Background: This study focuses on probing preservice technology teachers' cognitive structures and how they construct engineering design in technology-learning activities and explores the effects of infusing an engineering design process into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) project-based learning to develop preservice…

In the trend of innovating university teaching methods in the direction of student-centered learning, this article proposes the application of problem-based learning (PBL) in teaching English communication skills to engineering students at University of Engineering and Technology, Vietnam National University. With a combination of qualitative and…

The learning goals of project-based courses are typically specific for each involved discipline. Game development is deeply interdisciplinary and some of its core principles are shared across disciplines, from art to programming. This article presents a project-based approach where students majoring in arts and students majoring in technology…

In the subject Project I in the second year of the Degree in Industrial Technology Engineering taught at the School of Industrial Engineering of Barcelona (ETSEIB), subgroups of 3-4 students within groups of 20 students develop a project along a semester. Results of 2 projects are presented related to manufacturing, measurement of parts and the…

In a contest featuring hands-on projects, college students were required to design a simple crawling worm using planning, self-monitoring and self-evaluation processes to solve contradictive problems. To enhance the efficiency of problem solving, one needs to practice meta-cognition based on an application of related scientific concepts. The…

This research paper describes the use of the Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA) framework to analyse the practices of teacher and students observed during a technology unit. Twenty three children aged 9-10 years were involved in the research and they were taught in a standard classroom. The analysis provides evidence that a two-phase project-based…

This paper reviews literature on constructivist learning theories relevant to and evident in teacher education in a New Zealand university. These theories are illustrated within an authentic technology education context which involves students from a primary teacher-education degree programme. It investigates how a practical activity, based on…

This paper describes the second part of a new three-part study of STEM and engineering design research--termed Design-Without-Make--conducted by NC State University in 2009-10 in an NC high school. The hybrid quantitative, qualitative case study is being developed with the purpose of capturing what new technological learning occurs and how the new…

Early exposure to embedded computing systems is crucial for students to be prepared for the embedded computing demands of today's world. However, exposure to systems knowledge often comes too late in the curriculum to stimulate students' interests and to provide a meaningful difference in how they direct their choice of electives for future…

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…

Among educational researchers and practitioners, there is a growing interest in employing computer games for pedagogical purposes. The present research integrated a technology education class and a science class where 5th graders learned about environmental issues by designing games that involved environmental concepts. The purposes of this study…

The objective of this study was to evaluate grade 9-12 students' motivation while engaged in two different engineering design projects: marble-sorter and bridge designs. The motivation components measured in this study were focused on students' intrinsic (IGO) and extrinsic (EGO) goal orientations, task value (TV), self-efficacy for learning and…

Rich educational environments encourage students to construct their own knowledge, to solve problems collaboratively, and to heighten their interest and motivation to continue to learn. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study that investigated the formation of collaborative problem solving through social interaction during a…