During the last 25 years, there have been many calls for new engineering competencies and a corresponding gradual change in both curriculum and pedagogy in engineering education. This has been a global trend, in the US, Europe, Australia and now emerging in the rest of the world. Basically, there have been two main types of societal challenges…

The Pre-service Technology Teacher Education Resource (PTTER) was developed as a cross-institutional resource to support the development of initial technology teacher education programmes in New Zealand. The PTTER was developed through collaboration involving representatives from each of the six New Zealand university teacher education providers,…

The history of technology can play an important role in illuminating the fundamentals of technological change, but it is important that technology teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers and researchers can be provided with good analytical tools for this purpose. In this article, we propose a model of techno-historical interplay, as a…

This article examines the claims of the school subject technology education (called Design and Technology in some countries) as a vehicle for inculcating creativity in the curriculum, by introducing children to the world of problem solving and invention. Core foundational underpinnings of the subject are explored, including its hands-on nature,…

This article addresses the issue of how sustainable development might be conceptualised and used to advance technology education practice. It is argued that a conceptualisation of sustainable development based on a combination of weak anthropocentrism and value based approaches within particular social, environmental and economic contexts provides…

In this issue of the International Journal of Technology and Design, we report on a series of case studies from the second phase of an international project--Developing Professional Thinking for Technology Teachers (DEPTH2). The first phase of the project was a study conducted with both primary and secondary technology pre-service teacher…

Explores the idea that a sense of school subject image is a necessary feature of curriculum management and a potent force for change. Highlights include developments in the United Kingdom in design and technology education; the importance of image; image, change, and school subjects; and the formation of image. (Author/LRW)

Examines the discipline of technology; discusses technology education; and proposes multidisciplinary technology education, inspired through efforts in art education, as a middle path between the technology mono-discipline and design and technology curriculum. Comparative curriculum and the organization of knowledge in multidisciplinary technology…

Discussion of technical education as part of the engineering education curriculum focuses on the effects of computerization, specifically the computerization of technical drawing. Topics include computer-aided graphics, computer-aided design, and the need for curriculum changes to allow more hours of practical work. (Author/LRW)

Describes the development of the design and technology component of the National Curriculum of England and Wales from its inception in 1988 to its current form and the influence of the Nuffield Design and Technology Project. The role of the teacher and the need for continuing professional development are discussed. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of recent changes in technology education focuses on the learning process of technological problem solving. A conceptual framework is proposed that includes knowledge, skills, and cognitive models. An evaluation-modification model flow chart is also explained. (Contains 52 references.) (LRW)

Describes the evolution of technological education in the Canadian province of Ontario, in five of seven areas (the remaining two are discussed in an article to follow): (1) technology and technological education; (2) historical foundations; (3) catalysts for change in the 1980s; (4) precursors to current curriculum offerings; and (5) technology…

Nowadays the European Universities are worried about how to adapt higher education to the new European Higher Education Area, as proposed in the Bologna Magna Charta Universitatum of 1998, and signed by 32 European Education Ministers. One of the key points in this higher education reform was the introduction of new Master's level curricula. These…