Technology Education Classroom Research Articles

Bringing computational thinking to technology education classrooms: Hacking car activity for middle schools in the republic of korea.

The purpose of this study was to develop a program that incorporates computational thinking into technology education classrooms and to investigate its effect on students. Software (SW) education and physical computing education are frequently addressed topics in technology education, but education about computational thinking (CT) lacks interest and research. Therefore, it is necessary to further develop educational programs in technology. In this study, we developed a program integrating CT, which centered on technological problem-solving processes. The program comprised 12 total hours of hacking a remote control (RC) car using Micro:bit development tool. This study investigates the effects of the developed program with a single group pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design. Nineteen students participated in the study, completing survey instruments that measure CT competency and attitudes toward CT and technology, answering an open-ended questionnaire, and voluntarily took part in semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the technological problem-solving program positively affected participants’ CT-related competencies. Moreover, we observed improvement in participants’ attitudes toward technology due to the integration of CT into their technology education classes. This study provides a strong case for incorporating CT into technology education. It also suggests future research direction regarding the development of students’ CT competencies in various technological problem-solving contexts.

Management Development of Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning has been used in high school classrooms for a long time. Despite all the theory and practical recommendations on the usefulness of problem-based learning, empirical research reveals that it primarily impacts problem-solving. Critical thinking problems and talents, but not necessarily knowledge. Various theoretical techniques, which are addressed in this work, can assist problem-based learning. After that, a detailed assessment of the empirical literature on problem-based learning is offered, focusing on its use in Informatics Technology Education classrooms. This study utilises the literature study approach to complete this study, which entails acquiring and analysing data from various sources. Existing theoretical concepts, such as problem-based learning, do not link theory with relevant research as well as new pedagogical theories. In problem-based learning, objectives and learning outcomes take precedence over time and resources. According to this study, problem-based learning will increase student learning assessment in the future.

A High Quality Educative Curriculum in Engineering Fosters Pedagogical Growth

The Next Generation Science Standards call for the integration of engineering into mainstream science education, yet challenges arise for teachers unfamiliar with engineering-based pedagogy or concepts. The INSPIRES Hemodialysis educative curriculum may address such challenges by explicitly integrating all areas of STEM in an authentic learning experience with pedagogical support for teachers. Preparation and implementation of the INSPIRES curriculum is paired with professional development (PD) guided by the PrimeD framework. The present three-year study explored the role of the INSPIRES curriculum and PD in strengthening teacher pedagogical skills while implementing engineering ideas and practices in high school biology and technology education classrooms. Teachers’ classroom practices were measured with the RTOP and qualifying themes emerged through further analyses across multiple time points. Initially, PD focused on the INSPIRES curriculum but later supported teachers in individual areas of concern. Growth in design-based pedagogy was evident in both engineering-rich INSPIRES lessons and subsequent teacher-developed lessons which highlighted the transfer of new skills. While skill transfer occurred within the teacher population discussed here, sustained pedagogical reform may require continued PD support over time. Overall, educative curricula may provide a vector for integrating elements of educational reform to address NGSS challenges, especially in engineering education.

Analyzing the Status of Performance Assessment in Middle School Technology Education in Chungnam

2015 개정 교육과정은 학생중심활동의 수업과 동시에 과정중심 평가를 강조하고 있다. 이 연구는 충남 지역 모든 중학교에서 2018년 실시되고 있는 수행평가의 현황과 실태를 조사하였다. 이를 위해 학교알리미 웹사이트에서 충남중학교 193개교의 연간 수업계획 및 수행평가 계획서를 받아 분석하였다. 주요 분석 항목은 기본 학교 정보, 기술교육과 관련된 정보, 수행평가와 지필평가의 비율, 기술 수업에서의 수행평가 내용과 도구이다. 자료 조사와 분석의 신뢰도를 위해 조사 분석표를 개발하였고 이를 기반으로 분석하였으며 최종적으로 신뢰할 수 있는 분석 자료 확보를 위해 기술교사 3인에 의한 검토를 받았다. 이 연구는 조사 대상인 193개 학교 중 공개된 자료가 불충분한 8개교를 제외한 185개 학교의 자료를 대상으로 하였다. 분석 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 지필고사의 실시는 자유학기제의 실시로 인해 1학년에서 미실시가 가장 많았다. 둘째, 수행평가의 내용에 대한 분석 결과에서 수행평가의 내용 영역은 제조기술(86건) 영역에서 많이 수행되었으며 건설기술(79건), 수송기술(59건)의 순서로 나타났다. 가장 적은 수행영역은 생명기술(2건)으로 나타났다. 셋째, 포트폴리오 평가(94건)를 이용한 수행평가가 가장 많았으며 완제품평가(72건), 평가요소 체크리스트법(44건)이 뒤이어 나타났다. 중학교에서의 수행평가는 자유학기제의 실시와 상호 관련성이 높아 기술교육의 수업과 평가에도 영향을 미치고 있다. 게다가, 현장의 기술수업은 학생중심의 활동과 과정중심 평가를 위해 보다 다양한 평가 방법과 균형 잡힌 수행평가의 내용이 필요하다.2015 national curriculum has emphasized a students’ activity-based instruction with a process-based assessment. This study investigated the status of how performance assessments were performed for all middle school technology education programs in the Chungnam province. Annual semester school plans and performance assessment plans of 193 middle schools were downloaded from the School Information Announcement website to investigate basic school information, background information related to technology education, proportion of performance assessment and written exam for technology, and contents and tools for performance assessment in technology classes. This study developed analysis table and a review group by three technology teachers for reliable research procedure. This study analyzed 185 cases excluding 8 schools which had insufficient information for performance assessment in technology and home economics subject. The results from this analysis were the following: First, there were many schools did not provide written tests for the seventh graders in technology and home economics courses because of the free semester plan. Second, manufacturing technology was the most prevalent with 86 cases as a learning area topic of performance assessment. Invention (29 cases) and Biotechnology (2 cases) were not enough regarding the content for performance assessment. Third, performance assessment using a portfolio was widely utilized (94 cases). In addition, there were final artifacts(72 cases) and checklist(44 cases). Performance assessment has been implemented with a strong connection to the middle school free semester system regarding the instruction and assessment. Moreover, this study recommend that technology education classrooms should have more diverse assessment methods and balanced assessment topics or contents for students’ participation centered activities and process centered assessment.

Hierarchical thinking: a cognitive tool for guiding coherent decision making in design problem solving

This paper builds on two concepts, the first of which is the extended information processing model of expert design cognition. This proposes twelve internal psychological characteristics interacting with the external world of expert designers during the early phases of the design process. Here, I explore one of the characteristics, hierarchical abstraction, and adapt it into an alternative ontological model of decision making. The model serves as an in-depth descriptor of how designers from different domains transform their mental states using judgment and decision making through hierarchical abstraction. The second concept entails an expansion of the idea of synergistic vertical transformation as a framework for mapping expert designers’ design process. Here, I focus on hierarchical decision making as multi-directional, and inter-relating the internal and external world of designers. In doing so, I provide a coding tool for researchers interested in exploring designers’ complex decision making processes. Concurrently, the model serves as decision making tool in design and technology education classrooms. As such, the paper focuses on the ontology of conceptual structures that support the early phases of the design process. This was based on empirical research.

The Use of Indigenous Materials in the Teaching and Learning of Geometry

AbstractThis paper reports on an exploration of grade nine learners’ experiences in the design and construction of double-storey artefacts project at a secondary school in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The project engaged a process of drawing and construction of those artefacts in a technology education classroom to enhance and inform the teaching of geometry and to allow learners to both reflect and use the Geometry they know as a springboard for further study of Euclidean Geometry. This was qualitative study in which data was collected through observations of artefacts and semi-structured interviews with a purposefully selected sample of five learners. The analysis of data revealed that Geometry taught in a free environment allows learners to reflect and share their experiences for better understanding mathematics concepts.

The waste-bin: Not the last place to encounter technological knowledge and experience

Often there is complaint about the lack of resources for the practice of technology education. Resources in this case refer to materials that are used in a technology education classroom or workshop. The stipulation from the South African education policy document (DoE, 2002:1) that learners should “identify and solve problems and make decisions using critical and creative thinking” can be exploited to create a solution to the shortage of resources through the use of waste-bin materials. Identifying or relooking at the waste-bin to find resources is a creative way of solving some of the resource problems in a technology education classroom or workshop. In this article, the waste-bin is seen as a niche area for technological material resources. While there are different waste-bins, there are also all sorts of different materials that can be found in a waste bin. An argument is made in this paper that “waste materials” should not of necessity be construed as wasted materials as these can still be reused. Three technological projects are undertaken using waste materials. The purpose is to prove that materials from the waste bin can be used for a technological encounter, knowledge and experience. A workshop was organized with 30 student teachers taking an advanced certificate in technology education course. Evaluation was conducted at the end of the workshop to establish whether the purpose of this study was achieved or not. Key words: Technology, technology education, waste-bin, waste material., scavenging, resources, critical and creative thinking.

ESD through Technology Education: Contextualisation of Approaches

The importance of addressing education for sustainable development (ESD) through technology education has been argued by a number of researchers; it appears increasingly in curriculum document statements; and some resources have been developed for use by teachers. However, when the concept of sustainable development is discussed within technology education it is mainly focused on the ecological design of products with a major emphasis on limiting the environmental impacts of those products. This article examines the nature of sustainable development and argues for the basis of ESD in technology education. The ethics of weak anthropocentrism and a focus on the human condition are suggested as a guiding framework for the underlying philosophy of technology education. Value change and technical fix are proposed as interlinked approaches for the development of learning activities. The article proposes some applications of the above principles in technology education classrooms. Environmental and social emphases are identified as possible priorities within different contexts. The argument was supported by the UNEP analysis of challenges confronting countries internationally in terms of reducing per capita ecological footprint or increasing the human development index. Examples of classroom activities illustrate how the above differences could be addressed in the classroom.

Advancing the Math Skills of Middle School Students in Technology Education Classrooms

While curriculum specialists and committees often decide how mathematics is taught, it is ultimately principals who influence the extent to which these initiatives are carried out. The overall goal of this article is to provide school leaders with classroom-based research that describes one way of improving the math skills of middle school students. The study employed a randomized pretest-posttest comparison group design to examine the effects of two versions of Enhanced Anchored Instruction (EAI) and a Business as Usual (BAU) condition on the math skills of middle school students in technology education classrooms. Results showed that both EAI conditions were effective at improving the math skills of students over those of students in the BAU classes. The findings suggest that technology education teachers can make important contributions in helping students develop their computation and problem-solving skills.

Curriculum Consonance and Dissonance in Technology Education Classrooms

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Problem-solving in technology education as an approach to education for sustainable development

This paper explores the issue of how students might learn about sustainability in technology––education classrooms and the relevance of problem-solving in that learning. One of the emerging issues in technology education research is the nature of problem-solving specified in curriculum documents and the kinds of learning activities undertaken by students in technology education classrooms. In parallel with our developing understanding of the characteristics of good technology education programs is the inclusion in recent curriculum documents of the concept of sustainability or sustainable development. However, as yet there is little information about how technology students think about sustainability and how they might best learn about it. This is of particular interest because in technology education, sustainability is often described in curriculum documents as an issue that is intended to be integrated within design projects and activities, rather than being the topic of a classroom lesson as might happen in a subject such as environmental studies. This paper explores current understanding of the issue generally and within technology education. It concludes that the design, problem-solving approach that is common to technology education classrooms provides many affordances to students engaging meaningfully with ideas of sustainability and of developing strong understandings of its scope and significance.

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.

Software Piracy among Technology Education Students: Investigating Property Rights in a Culture of Innovation

When asked about individual perceptions of “technology,” 68% of Americans primarily equate the term to the computer (International Technology Education Association, 2004). Although this perception under represents the true breadth of the field, the statistic does speak to the ubiquitous role the computer plays across many technology disciplines. Software has become the building block of all major industries and arguably, our modern civilization. Software drives the automation of manufacturing, medical research, avionics, telecommunications, engineering, and even our national defense. With software tools at the heart of design, problem-solving, and innovation for many major technology industries, technology education has accepted the essential role of software. The International Technology Education Association (ITEA) (2005, p. 25), which supports a broad range of technology disciplines, asserts that students should learn how to apply principles of computer science as early as middle school. Computer science is among the disciplines the ITEA identifies for postsecondary study and technology careers (p.27). Two of the nationallyrecognized ITEA Standards for Technological Literacy content standards (eleven and twelve) are supported by the design and problem-solving skills involved in computer programming (ITEA, 2000). In light of this commitment, has the technology education classroom kept pace with the ethical challenges presented by ever-expanding computer contexts? In recent years, the academic and popular literature has resounded with alarming software piracy statistics (see Al-Rafee & Cronan, 2006; Batson, 2007; IDC, 2007; Kruger, 2004). According to The Economist (Gottlieb, 2007) and the Wall Street Journal (Batson, 2007), illegal pirated copies of commercial software represented a loss of $39.6 billion in 2006. IDC Research (2007) estimates the loss to mount to $300 billion over the next four years. The Business Software _________________________

Teaching Mathematical Problem Solving to Middle School Students in Math, Technology Education, and Special Education Classrooms

This study compared two approaches for teaching sixth-grade middle school students to solve math problems in math, technology education, and special education classrooms. A total of 17 students with disabilities and 76 students without disabilities were taught using either enhanced anchored instruction (EAI) or text-based instruction coupled with applied problems (TBI). Results showed that both EAI and TBI students benefited from instruction in their math class, but EAI students were able to maintain and transfer what they learned in the technology education classroom several weeks later. The performance level of students with disabilities was low in both groups, but additional small-group instruction in special education settings helped several students with disabilities achieve at levels commensurate with their peers without disabilities.

A Different Storytelling of Technology Education Curriculum Re-Visions: A Storytelling of Difference

Taking up Knoespel's invitation think of all discourses as taking the form of a story, this paper is an attempt to open technology education curriculum re-visioning to different angles of vision by thinking about it as a form of storytelling. Over the past two decades there have been efforts understand curriculum work as a storytelling practice (Gough, in press), and as a story we tell our children about our past, our present, and our future (Grumet, 1981, p. 115). Gough (1993) adds that curriculum narratives are not only collective but selective stories, and in the case of technology education the selection of technology stories have been articulated from a particular, relatively small, cultural community—industrial education/arts. In light of global restructuring with its different allegiances and arrangements of information, capital, time and space, bodies and geographies, and poststructuralism's skepticism of narrative authority, I would like to place into question both the adequacy of the selection of technology narratives to represent the study of technology in our current technologized/technocratized society, and the relevancy of these stories to meet the needs and interests of the diversity of students entering today's technology education classrooms. Although curricular changes from industrial education/arts to technology education have been viewed as constituting a paradigm shift (Clarke, 1989; Todd & Hutchinson, 1991), from my positioning as one of few women in this programme area and writing within feminist and poststructural leanings, the