Applications of Research in Technology Education (eBook)

Professor 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 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education.  Apart from Australia, he has worked and studied in several African and Indian Ocean countries, in New Zealand and the United States. His current research interests include STEM, mentoring beginning teachers, Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and electronic assessment of performance. He regularly presents at international and national conferences, consults on Technology Education in several countries, and is a longstanding member of eight professional associations. He is the series editor of the Springer Contemporary Issues in Technology Education and is on the editorial board of six professional journals. He has authored or contributed to over 250 publications and is elected to the International Technology and Engineering Education Association's Academy of Fellows for prominence in the profession.

Dr Belinda von Mengersen leads Design and Technologies at the National School of Arts, Australian Catholic University, Australia. A specialist in traditional, current and emerging textile technologies, she has authored chapters in three volumes of Springer's Contemporary Issues in Technology series, regularly reviews articles for the International Journal of Technology and Design Education, and presents frequently at International Design and Technologies conferences, including Pupils Attitudes Towards Technology (PATT) and Design and Technologies Teachers' Association of Australia Research Conference (DATTArc). Belinda focuses on reflective, creative and speculative writing in design practice, practice-led research in design, the intersection between signature pedagogies of visual arts, design and technology, and the dynamic and interdisciplinary nature of design-related fields.

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This book brings together significant international research in technology education through a focus on contemporary Ph.D. theses. It highlights the conceptual underpinnings and methodology of each research project and elaborates on how the findings are relevant for practitioners. This book addresses the common disjunction between research conducted and an awareness of that research by practitioners. It examines the extent to which the research aligns with different justifications for teaching technology in schools in economic, utilitarian, democratic, cultural, and other such contexts.