At most universities throughout the world Computer Aided Design is taught using commercial programs more suitable for business and industry than for teaching. This led us to write our own design program (GIcad) starting from the best-known standards on the market, but always avoiding unnecessary commands in the first steps of the learning process.…

In this article, the author first explains what an authors gallery is and suggests additional uses and modifications. Next, readers are taken through a day-by-day description of creating the gallery while having the theory behind this pedagogical choice explained. The step-by-step discussion is supported with student examples and concepts drawn…

Computers have changed the ways students study components of design. Once on the computer, students tend to get so excited that they usually neglect to make preliminary sketches. Rather than rely on design software to provide visual solutions, this author chose to use design assignments that are intended to foster thinking in his students. In this…

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…

It would be extremely satisfying for career and technical educators to have plenty of students sign up for their programs. In addition, it would be a more satisfying for them if they can make money out of their programs. In this article, the author provides ideas on how teachers can get the industry involved in their programs.

A complex view of learning recognises that learning cannot be pre-determined by teaching, but is as much defined by circumstances and context as pre-defined learning objectives. Learning designs that accept uncertainty help us to envision classrooms and curricula that are open, dynamic and innovative. Architect Christopher Alexander's patterns and…

Games and gaming have always been an influential part of society and culture. Within the last 35 years, due to numerous technology innovations, electronic games in many formats have become ubiquitous in everyday life. This ubiquity has meant that games and gaming have permeated into many fields and disciplines for multiple purposes including…

Drafters must be detail-oriented people. The objects they draw are interpreted and then built with the extreme precision required by today's manufacturers. Now that computer-aided drafting (CAD) has taken over the drafting profession, anything less than exact precision is unacceptable. In her drafting classes, the author expects her students to…

This research project involved viewing elementary children's (ages 8-10) design technology drawing through a theoretical perspective developed by analyzing professional drawing practice. The perspective places more emphasis on the generative aspect of drawing as well as on the use of different types of drawings at different stages of design. The…

In this scoping study we have investigated the integration of subject-specific software into the structure of visual communications courses. There is a view that the response within visual communications courses to the rapid developments in technology has been linked to necessity rather than by design. Through perceptions of staff with day-to-day…

Cubic symmetry is used to build the other four Platonic solids and some formalism from classical geometry is introduced. Initially, the approach is via geometric construction, e.g., the "golden ratio" is necessary to construct an icosahedron with pentagonal faces. Then conventional elementary vector algebra is used to extract quantitative…

A Delphi panel of 15 experts determined that (1) computer-assisted drafting (CAD) and traditional drafting are complementary; (2) differences in teaching strategies related to use of computers versus traditional drafting instruments; and (3) traditional drafting knowledge and skills are very important for CAD. (SK)

If we intend to teach through educational media, we also have to teach about those media. This article explores the implications of this perspective for the use of computer games in the classroom. It seeks to explain why and how teachers might teach about computer games as a medium in their own right, just as they teach about film or television or…

Design plays a central role in a range of subjects at different educational levels. Students have to acquire the knowledge necessary for the execution of tasks that enable them to construct an artefact or model that can be tested by simulation and that satisfies some requirements and verifies some constraints. They achieve this by means of a…

Purpose: The purpose of this scientific monograph is to show new and creative approaches to different school subjects in primary and secondary level. Methodology: Interdisciplinary and international comparative approaches were used. Now according to the 7th Framework Program, the preferred form of Science Education (www.scientix.eu) is preferred…