Artifacts are probably our most obvious everyday encounter with technology. Therefore, a good understanding of the nature of technical artifacts is a relevant part of technological literacy. In this article we draw from the philosophy of technology to develop a conceptualization of technical artifacts that can be used for educational purposes.…

Creativity, which is concerned with problem solving, is essential if we are to generate new solutions to the massive and complex problems in the unknown future. Our next generation needs an educational platform where they can be taught to possess creativity. Design education is such a way to foster students' creativity. Therefore, it is essential…

The issue of children's conceptions of technology and technology education is seen as important by technology educators. While there is a solid body of literature that documents groups of children's understandings of technology and technology education, this is primarily focused on snapshot studies of children aged 11 and above. There is little…

This paper is a review of the literature related to teaching science through designing technology. The premise of this method is that designing technology presents the students with the context through which they can apply the science concepts they learned and thus enhancing their understanding of these concepts. Despite the promise of this…

Technology and Design was introduced at Key Stage 3 for all pupils in Northern Ireland, as a result of the Education Reform (NI) Order in 1989. Central to the process of introducing this new and compulsory subject, the government spent in excess of 167M British Pounds to make provision for the subject in all post-primary schools. This paper…

Creativity is acknowledged to be important for economic growth and as an everyday life-skill, however several influential reports have suggested that education could do more to harness creative talent. Creative cognition literature suggests the lack of creativity is at least partly the result of "fixation" (difficulty in generating novel…

The Finnish case contributing to the international DEPTH study was carried out within the Technology Education "NOW!" project at the University of Oulu. Nineteen project teachers participated in the study. The recent revision of the Finnish Basic Education Curriculum with the introduction of the cross-curricular theme "Humans and…

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…

Infusing creative thinking competence through the design process of authentic projects requires not only changing the teaching methods and learning environment, but also adopting new assessment methods, such as portfolio assessment. The participants in this study were 128 high school pupils who have studied MECHATRONICS from 10th to 12th grades…

Future elementary school teachers often lack self-efficacy for teaching science and technology. They are particularly anxious about encouraging children to carry-out student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry and/or technological design projects. Moreover, because this often also is the case with practising elementary school teachers, it is…

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…

CAD (Computer Aided Design) has now become an integral part of Technology Education. The recent introduction of highly sophisticated, low-cost CAD software and CAM hardware capable of running on desktop computers has accelerated this trend. There is now quite widespread introduction of solid modeling CAD software into secondary schools but how…

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…

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…