| Education about and through technology.: In Search of More Appropriate Pedagogical Approaches to Technology Education | ||
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Firstly, the nature of technology is explored through the literature review below (Chapter 2.1.). Due to the important role of science and mathematics in the development of modern technology, the relationship between these subject areas is also explored in terms of comparisons from various points of view (Chapter 2.1.1.). The aim of this reflective juxtaposition is to clarify how the nature of scientific inquiry differs from the nature of technological endeavor and what kind of conclusions can be drawn from those differences. The conceptual analysis of the nature of technology and its relations to mathematics and science are summarized in Chapter 2.2.
Secondly, recent developments in educational psychology are considered from the viewpoint of technology education.
Finally, Chapter 2.7. ends the theoretical stance on the research by summarizing both the findings concerning the substance in focus and the educational considerations.
In both of the summarizations I am distilling my own vision from the presented literature review and theoretical considerations.
Etymologically, technology is formed out of two words that originate in the Greek language. These words are techne and logos. Techne refers to art and skill. Logos means word, speech, discourse and thought. (Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language 1989, pp. 843, 1458). Thus, both skills and thinking are combined in technology.
Although technology has a very influential role in the modern world, in fact, it has been one of the most prevalent features of human endeavor since prehistoric eras. Actually, technology can be claimed to be the oldest outcome of the intellectual capability of human endeavor (Welty 1997, Hacker & Barden 1988, Adams 1991). Chen (1996) also points out the nature of technology as being a unique kind of human intelligence constituting that knowledge can be employed to solve existing human needs and wants. Seen in this perspective, the latest communication systems and computers can be regarded only as a continuation in this ‘chain’ of technological development which began millions of years ago. This perspective is also in accordance with Hacker & Barden (1988, p. 11): “people have been using and creating technology since prehistoric times“. Furthermore, the viewpoint is supported by Barlex & Pitt (2000, p. 12) when they say that “Since the start of civilization we have processed raw materials and fashioned artefacts, to make life better.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica on-line (1999) defines technology accordingly:
Technology may be defined as the systematic study of techniques for making and doing things....By the early 20th century, the term embraced a growing range of means, processes, and ideas in addition to tools and machines. By mid-century, technology was defined by such phrases as "the means or activity by which man seeks to change or manipulate his environment."
(http://members.eb.com/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5006/17.html&keywords= technology&DBase=Articles&hits= 10&pt=1&sort=relevance&config=config#4UJI5)
The above reference to technology as a “systematic study of techniques for making and doing things“ can be regarded to be closely related to the notion of “handicrafts“, where the focus of the activities is in using various techniques to make artefacts (see also Alamäki 1999). The early 20th century perspective that technology is not only machines and tools is interesting, because even today it is not uncommon that technology is understood only as physical objects like machines, tools, structures, etc. (Mitcham 1994). However, technology is much more than just the physical objects around us. For example, various kinds of technological systems can also be found in our environment. (In this regard see chapter 3.1.)
Technology has also been defined as “human innovation in action“ (http://www.iteawww.org/A1.html, International Technology Education Association 1996, p. 16). Thus, according to this definition of technology, we need to be innovative and active in order to accomplish technology. Moreover, development of technology is closely connected with the ability to be creative. According to the International Technology Education Association (2000, p. 28) “Technology is closely linked with creativity, which has resulted in innovation.” Although some animals utilize the natural environment to get food and even treatment in the case of illness (Linden 1992), “technology is the practical method which has enabled us to gain a dominant role above the animals“ (Black & Harrison 1985, p. 3).
Mitcham (1994) regards technology as an outcome of a very fundamental phenomenon, the human volition, or will. Thus, a driving force to do technology is essentially influenced by our own will. Moreover, Barlex & Pitt (2000, p. 12) write that “being ‘technological’ is part of what makes us human.” Consequently, from these perspectives purely economical factors, for example, are not fundamentally directing technology. Of course it would be naive to claim that, in the modern world, market forces together with the profit motives are absent in the development of technology (see International Technology Education Association 2000). It is not rare today that the importance and necessity of the latest technological products is advertised to ‘ordinary’ people and, thus, the need to buy and use technology is created by the market forces.
According to the International Technology Education Association (2000, p. 22) “Put simply, technology is how humans modify the world around them to meet their needs and wants or to solve practical problems.” Moreover, Hacker & Barden (1988, p. 21) state that “our biological needs for food and medical assistance, our physical needs for clothing, shelter, and manufactured products, and our need to communicate information are all satisfied through technological means.” (see also Suplee 1997)
In the above quotation “physical need for clothing“ catches attention especially from the perspective of Finnish “Tekstiilityö“ [textile work]. In Finland, “Tekstiilityö“ has not been widely considered as a part of the development of technology education. In spite of this, in textile lessons mostly girls design and make clothes and other useful products. Actually, excluding textiles from technology education does not obtain support for example from the perspective of many Western technology education curricula (for example Hulsbosch 1997, Department for Education 1995).
Considering technology as a response to satisfy the human purposes, it comes close to the idea of Maslow’s systematic categorization of the hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow’s category we have lower needs or deficiency “needs“ (including physiological and safety needs) which must be satisfied before higher “growth needs“ (including the need to know and understand and the need for aesthetics) are attended to. (Hohn 1995) In this regard, technology has played a crucial role. During the course of history it has effectively satisfied primary or “deficiency“ needs and consequently opened possibilities to satisfy secondary “growth“ needs, for example arts. However, from the viewpoint of technology, past and present, Maslow’s categorization is too “restrictive“. Technology overlaps through the categories; while it is essentially related with the satisfaction of “deficiency“ needs, it is also concerned with the aesthetics of designing and making things (see Morrison & Twyford 1994).
Technology and development have always been bound up with work. The nature of work has always involved the use of certain kinds of techniques either to make work easier or even to perform a job. (Kananoja 1994b) According to Alamäki (1999, p. 69) “Technology is also a much broader concept than techniques…Technology solves practical problems via the use of techniques“. Thus, no single technique or mode, crafting for example, can be regarded as a synonym for technology. Rather, they are all included in the field of technology. Consequently, technology (education) is clearly an umbrella concept for handicraft (education) (see Kantola 1997, Parikka 1998).
Most of the technology around us somehow comes from nature. According to Black & Harrison (1985, p. 3) “Technology is a disciplined process using resources of materials, energy and natural phenomena to achieve human purposes“. Consequently, in doing technology we are strongly dependent on nature and its resources; for example, cars are made from different kinds of metals (ore), various forms of plastics and rubber (oil), and so forth. This is true in spite of the increased use of synthetic materials. Moreover, as an ‘addendum’ to the above quotation, technology models nature in various ways. For example, technology models the structures, mechanisms and systems of nature to a very great extent (see Worldwide Fund for Nature 1993). This could provide a fruitful platform for increased collaboration between technological education and biological education.
According to Webster’s Ninth Collegiate Dictionary (1985, p. 1211) technology is “the totality of the means employed to provide objects necessary for human sustenance and comfort.” This interpretation corresponds to the perspective of this research. It would be surprising if technology, when understood to provide human sustenance and comfort, could conjure any negative attitudes against it (as technology being understood solely as concerned with computers or the like seems to do).
Moreover, Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary (1990) goes a little bit further in defining technology and states it to be:
1) The activity of study using scientific knowledge for practical purposes in industry, farming, medicine, business, etc.
and
2) a particular area of activity that requires scientific method and knowledge. EG...changes in agricultural technology... ...computer technology... ...western technologies of housing, industry, health. (p. 1501)
The above reference emphasizes the importance of a scientific method and knowledge in order to accomplish technology. To some extent, this is undeniably true in modern times. Alamäki (1999, p. 33) says: “Technology utilizes scientific knowledge and laws in solving practical problems.“ However, if we agree that prehistoric people provided “sustenance and comfort“ to themselves via technology, then the role of scientific method and knowledge are to be seen in a different perspective. In the course of the humans’ long history much of the technology has been made without any scientific knowledge or method (Fensham & Gardner 1994). Moreover, in countless cases technology has been successful in spite of the many wrong deductions made from the scientific viewpoint. For example, the Montgolfier brothers reasoned that the raising smoke enabled their balloon to fly. Finally, as a complementary consideration, limiting technology only to “western technologies of housing, industry, health“ is not in accordance with the perspective of this research.
Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (1989, p. 1458) makes a connection to social aspects of technology as follows: “Technology is the sum of the ways in which a social group provide themselves with the material objects of their civilization.” This can be said to be true for technology is rarely an individual enterprise, but rather appears to be a socially interactive collaborative process in pursuing and satisfying emergent needs. Moreover, technology truly has had, and still has profound consequences on the everyday lives of billions of people. (Naughton 1994, Hacker & Barden 1988) Actually, Pytlik et al. (1985) consider technology also as a social phenomenon concerning human culture. Thus, technology can be seen as a cultural phenomenon (National Geographic 1999). This view is also expressed by Black & Harrison (1985, p. 3): “Technology is thus an essential part of human culture because it is concerned with the achievement of a wide range of human purposes.“
The last, but not the least aspect of technology is the importance of design. Technology without purposeful design would not be useful, appropriate and functional. Morrison & Twyford (1994, p. 11) say: “what, indeed, would be the price of no design at all, to industry, commercial enterprise or our well-being in general“. Actually, design and designing are intrinsically part of technology and technological processes.
Especially in the last few decades, technology has shifted substantially in industrialized nations from manufacturing workpieces with various tools and machines to various technological systems with a growing demand for new kinds of problem solving capabilities. Moreover, along with this shift, technology has become connected to science and mathematics more than before. (Dugger & Yung 1995, Hacker & Barden 1988, Adams 1991). For example, modern microelectronics and computers, as well as the possibilities to utilize the huge potential of sub-atomic power to create energy, are derived from the scientific findings at the beginning of the 20th century (Rhodes 1986, Teerikorpi & Valtonen 1986).
Consequently, mathematical knowledge and skills are also essential in the practice of technology (Dugger & Yung 1995, Vohra 1988). Actually, there can be found a wide variety of mathematical tasks that are generic in such a way that they arise across an extensive range of technological activities (Sage & Steeg 1993). Thus, the integration of the contents of mathematical subject matter to technology education could be done naturally. As a matter of fact, without mathematics proper teaching of modern technology would be an impossible enterprise (Adams 1991). This is especially true when teaching, say, automation technology. However, the benefits can be bilateral. The teaching of automation can provide a concrete method and meaningful context for mathematical knowledge to appear (Denis 1993).
In the following comparison Dugger & Yung (1995, p. 9) present some differences between technology and science:
Table 1. Comparison between technology and science.
| Technology | Science |
|---|---|
| Concerned with “how to“ | Concerned with “what is“ |
| Knowledge is created | Knowledge is discovered |
| Guided by trial and error | Guided by theory |
| Oriented toward action | Oriented toward research |
There is something in the above table that has direct consequences on traditional science teaching. Scientific inquiry is prompted by the interest to provide an explanation for natural events and phenomena. It is guided by theory, and knowledge of a studied phenomenon is discovered by carrying out experimental research (see Driver et al. 1995). Contrary to scientific inquiry, the technological process, as was said in the previous chapter, begins with the identification of a human need or want (Layton 1993). Thus, technology is concerned with “how to“ create our food supply, means of health, habitats, transportation, communication, clothing and so forth (Black & Harrison 1985). In other words, technology is driven by the concern for a solution to a practical problem. The technological process draws on a variety of different sources of knowledge and the new knowledge during the process is rather developed and created (In this regard, see Chapters 2.4.2. and 2.4.2.1.). (Driver 1995)
In many cases scientific inquiry and technological endeavor share common features and aims (Adams 1991). For example, when scientists asked “what was“ the speed of light, the next question was obviously “how to“ measure it. Thus, in the process of finding out the speed of light, both science and technology seem to be present. Also, say, in modern biotechnology both of the questions are driving the work. According to Kurki-Suonio & Kurki-Suonio (1994) in physics, for example, the scientific and technological processes are connected with each other and, as a matter of fact, it is not possible to do modern, experiential research without the help of technology.
However, even though technology helps scientists to carry out research, technology has to be understood as a much wider concept than just a tool to carry out scientific inquiry. It is, as was already said above, essentially one of the most typical outcomes of human culture, both in industrial and individual processes to satisfy our needs, wants and purposes. If the scientific process is triggered only because of the aim to explain the world as it is, it does not end up providing sustenance and comfort to ourselves.
The above-mentioned viewpoint is supported by Mitcham (1994) who makes a clear distinction between technology and science. Firstly, technology is different from science on the basis of the intentions. While science is more about knowing the world as it is, technology aims at controlling, manipulating and using it. Secondly, while in science “laws“ aim to describe reality as it is, technology describes action in terms of “rules“.
As a continuation to the discussion in the above paragraphs, the following comparison by Hacker & Barden (1988) is presented:
Scientists study how the earth was formed and what it is made from .<--> Technologists use the materials found in the earth to make useful objects.
Scientists study materials under microscope to learn why they have the characteristics that they do. <--> Technologists create new materials with improved characteristics.
Scientists discover the way the human body works. <--> Technologists make artificial hearts and limbs. (p. 3)
The above comparison demonstrates that scientists and technologists often work as a team. Scientific discoveries are made useful by technologists who apply new scientific knowledge to the solution of practical problems. Does this mean that technology is just ’applied science’? It is not the case, as there are plenty of examples supporting the notion that technology has a purpose and character of its own. (de Vries 1994, de Vries 1997, Hacker & Barden 1988, Naughton 1994).
Moreover, Gardner (1994, p. 142) states that “technology has developed throughout the ages largely without the benefit of scientific knowledge; often, when there has been a link between technological capability and scientific knowledge, the technology has preceded the science.“ In this regard Barlex & Pitt (2000, p. 12) go even further when they maintain that “Technology has a longer history than science. Humans have always had technology.” These arguments are furthermore reinforced by Allen (1997, p. 315): “It is becoming generally accepted that technology builds on itself and advances quite independently of any link with the scientific frontier, and often without any necessity for an understanding of the basic science which underlies it”.
The processes in technology should be taken into consideration in children’s education. The following table presented by Sparkes (1993, p. 36) makes technology and the processes in it distinct from science:
Table 2. Some differences between science and technology.
| SCIENCE (Goal: the pursuit of knowledge and understanding for its own sake) | TECHNOLOGY (Goal: the creation of successful artefacts and systems to meet people’s wants and needs) |
|---|---|
| Key scientific processes | Corresponding technology processes |
| Discovery (mainly by controlled experimentation) | Design, invention, production |
| Analysis, generalisation and the creation of theories | Analysis and synthesis of designs |
| Reductionism, involving the isolation and definition of distinct concepts | Holism, involving the integration of many competing demands, theories, data and ideas |
| Making virtually value-free statements | Activities always value-laden |
| The search for, and theorising about, causes (e.g. gravity, electromagnetism) | The search for, and theorising about, new processes (e.g. control; information; circuit theories) |
| Pursuit of accuracy in modelling | Pursuit of sufficient accuracy in modelling to achieve success |
| Drawing correct conclusions based on good theories and accurate data | Taking good decisions based on incomplete data and approximate models |
| Experimental and logical skills | Design, construction, testing, planning, quality assurance, problem-solving, decision-making, interpersonal and communication skills |
| Using predictions that turn out to be incorrect to falsify or improve the theories or data on which they were based | Trying to ensure, by subsequent action, that even poor decision turn out to be successful |
Finally, the following perspectives are presented as conclusive remarks for this chapter: Mathematics and science should be clearly taken into account in developing a general technology education curriculum. But how to make sure that the teaching is in accordance with the idea of technology education? From the viewpoint of technology, mathematics has no meaning on its own, but rather can be regarded as an indispensable tool in problem solving. Similarly, science is not only valued because of an interest in natural phenomena and seeking ‘the truth’, but rather from a practical perspective helping technology, through applying the laws of the nature, in its search to seek appropriate, useful and satisfactory solutions for human needs and purposes. Thus, technology is not seen just as an application of science or scientific knowledge, as there are plentiful examples of activities in ‘everyday’ technology which do not need scientific knowledge or a scientific way of thinking for their success.