Elementary School Students' Understandings of Technology Concepts

Reviewing the relations between teachers’ knowledge and pupils’ attitude in the field of primary technology education

“…1). Regarding the domain of SMK (A) and its relations (a, b, and d), both general SMK and the concept of technology are reported to be important knowledge aspects for teaching technology (Parkinson 2001;Davis et al 2002;Garmire and Pearson 2006;Jarvis and Rennie 1996a;Cunningham et al 2006). It is generally assumed that SMK is a prerequisite for the development of PCK (Van Driel et al 1998).…”

“…Additionally, the more teacher's SMK is shaped in a scientifically and technologically correct way, the less likely it is that teachers will encourage pupils' development of inappropriate conceptions (Parkinson 2001). In line with this statement, Davis (2002) advocates that all pre-service and in-service primary school teachers should be better informed about the key areas of technology.…”

“…In the domain of SMK the aspects (1) general SMK (Parkinson 2001;Davis et al 2002), and (2) concept of technology (Jarvis and Rennie 1996a;Cunningham et al 2006;De Vries 2000) are classified. The domain of PCK consists of the aspects (3) knowledge of pupils' concept of technology, and knowledge of pupils' pre and misconceptions related to technology (Davis et al 2002;Jarvis and Rennie 1996b), (4) knowledge of pedagogical approaches and teaching strategies for technology education (Boser et al 1998), and (5) knowledge about the nature and purpose of technology education (Jones and Moreland 2004). The third domain and sixth aspect is (6) attitude towards technology and confidence in teaching technology (Johnston and Ahtee 2006).…”

“…Firstly, an important aspect is teachers' knowledge of pupils' general concept of technology and specific conceptions related to technology. According to various studies on primary technology education, a good awareness of pupils' pre and misconceptions, which they acquire and develop through engagement in technology education, has a positive effect on technology teaching (Davis et al 2002;Jarvis and Rennie 1996b). In addition, Lewis (1999) asserted that knowledge of the technology concepts pupils possess is important for effective teaching and improved learning.…”

Discerning technological systems related to everyday objects: mapping the variation in pupils’ experience

“…The results have been presented in several reports (Bame et al 1993;Garmire et al 2006;Raat and de Vries 1986). These and other empirical studies show that referring to some particular objects (often modern communication equipment) is the most common way of describing technology (Davis et al 2002;de Vries 2005;Jones 1997 Twyford and Järvinenn (2000) studied pupils' understanding of some technological principles, such as balance and torque, by using a model of a bridge and asking questions surrounding that. In this study children's technological concepts were expressed using their previous experiences and fantasies.…”