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.…

Learner-centred approaches follow the prevailing tendency in modern University reforms which are primarily concerned about "how people learn". The methodologies can be learner-centred in the sense of placing the student as the main actor of the teaching-learning process by increasing his interactivity and participation, but also considering what…

In this article we report assessment results from two studies in an ongoing design experiment intended to provide a single school system with a sequence of secondary school level (ages 14-18) computer technology courses. In our first study, we share data on students' learning as a function of the required introductory course and their pre-course…

The present research investigated and studied students' representations about daily life technologies, in a prospect of studying technology in Greek primary education. In the research participated 60 Greek primary school students aged 9 to 12 years old. Research data were collected through semi-structured, personal, clinical-type interviews. Each…

The study aimed to examine the relationship between alternative approaches towards problem solving/design teaching (structural or functional), students' mental modeling of the design process, and the quality of their solutions to design tasks. The "structural" approach emphasizes the need for an ordered and systematic learning of the design…

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…

The nature of the design process and how to develop this skill in novice designers has been of considerable interest to technology educators. The relationship between workplace and school-based design is one area in which a need for further research has been identified by Hill and Anning (2001, "International Journal of Technology and Design…

The introduction of technology education in primary and secondary schools during the past 10-15 years around the world has presented a number of difficulties for teachers, primarily related to their coming to understand the phenomenon of technology and to conceptualise the technology learning area in line with national frameworks. This paper…

Teachers' informed acceptance of challenges associated with teaching technology might ensure the successful implementation of a Technology syllabus in primary schools. They must be prepared to analyse their own understandings of technology concepts and processes, teaching and resource needs, and engage in professional development activities…

This paper reports on a novel approach taken by the author to the teaching of an Internet programming course targeted at final year diploma and second year degree students. The uniqueness of engineers and their identity is discussed, as is the self-constructed world and ways of knowing in which humankind operates. The novel approach to teaching a…

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…

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…

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…

As Technical education strains to find a niche in the educational market place, are teachers suffering from a crisis of confidence? How comfortable are they with the ever-changing curriculum, with the subjects they are teaching and the reasons why they are teaching them? The broadening of the Technical curriculum in secondary schools to include…

The various modes in which individuals relate to the collectivity of a group have been fruitfully explored in research on group dynamics. The present paper applies a phenomenological interview approach to understand how this dynamic relationship plays out among design students in a collaborative design situation. Through deep-interviews with the…