Kay Stables

Discontinuity in transition: Pupils' experience of technology in year 6 and year 7

This paper refers to current work at Goldsmiths University of London (‘Understanding Technological Approaches’, a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council [research award R-000-23-3643]), in which we have tracked the design & technology project work of pupils from ages 5 to 16. The paper looks particularly at the discontinuity we have identified between the d&t experiences of pupils at the top end of primary schools and the bottom end of secondary schools. The differences between these experiences are explored by looking particularly at data relating to the ways in which teachers interact with pupils, either to direct or support the pupils in their work and at the important role discussion plays in d&t. The paper concludes that there is a critical need for teachers in both sectors to be more aware of each others aims and priorities in order to plan experiences which will support an individual pupils progressive development of d&t capability.

Technology Education in South Africa: Evaluating an Innovative Pilot Project

Researchers from Goldsmiths College were asked to undertake an evaluation of a three year curriculum initiative introducing technology education, through a learner-centred, problem solving and collaborative approach. The program was developed in a group of high schools in the North West Province of South Africa. We visited ten schools involved in the project and ten parallel schools not involved who acted as a control group. We collected data on student capability (demonstrated through an innovative test activity) and on student attitudes towards technology (demonstrated in evaluation questionnaires and in semi-structured interviews). Collectively the data indicate that in areas of knowledge and skill and in certain aspects of procedures (most notably problem solving) the project has had a marked impact. We also illustrate that greater consideration could have been given in the project to developing skills in generating and developing ideas and in graphic communication. Gender differences are noted, particularly in terms of positive attitudes illustrated by both boys and girls from schools involved in the project. Attention is drawn to the critical impact the project has had on transforming the pedagogy of the teachers from a teacher-centred didactic model, to a learner-centred, problem solving model. Some wider implications of the successes of this project are debated.

Assessment: Feedback from Our Pasts, Feedforward for Our Futures

This chapter begins by pointing out that the behaviourist paradigm that still largely dominates assessment practices conflicts with more progressive understandings of constructivist and sociocultural approaches to learning and teaching. In order to progress assessment in Technology Education, Kay argues for adopting a pedagogic approach to assessment (where both teaching and assessment practices aim to support learning), maintaining authenticity in activities through which assessment is being undertaken, recognising the importance of judgement in valid processes of assessment, and maintaining a focus on equity and the inclusive role of the learner. The chapter also considers the potential affordances of new technologies in assessment. The chapter concludes by pointing out that future developments should support teachers to align learning and assessment. This is to ensure that learners engage in technological practice that makes visible to them and their teachers and assessors the learning that has taken place and the capability that has been developed.

The Concept of Competence and Its Relevance for Science, Technology and Mathematics Education

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the concept of competence has been introduced as a new paradigm in several educational systems. It reflects the need of educational systems to respond to societal and economic changes, i.e. the transition from industrial- to information-based societies. In contrast to earlier educational goals that focused more on basic skills and knowledge expectations, competences are more functionally oriented. They involve the ability to solve complex problems in a particular context, e.g. in vocational or everyday situations. In science, technology and mathematics education, the concept of competence is closely linked to the concept of literacy. Apart from these rather cognitive and affective perspectives influenced by the need to assess students’ achievement of desired learning goals in relation to their interest and motivation, the perspectives of the concept of Bildung as well as of the labour market influence today’s definition of educational goals. In order to address these perspectives, twenty-first-century skills were defined that encompass skills believed to be critically important to success in today’s world like, e.g. innovation and communication. This chapter addresses these developments by describing the concept of competence, by explaining its relevance for science, technology and mathematics education and by examining future directions. The chapter concludes with some remarks regarding commonalities and differences between the three domains: science, technology and mathematics.

The Teaching and Assessment of Inquiry Competences

New competence-oriented learning goals can only be sustainably implemented if they are aligned with teaching and assessment goals. Within the fields of science, technology and mathematics education, one approach of competence-oriented teaching is based on the concept of inquiry-based education. Scientific inquiry in science, problem solving in mathematics, design processes in technology and innovation as a cross-curricular approach to teaching and learning that is emphasised as a key element of twenty-first-century skills allow students to engage in the thinking and working processes of scientists. By applying these approaches, teachers can address subject-specific as well as generic competences (e.g. investigation in science as a subject-specific competence vs. argumentation or communication as more generic competences). Since what is assessed strongly influences what is taught, changes in teaching need to be accompanied by changes in assessment in order to be sustainable. Teaching and learning goals need to be aligned, and assessment methods developed that allow for the assessment of competences related to scientific inquiry, mathematical problem solving or design and innovation processes. This chapter aims to provide a short overview about these inquiry-based approaches in the teaching and learning of science, technology, mathematics and innovation. Following a short introduction, the chapter consists of four subsections devoted to scientific inquiry, mathematical problem solving, design processes and innovation. Each subsection addresses three basic questions: (1) How is the construct defined and conceptualised? (2) How does teaching for inquiry change teaching? (3) What changes in assessment are necessary to assess inquiry competences?

Critiquing Design: Perspectives and World Views on Design and Design and Technology Education, for the Common Good

This chapter critiques design and design practices from historical, social, cultural and sustainable perspectives as a basis for opening up a broader perspective on the ways design and designing are seen within mainstream design and technology education in schools. This chapter is divided into four broad sections. The first section explores the ways that design practitioners, theorists and historians critique past and present practices of design from within the profession. This is followed by an outlining of approaches that some designers have taken in using design itself as a way of critiquing society and culture. The focus then turns to design and technology education and highlights concerns that have been identified both at school and higher education level. Finally, consideration is given to examples that illustrate positive approaches to bringing broader and more critical approaches to design and technology in classrooms, including ways that are developed in detail in further chapters in this book.

Critique in Design and Technology Education: About the Book

The goal of this book is to set a historical, philosophical and pragmatic context for critique in design and technology education and provide a framework for critique and discussion about the integration of critique into the teaching and learning of design and technology in schools. The wonderfully diverse discussion and application of notions of critique attest to the diversity of the eminent design and technology education researchers who have contributed chapters to this book.

Agency and Understanding

This chapter focuses on how learners can be supported to utilise their design capability to take on the challenge of creating a world that has a chance for a more sustainable future. It begins with three premises. The first is that all human beings are born designers; that there is something fundamental about being human and being designerly in the ways that we go about our lives. The second premise is that in order to optimize the designer in all human beings we have to attend to how that capability is nurtured.

Introducing the Book

At the joint PATT/CRIPT conference in London in 2011 a small number of very interesting presentations were made that each linked in some way to concerns for sustainability and the contribution Design and Technology (D&T) Education can make to positive futures.