The New Zealand Curriculum's approach to technological literacy through the lens of the philosophy of technology

Nia, M.M. Ghaemi; Vries, Marc J. de

doi:10.15663/ajte.v3i1.38

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

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“…In his framework, Mitcham (1994), a well-known contemporary philosopher of technology, characterised four different ways in which technology manifests itself. This framework has been used extensively in the technology education literature to support the development of a philosophy of technology education (Ankiewicz, 2019b;De Vries, 2016;Svenningsson, 2019), the writing of technology curricula and policy documents (Nia & De Vries, 2016) and as an analysis tool for empirical studies (Ankiewicz, 2015;Svenningsson, 2020). According to Mitcham (1994), technology is constrained to human beings with specific needs, wants and desires, who possess the technical knowledge to engage in technological activities that are distinct from scientific knowledge (De Vries, 2018).…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students’ perceptions of the nature of technology and its relationship with science following an integrated curriculum

Blom

Abrie

2021

International Journal of Science Education

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The increased emphasis on implementing effective integrated STEM education calls for indepth student understanding of the nature of each separate discipline. This study examined how South African Grade 9 and 10 students who had completed 'Natural Sciences and Technology' as a school subject, perceived technology and its relationship with science in a South African context. Data were collected using a questionnaire with open-ended and Likerttype questions. We utilised Mitcham's typology of technology to analyse students' descriptions of technology, in combination with Gardner's framework to analyse how students perceived the relationships between science and technology. The results indicate that students hold narrow views of technology, mostly referring to technological objects and activities in their descriptions of technology, but neglecting technology as knowledge and volition. In terms of their perceptions of the relationship between science and technology, students hold several misconceptions. If we are to develop students' scientific literacy and technological capability, we need to ensure that students have opportunities to reflect and engage with the nature of and interactions between science and technology.

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Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students’ perceptions of the nature of technology and its relationship with science following an integrated curriculum

Blom

Abrie

2021

International Journal of Science Education

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The Mitcham Score: quantifying students’ descriptions of technology

Svenningsson

2019

Int J Technol Des Educ

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A central issue when measuring students' attitudes toward an object is the children's understanding of that object, in this case, technology. Studies have shown that schoolchildren often describe technology narrowly as different kinds of technological objects; more specifically, modern electrical objects. This may mean that we have been measuring students' attitudes toward modern technological objects for more than 30 years. This study intends to research what other aspects students potentially describe, when describing technology, and how the descriptions can be implemented in attitudes toward technology research. To visualize and analyze different aspects of technology, Carl Mitcham's philosophical framework of the manifestations of technology is used. The deductive method used for analysis quantifies students' descriptions of technology, for use in attitude, and other quantitative, studies. In this study, descriptions of technology and technology education from 164 students (aged 12-15) are analyzed, classified and quantified within Mitcham's typology (technology as Object-Activities-Knowledge-Volition). The student descriptions are compared to the typology and students score a point for every one of the four aspects of technology they describe. The sum of aspects in the description is named The Mitcham Score. The results of this study show that students can describe technology in a broad way using all four aspects of Mitcham's typology. In line with previous studies, the most common way is to describe technology as objects and activities using the objects. Technological knowledge has not been in focus in previous studies of student descriptions. In this study, 44.5% of the students mention technological knowledge in their descriptions of technology. Measurement using the Mitcham Score provides a method to study both students' concepts of technology and the factors that might affect this. The Mitcham Score is potentially one more factor to use in analyzing students' attitudinal profiles. The method is sufficiently reliable and enables a broad understanding of students' attitudes.

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The New Zealand Curriculum's approach to technological literacy through the lens of the philosophy of technology

Cited by 2 publications

References 8 publications

Students’ perceptions of the nature of technology and its relationship with science following an integrated curriculum

Students’ perceptions of the nature of technology and its relationship with science following an integrated curriculum

The Mitcham Score: quantifying students’ descriptions of technology

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