaction during the creative process, both person to object and person to person, may be a catalyst for tacit insights. The first technique highlights the use of early and frequent prototyping as a powerful focal point for the explication of tacit knowledge from both the design team and potential customers. The second technique involves the encouragement of face‐to‐face interaction between innovators during product development, thereby enabling creative improvisation and real‐time knowledge sharing. Several implications for managers are highlighted, including the need for a greater emphasis on employee retention, the importance of developing a nurturing environment for innovation, and the value of intimate physical interaction, including early prototyping, indwelling with customers, and co‐location of teams wherever possible.