Problem based learning: application to technology education in three countries

An increasing variety of professional educational and training disciplines are now problem based (eg, medicine, nursing, engineering, community health), and they may have a corresponding variety of educational objectives. However, they all have in common the use of problems in the instructional sequence. The problems may be as diverse as a mechanical predicament, an unexplained phenomena, or patient symptoms. Technology education in secondary schools is undergoing a period of significant change in many countries. It is therefore imperative that technology teacher education adopt not only the technologies that have been identified as being important, but also incorporate appropriate methodologies for the instruction of these technologies. PBL offers a number of relevant features to technology education and it is because of these that the project outlined in this paper has been developed.     

Practical modelling and hypothesis testing in primary design and technology education

This article explores relationships between designing and making in the work of children within the age range 5–11 when engaged in practical modelling tasks. The notion of the model is explored from the perspective of concrete representations. It is suggested that concrete models may be used as hypotheses from which to test ideas about the nature of the world. From this perspective, models may be seen to provide crucial platforms for learning. A wide range of sources has informed the article, and these embrace ideas on Hypothesis Theory drawn from linguistic research, as well as historical sources which trace the evolution and development of stimuli for model-making activity. A creative basis for modelling is explored such that a conclusion is reached in which design is seen as an expression of the modelling of possibilities.     

Problem-solving processes in technology education: A pilot study

This paper reports the preliminary results of a pilot study investigating the nature of problem-solving activity in technology classrooms. The research focuses on the relationship and potential mismatch between teachers' and children's agendas, aims, perceptions and beliefs concerning design and technology activities. A case study of an 11-week project was undertaken with four pupils aged 13. In-depth classroom observation and interviews allowed us to investigate the problem solving used in designing and making a kite, and the pupils' application of the knowledge required. Our analysis charts the influence of the teacher's task structuring and interventions on the children's problem-solving behaviour. The results indicate that the design process is highly complex and not always communicated successfully by teachers. What children typically encounter in design and technology projects are different problems requiring different approaches according to the kind of task and the stage reached in its solution. The popular idea that problem solving in technology denotes a holistic design-and-make process is hence under challenge. Moreover, the assumed access and application of relevant bodies of knowledge from other contexts is highly problematic.     

Creativity in Design Engineering and the Role of Knowledge: Modelling the Expert

The present study focuses on the relationship between the acquisition of design knowledge by novice design students and the quality of their designs. Design learning is typically based on action and reflection. Knowledge of solution processes, being part of this reflection, is found to be crucial in monitoring and controlling the design process and in reaching an optimal, creative result. The studies described in this article suggest a close relationship between the amount of process knowledge – knowledge of managing and monitoring the solution finding process – reported by novice designers, and the creativity of the designed product.     

Creativity in school design &; technology in England: a discussion of influences

This paper identifies five influences on design & technology education in England—the government agency, the curriculum developer, the teacher, the pupil and the researcher. Using developments in school design & technology education and examples from England the paper describes a range of activities involving one or more influences noting the implications each has for creativity in school design & technology education. In conclusion the paper summarises the impact of the influences and suggests an approach to support further productive collaboration.     

Uncovering learning outcomes: explicating obscurity in learning of aesthetics in design and technology education

Education and training interventions can be evaluated through the success of learning outcomes. Kirkpatrick's four-level model is a widely accepted and highly popular evaluation tool. However, some criticise the model's shortcomings. This article will examine the extent to which the four-level model can evaluate design and technology students' learning about aesthetics after an intervention by reporting our use of an augmented version of the four-level model. We examine the results in terms of students' reaction to the intervention, their long-term learning and their behaviour changes by studying their visual analyses and drawings through segment codes. We found that, in order to uncover the obscurities imbedded in aesthetics and to explicate the complexities, we could not use the four-level-model on its own, but had to revert to a more augmented version.

Marketing and technology resource complementarity: an analysis of their interaction effect in two environmental contexts

The dynamic capabilities perspective posits that a firm can leverage the performance impact of existing resources through resource configuration, complementarity, and integration, but little empirical research addresses these issues. We investigate the effects on performance of marketing capabilities, technological capabilities, and their complementarity (interaction), and whether these effects are moderated by low vs. high technological turbulence. Results from SEM two‐group analyses (with controls) show that both main effects positively impact performance in both environmental contexts. However, (1) their interaction effect is significant only in the high‐turbulence environment; (2) the marketing‐related main effect is lower in the high‐turbulence environment; and (3) the main effects of technology‐related capabilities are the same in both environments. Our research suggests that the synergistic performance impact of complementary capabilities can be substantive in particular environmental contexts: while synergistic rents cannot always be obtained, it is possible to leverage existing resources through complementarity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Innovation search of new ventures in a technology cluster: the role of ties with service intermediaries

In this study, we examine the relationships between new ventures' ties with service intermediaries (i.e., technology service firms, accounting and financial service firms, law firms, and talent search firms) and their product innovation in the context of a technology cluster. Because service intermediaries sit at the intersection of many firms, organizations and industries, they maintain extensive networks in a cluster. We propose that new ventures' ties with service intermediaries enable the ventures to plug into these networks and contribute to the ventures' product innovation by broadening the scope of their external innovation search and reducing their search cost. Moreover, we argue that the positive relationships between new ventures' ties with service intermediaries and their product innovation will become stronger when search in the networks in the cluster is more important to the ventures' product innovation. Based upon a sample of new ventures in a technology cluster in China, our results support these arguments. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.