Search

The stated aim of technology education in New Zealand is to develop students' level of technological literacy. This paper introduces the Technology Assessment Framework (TAF) as an organisational tool for the development and delivery of technology programmes that focus on increasing students' technological literacy through the enhancement of their technological practice across technological areas and contexts. The TAF was developed and refined in 1999 and 2000 as part of a two year New Zealand Ministry of Education funded research project, and integrated within a national professional development programme in 2000 designed for preservice and inservice teacher educators in New Zealand. This paper backgrounds the sociocultural theoretical position of the TAF and explains how it reflects and furthers the aim of technology education in New Zealand. The TAF is then presented and explained with the aid of illustrative examples from classroom practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Zealand under went major curriculum reforms in the early 1990's. These reforms were determined by the New Zealand Curriculum Framework which provides an overarching framework for the development of curricula in New Zealand and which defines seven broad essential learning areas rather than subject areas. Technology is important and should be part of the education of all students. Six grounds for developing technology education were given, namely: economic, pedagogic, motivational, cultural, environmental, and personal. This paper reports on the development of a technology curriculum in schools. The philosophy of the curriculum will be discussed, particularly crucial aspects such as inclusiveness. The way in which the technology curriculum has attempted to meet the needs of a New Zealand technological society will be examined. The general aims of technology education in Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum are to develop: technological knowledge and understanding; an understanding and awareness of the interrelationship between technology and society; technological capability. The development of seven technological areas for all students will be highlighted. This paper will discuss in detail the development of the national technology education policy and the way in which the curriculum was developed. The last section of the paper will consider issues related to teacher development programmes and areas of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines some of the many problems and issues associated with integrating new and developing technologies into the education of future designers. As technology in general races ahead challenges arise for both commercial designers and educators on how best to keep track and utilise the advances. The challenge is particularly acute within tertiary education where the introduction of new cutting edge technology is often encouraged. Although this is generally achieved through the feedback of research activity, integrating new concepts at an appropriate level is a major task. Of particular concern is how focussed areas of applied technology can be made part of the multidisciplinary scope of design education. The paper describes the model used to introduce areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to undergraduate industrial design students. The successful interaction of research and education within a UK higher education establishment are discussed and project examples given. It is shown that, through selective tuition of research topics and appropriate technical support, innovative design solutions can result. In addition, it shows that by introducing leading edge and, in some cases, underdeveloped technology, specific key skills of independent learning, communication and research methods can be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important objective of science and technology education is the development of pupils’ capacity for systems thinking. While in science education the term system relates mainly to structures and phenomena in the natural world, technology education focuses on systems designed to fulfill people’s needs and desires: examples include systems to control the local environment, or the position or motion of objects. Despite the centrality of the system concept to technology and technology education, issues relating to the teaching and learning of systems within the technology curriculum have been little addressed. This paper explores some elemental structures common to technological feedback control systems, and highlights the relationships between the structural nature and the dynamic behavior of these systems. It is argued that the study of systems and control concepts in technology has the potential to promote higher learning skills such as interdisciplinary thinking and modeling, and an instructional framework for achieving this goal is proposed. Questions and research issues on the fostering of systems thinking in technology education are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assimilation into society via academic achievement is a premise and practice that is universal in schools and school systems. Drawing on the testimonies of technological education teachers and the sociology of knowledge literature, this narrative inquiry research sets the stage for a critical analysis of our reliance on knowledge versus experience in western education policy and planning. A crisp and constructive analysis of the premises school systems take for granted becomes possible, a case for transcending limited ways of thinking about knowledge and experience is made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study reported here was to investigate the use of a design-without-make unit as part of the design and technology curriculum with pupils aged 14. Three research questions drove the study: (a) What sort of designing do pupils do when they work collaboratively to design without having to make what they have designed? (b) What is the teachers’ attitude to design-without-make? (c) What is the pupils’ attitude to design-without-make? The study is a small pilot and data were collected using semi-structured interviews with a class teacher and two pupils and detailed scrutiny of five pupils’ design ideas developed during 6 lessons towards the end of an 18 lessons teaching sequence. Findings indicate that the teacher and pupils in this study responded favourably to design-without-make. The pupils’ designing was highly iterative, creative, involved making a wide range of design decisions and revealed understanding of technological concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relatively low participation in the hard sciences (mathematics, science, engineering and technology) has become a concern with respect to the capacity of Australia to meet critical infrastructure projects. This problem has its roots in poor student attitudes towards and perceptions about the study of prerequisite subjects including mathematics and science. Perception formation commences early in students’ education where students have claimed that mathematics was not intrinsically useful and was difficult to understand. With this mind, an intervention was planned and implemented in which technology and design practice was used to integrate the study of mathematics so students could produce and explain a useful artefact. The integrated design project included a focus upon instructional and regulatory discourse. Useful integration tools were developed that facilitated positive cognitive discourses such that students demonstrated a functional understanding of mathematical concepts, reported a broader and more applied understanding of the nature of mathematics and a belief that integration had helped them to make more sense of mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of progression in technology is still a matter of debate in technology education. While there is a growing research-based literature exploring the elements of technological literacy that might be appropriate measures of progression, little has been written about the factors that may influence both group and individual development of technological literacy. This article reports the findings of a longitudinal ethnographic study of the progression in technological literacy of 20 children during their first 3 years at school. It focuses on the factors that affected their learning in technology, and identifies a number of personal and systemic factors that affected progression in technological literacy. The implications of these findings for teaching, and for further research are then explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

`The design process' as an underpinning structure for technology education is well established. A number of increasingly complex models have been produced to describe the design process. These models have had a widespread, paradigmatic effect on the teaching of technology education. The development and implementation of models of the design process and the influence of these on teacher's classroom practice is examined, and it is then argued that the paradigm is fatally flawed, and that continued adherence to it is having a detrimental impact on children's learning in technology. It is suggested that the basis of an alternative pedagogy for technology education already exists within the research literature. Two examples of an alternative approach for teaching technology are described, and some practical limitations outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]