Technology Teachers as Researchers

This book presents the scientific output of the TUFF research school in Sweden. In this school, a group of active teachers worked together on a series of educational research studies. All of those studies were related to the teaching about technology and engineering. The research program consisted of studies at various angles of view: a philosophical view, a national view, and a classroom practice view. The book is a showcase of how a well-conducted research program for teachers can lead to good contributions to technology education research. A selection of topics: the nature of technological knowledge, mental images of engineers and engineering, the process of choosing for a study in technology, teachers' beliefs about technology education and assessment. These topics are directly related to major issues in the international technology education research agenda. The studies presented here were the basis of the authors' Ph.D. theses. The teachers' chapters are preceded by a description of ideas behind the TUFF research school and the way it was realized.

This book presents the scientific output of the TUFF research school in Sweden. In this school, a group of active teachers worked together on a series of educational research studies. All of those studies were related to the teaching about technology and engineering. The research program consisted of studies at various angles of view: a philosophical view, a national view, and a classroom practice view. The book is a showcase of how a well-conducted research program for teachers can lead to good contributions to technology education research. A selection of topics: the nature of technological knowledge, mental images of engineers and engineering, the process of choosing for a study in technology, teachers’ beliefs about technology education and assessment. These topics are directly related to major issues in the international technology education research agenda. The studies presented here were the basis of the authors’ Ph.D. theses. The teachers’ chapters are preceded by a description of ideas behind the TUFF research school and the way it was realized.

Preface; 1. TUFF and the Value of Teachers as Researchers; Section I: Philosophy of Technology; 2. What Is Technological Knowledge?; 3. Explanation and Prediction in Technology Education; 4. Pictorial Realism in Geometric Images and Technical Design; Section II: Technology Education Research; 5. Students’ Encounter with Technology Education: Testimonies from Compulsory School Technology Classrooms; 6. The Noble Art of Problem Solving: A Critical View on a Swedish National Test; 7. To Use or Not to Use a Teacher Support Programme: A Study of What Characterises Swedish Schools that Apply the Inquiry-based Teacher Support Programme, NTA; 8. Challenge Traditional Structures: Ways of Building Gender Equality in Technology Education; Section III: Engineering Education; 9. Why Choose a Regional Engineering Education Programme?; 10. The Successful Student: A Study Examining How Young Swedish People Represent Engineering Students Discursively; 11. What You Need to Learn: Engineers’ and Industrial Designers’ Views on Knowledge and Skills in Product Development; Section IV: Teachers’ Perspective; 12. Looking for a Glimpse in the Eye: A Descriptive Study of Teachers’ Work with Assessment in Technology Education; 13. Teachers’ Beliefs Regarding Programming Education.