TENZ 2019 Conference
Research Presentations
Learning Collocations in Context Through a Mobile Adventure Game
Of interest to: Secondary, Tertiary
Diane Rozells is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of TESOL at Sookmyung Women?s University, South Korea. Apart from teaching Masters courses, she also teaches courses related to multimedia and technology to undergraduate students. She is on the editorial board of TESOL International Journal and is recipient of a research grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea to develop an online game for learning English. She received her PhD in Education from the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research interests include educational philosophy, language teacher education and CALL.
The English language is full of chunks of words known as collocations, which many argue are the basic building blocks of the language (Lewis, 1993). Since the meaning of a collocation may differ drastically from the individual words that it comprises, English Language Learners (ELLs) find great difficulty in mastering them. In South Korea, particularly, ELLs frequently learn vocabulary through memorization of meanings of lists of words devoid of a context, which not only creates frustration when not knowing how to use them appropriately, but also boredom which this practice naturally entails. In an effort to address the above concerns, the researcher, with the aid of a game developer, designed a mobile application where collocations that students need to study for the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) were presented in context as the text of a mobile adventure game. This paper thus describes the development of the game and its features and presents the results of a trial run of the game with undergraduate ELL students. The findings indicated that the game was a much more favorable way of learning collocations to prepare for the TOEIC exam in terms of both the enjoyment it produced, as well as the effective presentation of contents. The scope of application of this game is indeed broad. TOEIC test scores are required by organizations in more than 160 countries internationally, with about 7 million tests administered each year all over the world (ETS website, 2019). Furthermore, though the participants were tertiary students in South Korea, the lexical density of the games text is comparable to that used by native English speakers in secondary schools, who could also benefit from playing the game. Educational technology developers, researchers and educators would benefit from learning more about the game and its development.
The Development and Implementation of the Hangarau (Māori-medium Technology) Curriculum
Of interest to: Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary
Ruth Lemon
Ruth Lemon (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pākehā) is a Professional Teaching Fellow in Te Puna Wānanga, the School of Maori and Indigenous Education at the University of Auckland. She has worked in a range of educational contexts: kōhanga reo, primary, secondary English, and tertiary initial teacher education.
Kerry Lee
Kerry Lee is a Senior Lecturer in Technology Education in the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education and Social Work. Kerry comes from a background in Primary Education, where she has been an associate teacher, a senior teacher, and a tutor teacher. She has experience teaching in variable space, single cell, multicultural, junior and senior school education. Prior to working at Faculty of Education and Social Work Kerry worked as a Technology Facilitator with teachers and principals in the Auckland and Northland area. Kerry is chair of the national TENZ Council and is the managing editor of the International Journal of Adult Vocational Education and Technology.
Hēmi Dale
Hēmi (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri) has taught in the Māori medium teacher training pathway Te Huarahi Māori since its inception in 1997. He was the principal writer of the national Māori medium Tikanga ā Iwi curriculum from 1998-9 and has been extensively involved in the cycle of national teacher professional development for Tikanga ā Iwi from 2001-2003. He co-facilitated the development of the national Tikanga ā Iwi exemplars from 2003 - 2005. He was a member of the NEMP National Social Studies Advisory Panel from 2004 - 2006 and a member of the national Social Sciences Reference Group from 2004 - 2006. From 2005-2006 he was the principal facilitator overseeing the refinement of the national Tikanga ā Iwi curriculum. In 2007-8 he has been a co-facilitator of the Quality Teaching Research and Development pilot for Māori medium schools. He is currently developing a teacher handbook for the Tikanga ā Iwi learning area. His research interests are the development of the Māori medium curricula, the Tikanga a Iwi learning area, bilingualism and biliteracy and teaching through the medium of te reo Māori.
Aotearoa-New Zealand was the first nation whose indigenous peoples (the Māori) developed a technology curriculum specifically for their indigenous students studying in Māori-medium educational contexts. Initially the curriculum was expected to be directly translated from the English-medium version. Over the years, the reo Māori curriculum documents developed their own identities. They have been designed by Māori for Māori. Key information for this paper has been gathered from public documents, personal interviews with lead curriculum writers as well as over 600 pages obtained from the Ministry of Education as a result of a series of official information requests (via the Official Information Act 1982). This paper will outline the timelines in the two cycles of curriculum design and implementation of the Marautanga Hangarau or the Māori-medium Technology curriculum.
Effective Questions to Guide Student Learning in Technology Classrooms
Of interest to: Primary, Secondary
Swathi Rangarajan
A PhD student at the University of Waikato working on a project on ?Exploring the effects of classroom interactions on teachers and students? learning in technology in the primary classroom?. Swathi has a Master?s degree from the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland and is currently in her second year of PhD.
Wendy Fox-Turnbull
From 1998 onwards, Wendy has taught all technology education courses in the Bachelor, Masters and Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Learning (primary and secondary) programmes at University of Canterbury’s College of Education and now at University of Waikato. Additionally, Wendy teaches professional studies and practice courses, curriculum theory and science education.
Teachers can find eliciting student conceptions in technology to be quite challenging due to the newness of the technology curriculum as well as limited research in the area of student understanding in technology. Teacher's pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is likely to be the main constraint in them noticing and responding to student learning. This, in turn, can hamper the teacher’s ability to engage effectively in formative assessment and guide student learning. Alternative conceptions and pre-conceptions of students can be revealed through dialogue with carefully framed higher-cognitive questions to reveal student thinking. It may be necessary to plan questions beforehand to ensure that they provoke thought and sustain dialogue. Therefore, a valuable professional development for the teachers could be through providing a planned framework of higher order questions. The Technology Observation and Conversation Framework (TOCF) (Fox-Turnbull, 2018) is a framework designed for technology teachers with noticing cues and higher-order questions. The paper and presentation will mainly focus on the questions in the framework that are designed in line with the New Zealand technology curriculum and indicators of progression. In the presentation, effective questions for different strands in the technology unit will be discussed. The effectiveness of the questions will be decided based on their utility in promoting sustained dialogue and demonstrating/ provoking student learning in technology. Student learning in technology will be promoted along the indicators of progression and the key competencies mentioned in the New Zealand curriculum. Fox-Turnbull, W. (2018). Assisting teachers’ understanding of student learning in technology. International Journal of Technology and Design Education https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-018-9484-x
The Mātanga Project: An Opportunity for Technology Teachers to Shine
Of interest to: Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary
Elizabeth Reinsfield
Dr Elizabeth Reinsfield is a certified technology teacher with 23 years teaching experience in secondary and tertiary. Liz is co-ordinating the M?tanga project and has significant expertise in organising and delivering professional learning and development, including her coordination of the Teacher Education Refresh programme from 2014-2017. She is currently a lecturer in secondary Technology Education and Professional Practice at the University of Waikato.
Wendy Fox
Associate Professor Wendy Fox (Turnbull), is the immediate past-chair of TENZ (from 2006), a lecturer in Technology Education at the University of Waikato, and a certified primary teacher with 20 years experience in technology education at tertiary level. Wendy is widely published in the field of technology education and regularly presents at both national and international conferences.
Teachers can find eliciting student conceptions in technology to be quite challenging due to the newness of the technology curriculum as well as limited research in the area of student understanding in technology. Teacher's pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is likely to be the main constraint in them noticing and responding to student learning. This, in turn, can hamper the teacher’s ability to engage effectively in formative assessment and guide student learning. Alternative conceptions and pre-conceptions of students can be revealed through dialogue with carefully framed higher-cognitive questions to reveal student thinking. It may be necessary to plan questions beforehand to ensure that they provoke thought and sustain dialogue. Therefore, a valuable professional development for the teachers could be through providing a planned framework of higher order questions. The Technology Observation and Conversation Framework (TOCF) (Fox-Turnbull, 2018) is a framework designed for technology teachers with noticing cues and higher-order questions. The paper and presentation will mainly focus on the questions in the framework that are designed in line with the New Zealand technology curriculum and indicators of progression. In the presentation, effective questions for different strands in the technology unit will be discussed. The effectiveness of the questions will be decided based on their utility in promoting sustained dialogue and demonstrating/ provoking student learning in technology. Student learning in technology will be promoted along the indicators of progression and the key competencies mentioned in the New Zealand curriculum. Fox-Turnbull, W. (2018). Assisting teachers’ understanding of student learning in technology. International Journal of Technology and Design Education https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-018-9484-x
Professional Postgraduate Program of Mechanical Engineering Based on Industry Practice
Of interest to: Tertiary
Jingli Xu
Professor of School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Bo Wu
Faculty of School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Hanxiong Zhu
Professor of School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan University of Technology
Yunfeng Huang
Faculty of School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
Jie Lu
Faculty of School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology
The presentation gives an analysis of a new postgraduate program for mechanical enginering education in China based on industry participation of students from Wuhan University of Technology.
Teachers Implementation of Information and Communication Technology in Kindergartens in China
Of interest to: Early Childhood
Tian Yang is a Ph.D. student in the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy, the University of Auckland. Tian Yang received her MA degree in Southeast University, China and her master thesis was about using educational technology to scaffold the learning of children with special needs. This experience led to her interest in the implementation of educational technology in early childhood education in China. Tian Yang is a recipient of Joint Scholarship of China Scholarship Council and the University of Auckland.
The Ministry of Education in China has issued guidelines on implementing information and communication technology (ICT) in a wide range of educational settings (Ministry of Education of China, 2012), to assist global competition in the integrated development of ICT and to satisfy the urgent needs of education reform. Accordingly, some kindergartens in China have begun to implement ICT in teaching activities (Liu & Pange, 2015). While previous studies suggested that teachers perceptions and practices in relation to ICT implementation are significant for the effects of ICT on young children and its application in kindergartens (Oldridge, 2010; Yelland, 2005), little is known about their actual practices. The goal of this study is to investigate how teachers implement ICT in kindergartens in China and what factors influence their actual practices. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of what influence teachers use of ICT as well as their actual use, a case study was conducted from September 2018 to January 2019, in three kindergartens in Nanjing, China. Multiple data sources (i.e., individual interviews with teachers, classroom observations, teachers teaching plans, and public documents regarding ICT implementation) were gathered over 15 weeks. In the presentation, the researcher will share preliminary findings about how the teachers implement ICT in group teaching activities and play-based activities in kindergartens in China, and how their actual practice is influenced by the early childhood education context in China. It is hoped the findings of this study will have implications for policy-makers to offer guidelines or other resources related to ICT implementation for kindergarten teachers in China.
Integrating Generative Design and Topology Optimisation with Product Design Values
Of interest to: Tertiary
Anton Nemme
Anton Nemme began his career in the field of product visualisation producing 3D models and renderings for some of Sydney's leading Product Design consultancies. Anton has a strong focus on teaching being involved across all the undergraduate year groups. His research themes centre on the value of iteration in design projects, university industry collaboration, authenticity in design education and applications for 3D printing.
Roderick Walden
Roderick Walden undertakes research into the contemporary methods and practice of professional industrial design. His principal areas of research interest lie in professional practice, practice-based design research, design expertise and academic design. He has co-authored research on topics including university-industry collaboration (UIC), design in business, design education and academic design practice. Roderick is passionate about his role as a teacher, the technical work of design and the meaning behind the connections designers make with other areas of knowledge to solve problems, innovate and learn.
Advances in computer technology and software tools increasingly encourages the use of CAD for designing forms that optimise the balance between structure and form features. These sophisticated new computational processes broadly known as generative design and topology optimisation are very likely to become a typical part of the product design process for many types of products. A core value of design practice is the development of intuition and iterative skills in order to forecast and explore the performance - both technical and experiential - of design concepts through sketching, model making and prototyping. Identifying ways to integrate generative design and typology optimisation CAD processes, with making as a core value in product design concept development is an important challenge - particularly for design education. A related concern is that topology optimisation can generate parts that are structurally optimised for the amount, and type, of material used which essentially determines fabrication method. Often these parts in their raw form can only be made using 3D printing technologies, though they can (and often need to be) styled or modified. Therefore the relationship to 3D printing and its limitations as an end-part manufacturing technology must also be critically tested as part of the design process. The practice-research presented includes a case study of the design of a bicycle crank arm developed using an integrated design process that incorporates generative design and typology optimisation CAD processes. The project was undertaken by the authors to inform the design of a new generative design and typology optimisation studio based subject to be offered to second and third-year product design students at the University of Technology Sydney. The research proposes a form of integrated design practice that values iterative making and the advancing CAD based generative design and topology optimisation tools, to responsibly support experiential learning in product design, manufacturing and engineering.
Creativity in the Classroom: Chasing the Tiger's Tail
Of interest to: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary
Nigel Goodwin
Appropriate Technology Researcher, Technology teacher, HSC examiner, Lecturer in Technology Education. Current research centred on Macrocognition and Naturalistic Decision Making.
In common with most technology syllabi around the world, the NSW syllabus in Technology (Mandatory) (and similar technology syllabi, K-12) requires learners to "express themselves through creative activity" (p.5), and "understand and apply a variety of analytical and creative techniques to solve problems" (p.5). Assessment of creativity "involves the generation of ideas and the degree of difference from existing ideas" (p.17, Advice on programming and assessment), and the methods used to develop creative works include "mind mapping, brain storming, sketching, drawing and modelling" (p.30, Advice on programming and assessment). These specifications commonly reflect definitions of creativity concerned with being different or novel and appropriate. They also value ideational fluency which is used as a crude metric for creativity. The ill-defined nature of creativity reflected in the syllabus documents is complicated by the suggested teaching and learning processes and practices. These include but are not confined to "the design process", a process often at odds with everyday practices. Other approaches including trial and error, arts-based and fine-arts based approaches, and drawing on intuition are often low yield, time consuming, depend on extensive experience, hard to assess, and difficult to support systematically. To address these concerns, I report on a critical literature review that draws on Altshuller's TRIZ theory to develop a workable process to define and promote creative work in technology classrooms. This creative process is grounded in Kaufman and Borghettos 4Cs model with particular emphasis on developing "small c" and "little c" creativity. The suggested TRIZ-based model and supportive creative processes focus on deepening conceptual understanding in context, taking multiple views, understanding contradictions, working deliberately, elaborating and justifying decisions, doing with understanding, appreciating both problems and solutions, and working small and large
The Technology Teachers Behavioral Intention in Implementing Engineering-Oriented Curriculum
Of interest to: Secondary
Kuen-Yi Lin
Kuen-Yi Lin is a Professor at the Department of Technology Application and Human Resource Development at National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. His primary research interests involve students? learning processes in hands-on learning activities and STEM education.
Kuang-Chao Yu
Kuang-Chao Yu is a Professor at the Department of Technology Application and Human Resource Development, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. His research interests deal with concept and knowledge construction related to technology and engineering education.
Szu-Chun Fan
Szu-Chun Fan is an assistant professor at the Department of Industrial Technology Education at National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Her primary research interests involve students' concept construction and problem solving in technology activities, and STEM curriculum design related to technology and engineering education.
Sy-Yi Tzeng
Sy-Yi Tzeng is an assistant professor at the Department of Graphic Communication and Digital Publishing at Shih-Hsin University, Taiwan. Her primary research interests involve digital publishing, graphic communication design and electronic book apps design.
Chih-Jung Ku
Chih-Jung Ku is a graduate student at the Department of Technology Application and Human Resource Development, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. Her primary research interests involve teaching and learning of technology education in middle school or senior high school.
In 2018, the new technology learning field curriculum guideline is announced and plan to be implemented in September 2019 in Taiwan. For the senior high school level, the most important change is focused on the new trend of engineering-focused technology curriculum. That is, senior-high students have to learn to apply engineering design process in the technology project-based learning activity. However, some challenges are proposed due to the technology teachers might not know how to implement the engineering-focused technology curriculum. The teacher-level characteristics and teaching contexts are two major factors in influencing the implementation of educational program (Henderson, Beach, & Finkelstein, 2011; Lund & Stains, 2015; Thibaut, Knipprath, Dehaene, & Depaepe, 2018). In order to explore the possible influencing factors of teacher-level characteristics, this research applied the revised Theory of Planned Behavior Model (Pynoo & van Braak, 2014) in proposing the Engineering-Oriented Curriculum Implementation Model. In this model, the perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are applied in exploring technology teachers behavioral intention and self-reported behavior in implementing engineering-oriented technology curriculum. A planned engineering-oriented curriculum implementation questionnaire was firstly developed, and then this questionnaire was mailed to two hundred and eleven living technology teachers. Finally, ninety-five valid questionnaires were obtained and led to the return rate 45%. This research applied AMOS in examining the path analytic test and model fit. The following conclusions were made: (1) The overall fit of the model to the data was acceptable; (2) The perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have direct effect on attitude, but attitude has not direct effect on behavioral intention; (3) The perceived behavioral control, perceived usefulness, and subjective norms have direct effect on behavioral intention; (4) The behavioral intention has direct effect on self-reported behavior.
Trends in STEM Education Policy and Characteristics of Countries - Comparison with Japan
Of interest to: Secondary, Tertiary
Kimihito Takeno
I am professor of faculty of education in Shiga University, Japan. My speciality is Technology education.
Yuko Fujimura
I am an associate professor of Shiga University. I am engaged in teacher education and my speciality is education policy, teacher education.
This study analyzes the current situation and issues of STEM education policy in Japan through the comparison with the policies and practices of other countries, and presents the future possibilities of STEM education which is a global trend. In particular, the purpose of this presentation is to grasp the situations of foreign countries which have been enthusiastically implementing STEM education. Although recently some practices have been implemented by some teachers in a few school who have their own interests, there is no uniform strategy or policy of STEM education. For example, in the United States, a strategy for STEM education has been established with the problem awareness of the decrease in workforces in STEM field, little interest in STEM subjects of girls, and the lack of teacher education program in STEM education. Also, in Australia, in addition to the similar problems as the United States, in particular, the lower performance of science subject is considered to be a problem, and its corresponding strategy is being promoted. Each country has STEM education strategy based on conditions and issues. Therefore, in this presentation, the outline of the education policy of each country will be presented using materials such as policy documents, reports, journals, etc., and the characteristics will be clarified. In conclusion, we will analyze cross-sectionally the national strategies of those countries, identify where we, STEM education in Japan, are and show the prospect of future STEM education.
Practices of Environment and Energy Education Based on STEM Program
Of interest to: Secondary
Kazuhiro Sumi
Kazuhiro Sumi is a professor and Ph.D., and working for Saga university and teaching and studying about teaching method of technology education.
Toshikazu Yamamoto
Toshikazu Yamamoto is a professor and Ph.D., and working for Saitama university and teaching and studying about teaching method of technology education.
Kimihito Takeno
Kimihito Takeno is a professor and Ph.D., and working for Shiga university and teaching and studying about teaching method of technology education.
Youichi Shimizu
Youichi Shimizu is a professor and Ph.D., and working for University of the Ryukyus and teaching and studying about mechanics of technology education.
Yasuyuki Ikegami
Yasuyuki Ikegami is a professor and Ph.D., and working for Saga University and teaching and studying about energy conversion.
STEM education aims to be a scientist and a technician who support science and technology by children who support the next generation? On the other hand, it is necessary to build a society that promotes sustainable development that supports human consumption while suppressing environmental destruction on a global scale, and also various educational practices aiming at building a sustainable society are necessary. This paper discuss the practice of STEM-based energy education based on learning standards in Hawaii State and cases of textbooks. The challenges facing the islands regarding energy use are increasing at an accelerating pace. We hope that students who will lead the island's future will acquire the state of Hawaii's learning standards for science on energy, and help them to build a sustainable future by being involved in solving the island's energy problems in the future. The island's educational programs and opportunities also hope that Hawaii's students will build a career as STEMs on the islands, expanding the island's economy into areas of technology and renewable energy and diversifying.
Practice of Learning About Technical Design in "Technology of Materials and Processing" Using 3D C
Of interest to: Secondary
Toshikazu Yamamoto
Professor of Saitama University Faculty of Education, Japan Study field is Technology education, and Teacher development.
Kimihito Takeno
Professor of Shiga University Faculty of Education, Japan Study field is Technology education, and Teacher development
In recent years, digital fabrication equipment has been improved in performance and reduced in cost, and has been introduced in school education too. However, there are still few teaching cases using digital fabrication equipment in Japanese technology education "Technology of materials and processing", and it could not be said that research is sufficient. Therefore, this study has been modified a teaching and learning processes using 3D CAD software in a design process. Also for the students in the second grade of junior high school in Japan, we have implemented the practice to get information about whether this practice is effective learning for students interest and skills or not. In this class practice, the students used the 3D CAD software to improve what they had made in the past. As a result of this class practice, it has been confirmed that the students\' interest in manufacturing, 3D printers and 3D CAD has improved. Using 3D CAD, 82% of the students were able to complete the work as a form, and 18% of the students were not. 52% of the students were able to add ideas and improvements. From these things, it was suggested that it is important to provide guidance, time allocation, and support to students who are not good at operations according to the actual situation of the students.
Teaching Polygon with Computational Thinking in Elementary School Arithmetic
Of interest to: Primary
Ayaka Murakami, Toshikazu Yamamoto, Takenori Motomura, Jun Moriyama, Ryoichi Oguma, Masakatsu Kuroda
Ayaka Murakami
Ayaka Murakami is a teacher in elementary school and M.S., and working for Azuma elementary school and teaching and studying about teaching method of technology education.
Toshikazu Yamamoto
Toshikazu Yamamoto is a professor and Ph.D., and working for Saitama university and teaching and studying about teaching method of technology education.
Takenori Motomura
Takenori Motomura is a professor and Ph.D., and working for Nippon Institute of Technology and teaching and studying about teaching method of technology education.
Jun Moriyama
Jun Moriyama is a professor and Ph.D., and working for Hyogo University Graduate School and teaching and studying about teaching method of technology education.
Ryoichi Oguma
Ryoichi Oguma is a professor and M.S., and working for Gunma University and teaching and studying about teaching method of technology education.
Masakatsu Kuroda
Masakatsu Kuroda is a teacher in elementary school and Ph.D., and working for Matsuho elementary school and teaching and studying about teaching method of technology education.
Learning about computer programming is adopted in the new national curriculum for elementary schools in Japan as part of the movement of STEM education. In this research, we aim to have students understand about the relationship between various mathematical concepts and technology through conducting lessons to fifth grade students of elementary school as our target. The research was done in a public elementary school A in Gunma prefecture, Japan in 2019. The 45 min lesson was one school period. The research involved 97 fifth grade students. A lesson on drawing the regular polygon in arithmetic was conducted using Lets move it! which is a software to display on screen the three-dimensional simulation of the created programs. In regular polygon learning, we examined teaching process associate with programing by using polygon with equal angles and all sides have the same length. Pupils learn how to program drawing a square, equilateral triangle and equilateral hexagon while verifying the interior angle of the regular polygon. Among them, they learned advantages of using loop from experience and the importance of creating a simple program that is easy to modify. An evaluation by observers of the lessons was also conducted. The research showed that the pupils acquire basics of programming comparatively in a short time and the students enthusiastically deal with it when guided for multiple solutions. From the above results, it was identified that this learning activity is appropriate for promoting understanding of programming to elementary schools students, and the effect of STEM education was evaluated.
Effects of Robot-Contest on Student's Innovative Mind in Technology Education
Of interest to: Secondary
Jun Moriyama
He is a Professor, Hyogo University of Teacher Education, Japan.
Toshihiro Izawa
He is a Technology Teacher, Kobe Municipal Tarumi Junior High School, Hyogo, Japan.
Masakatu Kuroda
He is a Ph.D. program student, Hyogo University of Teacher Education, Japan.
Mituaki Ogura
He is a Ph.D. program student, Hyogo University of Teacher Education, Japan.
Takahiro Nakao
He is a Research Student, Hyogo University of Teacher Education, Japan.
Yosifumi Yamasita
He is a Master Course Student, Hyogo University of Teacher Education, Japan.
Hiroyuki Muramatu
He is a Professor, Faculty of Education, Sinshu University, Japan.
The purpose of this study is to make clear the effects of Robot-Contest as a project based learning in Technology Education on students' innovative mind at junior high school in Japan. The survey was conducted on 483 junior high school students who were take part in the Robot-Contest Project in their Technology classes. As a result of factor analysis, we found factors such as "Creativity", "Sense of fulfillment", "Sense of misgiving", "Sense of extraordinary ", and "Collaboration and cooperation."
Powerful Partnership: Exploring the Benefits of Schools and Industry Partnerships
Of interest to: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary
Nick Pattison
Originally from Vancouver, Canada Nick is a Learning Designer at Ormiston Junior College where he runs a programme called the Accelerator. In the programme a group of 20-24 students, between the ages of 11-14 (Year 7 to 10 students) work alongside industry partners on a community or technical issue to design solutions. Examples are developing IoT tracking devices for Fletcher Construction equipment or collaborating with Fonterra to recycle ice cream containers into 3D printing filament. A current project has students working with Kiwi company Curiat and John Hopkins University to develop AR hospital tools to inform children of their treatments.
As part of my Master of Education dissertation at the University of Waikato I will be conducting the study below during the month of March, 2019 and will have the results available to present at your conference. I cannot currently mention the names of the two companies involved, but five of my students will be doing a design sprint led by one of New Zealand\'s most prominent IT companies using a current product to redesign from a large kiwi multinational company. Research Question How can a small group of 11-14 year old students work with an industry partner to: (i) identify a market need, and (ii) create a product that addresses it? I am currently teaching at Ormiston Junior College where I am running a programme called the Accelerator. In the programme I work with a group of 20-24 students, between the ages of 11-14 (Year 7 to 10 students). Here students work alongside industry partners on a community or technical issue. From this programme, I have developed a hypothesis that young students have a unique creative perspective that gives them an advantage when creating commercial products. That this advantage is especially true when predicting future uses and applications of technology due to their immersion from a young age and their corresponding high use of technology. Developing a product would provide tangible benefit for a business and demonstrate the capabilities of students to work alongside these businesses. My reason for wishing to explore this question is to identify the benefits of school-industry partnerships towards the core function of a business and to identify reasons for and ways to increase business motivation to support and become involved in education initiatives with schools.
Practice and Evaluation of a Teacher Training Program for Programming Education Incorporating a Creative Learning Design Process
Of interest to: Primary, Tertiary
Yumiko Murai - Researcher
Syun Hiraoka - Graduate Student
Gomi Natsumi - Graduate Student
Takamasa Suzuki - Graduate Student
Taisuke Koiwa - Graduate Student
Kenichi Katsura - Primary School Teacher
Shingo Matsuzaka - Supervisor
Taishi Yoda - Director
The MIT Media Labs-Kinder Garden Group, which develops Scratch, an educational programming language, advocates Creative Learning. This learning philosophy and learning process are similar in many ways to technology education. This study aimed to practice and evaluate a teacher training program for programming education that incorporates this creative learning design process. The training program started in April 2018, and 14 teachers participated. The teacher training program consisted of half a year. After a two-day training camp, we held an online meeting once a month to share the practices of each teacher. The two-day training camp incorporated the four principles of creative learning and the creative learning spiral. As a result of questionnaire survey and post interviews with participating teachers, the effectiveness and issues of the training were confirmed.
Exploration on the Engineering Ability Training of Professional Postgraduate in Mechanical Engineering Based on Enterprise Practice
Of interest to: Tertiary
Jingli Xu
PhD Mechanical Engineering from Wuhan University of Technology (WHUT). Professor in the School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering?teaching and research in the Department of Packaging Engineering. Team Leader of Postgraduates Innovation Group in WHUT. He has worked in different fields of mechanical engineering, which has developed research focused Auto parts design and intelligent manufacturing. He is member of Packaging Education Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education in China. He is the leading expert of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automotive Co. Ltd and Guangxi Automobile Group Co., Ltd. He has participated in several Educational Innovation Projects on cultivation of undergraduate and graduate engineering practice ability.
Jie Lu
PhD Mechanical Engineering from Wuhan University of Technology. Lecturer in the School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering?teaching and research in the Department of Packaging Engineering. She has worked in different fields of mechanical engineering, which has developed research focused packaging engineering and intelligent manufacturing. She guides undergraduates to participate in innovative practice projects. She has participated in several Educational Innovation Projects on cultivation of undergraduate and graduate engineering practice ability.
Bo Wu
PhD Mechanical Engineering from Wuhan University of Technology. Professor in the School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering?teaching and research in the Department of Packaging Engineering. He has long served as an advisor to undergraduate and graduate innovative practice programs. He has participated in several Educational Innovation Projects on cultivation of undergraduate and graduate engineering practice ability.
Hanxiong Zhu
Professor of the School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan University of Technology. Her research interests cover Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Translation and Interpreting, and Cross Cultural Communication Study.
Xiaogang Liu
PhD Mechanical Engineering from the University of Queensland. Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, teaching and research in Wuhan University of Technology. He is currently undertaking a project of Provincial Teaching Reform of Universities in Hubei Province, which is about teaching the course of Mechanical Manufacturing Technology in English for both domestic and international students. In 2018, he was recognised as a Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
In accordance with talent training requirements of “Made in China 2025”, “Excellent Talent 2.0” and “New Engineering”, this paper explores the engineering ability cultivation of professional graduate students in mechanical engineering based on enterprise practice. It reconstructs engineering practice education system for professional postgraduates, optimizes training mode of engineering practice and innovation ability, and expands the education resource system of corporate engineering practice. The cultivation indicates that the ability of solving engineering practical problems, engineering practice ability and engineering technological innovation ability have been improved. This paper blazes a new trail for the training of engineering practice ability for postgraduate students.
Foods Education What is it Really?
Of interest to: Primary, Secondary
Daniel is an experience Technology teacher and leader. Recently appointed to the Team Leaders Position at Kaiapoi Borough School he is also the leader of the Greater Christchurch Year 7&8 Technology Cluster and a member of Christchurch Technology Advisory Board.
This paper will show the results of a qualitative study that explores how foods education is delivered in Christchurch and specifically at one school. Cooking whilst an essential everyday skill, is poorly represented in the New Zealand Curriculum and schools are not equipped to effectively deliver this component. Much of the responsibility for foods delivery comes back on the Year 7&8 technology teachers but the contact time available for this is drastically low with one school in the study having less than 13 hours practical cooking classes for students over a two year period. I will discuss a range of potential solutions to the situation including virtual reality, gamification and flipped learning. This research has been completed as part of a Master of Human Interface Degree at the University of Canterbury.
Technology Education principles of teaching and learning in STEM
Of interest to: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary
P John Williams is a Professor of Education and the Director of Graduate Research in the School of Education at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, where he teaches and supervises research students in STEM and technology education. Apart from Australia, he has worked and studied in a number of African and Indian Ocean countries and in New Zealand and the United States.
His current research interests include STEM, mentoring beginning teachers, PCK and electronic assessment of performance. He regularly presents at international and national conferences, consults on Technology Education in a number of countries, and is a longstanding member of eight professional associations.
He is the editor of the Australasian Journal of Technology Education, advisory editor of the International Journal of Technology and Design Education, series editor of the Springer Contemporary Issues in Technology Education and is on the editorial board of five other professional journals. He has authored or contributed to over 240 publications, and is elected to the International Technology and Engineering Education Association’s Academy of Fellows for prominence in the profession.
The STEM space is very complex – the term has different meaning in different contexts, the STEM subjects do not have equivalence, projects may be after school or in the curriculum, assessment is problematic, the goals of STEM are multiple, and so on. This complexity makes it difficult to generalize about the nature of STEM and of STEM teaching.
However, there is a body of research in Technology Education about good teaching practice, which results in effective learning, and can be applied to the range of STEM activities. This presentation will select some principles of teaching and learning, derived from Technology Education research, and elaborate on the implications of their application to STEM teaching.