The South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement for Technology stipulates that Technology should provide learners with the opportunity to solve authentic problems that are embedded in real-life experiences. Solving these authentic technological problems requires learners to use critical thinking skills and teachers are expected to…

Technology teachers should have a sound understanding and knowledge of artefacts in order to assist learners in the designing, making and evaluating of artefacts. Unfortunately, technology teachers in South African schools seem to have a poor grasp of the complexity of this important part of knowledge that is specific to technology. As a result,…

Project-based learning (PBL) is the recommended approach for teaching technology in South Africa. The implementation of this approach, however, is problematic since the vast majority of technology teachers are not formally trained in technology education. Consequently, many of these teachers rely on technology textbooks for guidance. Therefore,…

Technology is often perceived simplistically as applied science, and therefore regarded as inferior to science. Scholars of technology, however, reject the view that technology is applied science and insist that technology is a cognitive system consisting of a separate body of technological knowledge. Although science is acknowledged as an…