Niall Seery

Technological University of the Shannon

Technology education research is a growing field, with the rate of growth increasing over the last 2 decades. As the field grows, it is paramount that credibility is maintained in published findings. To date there is no evidence to suggest a lack trust is warranted, however in the midst of the replication crisis there is need to ensure continued ri...

Technology education research is a growing field, with the rate of growth increasing over the last two decades. As the field grows, it is paramount that credibility is maintained in published findings. To date there is no evidence to suggest a lack trust is warranted, however in the midst of the replication crisis there is need to ensure continued...

The pace of technological change over the past decade has been unprecedented with significant innovation and development across all facets of how people communicate, work, and live within their daily lives. There is good reason to believe that this trend of technological development will continue, where technologies that we use daily did not exist...

The quantity and quality of talented individuals in STEM (science/S, technology/T, engineering/E and mathematics/M) fields contribute to a nation’s overall competitiveness. Taiwan and many countries around the world are vigorously promoting the training of STEM professionals and the enhancement of STEM literacy for all as one of the key education o...

Design as a construct has multiple meanings depending on context, function, and agenda. This paper proposes to set out functions of design as it manifests in the context of technological activity for the purposes of technology education. The importance of context and by association intention in technological and designerly activity is presented wit...

Design projects are an important part of many first-year engineering programs. The desire to employ holistic assessment strategies to student work with open-ended and divergent responses has been widely noted in the literature. Holistic strategies can provide insight into the role of qualities (e.g., professional constructs) that are not typically...

Understanding how design is, could be, and should be incorporated into technology education is of growing importance, as evidenced by an increasing amount of research in this area. However, there is considerable variance surrounding the ways in which design is defined and operationalised within technology education research. Creating an overview of...

Spatial ability is documented as a predictor of success in STEM disciplines and noted to contribute to individuals problem-solving approaches. While there is a significant body of correlational evidence indicating that spatial ability relates to success in different areas in STEM, there is a gap in understanding of the cause of this relationship. T...

New standards for Initial Teacher Education programmes, published by the Teaching Council of Ireland, have highlighted the need for pre-service teachers to develop assessment literacy with particular emphasis on formative assessment practices. This follows a period of curricular reform in the second level education sector that sees the assessment s...

The development of spatial skills within STEM fields is of growing importance with studies showing correlation between spatial skills in adolescence and the attainment of advanced degrees in STEM later in life. The rising need for STEM professionals is well documented which leads to the question of how STEM attainment can be improved earlier in lif...

The establishment and maintenance of national examination standards remains a serious issue for teachers and learners, whilst the levers of control remain firmly in the hands of Awarding Bodies and supervising politicians. Significantly, holistic assessment presents an agility and collective approach to establishing in the minds of teachers "what i...

There is a continuing rise in studies examining the impact that adaptive comparative judgment (ACJ) can have on practice in technology education. This appears to stem from ACJ being seen to offer a solution to the difficulties faced in the assessment of designerly activity which is prominent in contemporary technology education internationally. Cen...

Understanding the factors that impact learners with respect to their academic achievement is critical for enhancing educational provision, and the nature of these factors can vary widely. They could be, for example, cognitive, conative, physiological, or physical. With increased understanding of such factors teachers can better meet learner needs....

Design is core element of general technology education internationally. While there is a degree of contention with regards to its treatment, there is general consensus that the inclusion of design in some form is important, if not characteristic, of the subject area. Acknowledging that design is important, there are many questions which need to be...

Discourse in psychological science concerning the replication crisis is growing, with typically cited indicators including scientific fraud, the use of questionable research practices and the failure of published effects to replicate. It is paramount that education researchers are aware of this crisis and adopt appropriate methodological and report...

The technology education curriculum in Ireland has gone through significant reform with the introduction of four new subject specifications at lower secondary school level. These new technology subjects were implemented in September 2019 and denotes a move from prescribed content and learning objectives syllabi to subject specifications presented i...

Technology education (TE) is a transient area of study. Few other subject areas require such levels of up-skilling similar to that of technology teachers in order for them to stay current and aligned with the developments of technology subject matter. The subject area has undergone a significant shift, from a predominantly vocational, skills or cra...

Males are generally overrepresented in higher education engineering. However, the magnitude of this variance differs between countries and engineering fields. Evidence associated with the field-specific ability beliefs hypothesis suggests that perceptions of intelligence held by actors within engineering affects the engagement of underrepresented g...

The use of design assignments for teaching, learning, and assessment is considered a signature of technology education. However, there are difficulties in the valid and reliable assessment of features of quality within designerly outputs. In light of recent educational reforms in Ireland, which see the introduction of classroom-based assessments ce...

The use of design assignments for teaching, learning, and assessment is considered a signature of technology education. However, there are difficulties in the valid and reliable assessment of features of quality within designerly outputs. In light of recent educational reforms in Ireland, which see the introduction of classroom based assessments ce...

Problem solving abilities are critical components of contemporary Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Research in the area of problem solving has uncovered much about the representation, processes and heuristic approaches to problem solving. However, critics claim this overemphasis on the process of solving problems h...

To better support pedagogical decision-making in design and technology, this chapter considers the relationship between cognition and social interactions. This chapter begins with a personal reflection of early practice as a pragmatic way of looking back to move forward. This frames the relationships that exist between constructs of D&T capability,...

This paper reports on a study exploring the variables that contribute to upper second level students’ capability in a digital graphical modelling exercise in the field of technology education. The study evolves previous work in the area conducted in different contexts such as teacher education. Findings indicate deficiencies in second-level student...

Educational assessment has profound effects on the nature and depth of learning that students engage in. Typically there are two core types discussed within the pertinent literature; criterion and norm referenced assessment. However another form, ipsative assessment, refers to the comparison between current and previous performance within a course...

The method “Design Thinking” is used in higher education and in schools as a way to develop students’ skills and competences needed to manage and solve complex societal and environmental challenges. Implementations of the method in business and teams shows positive effects, yet the method is critiqued from design professionals. The aim of this stud...

This paper establishes a theoretical position from which to analyse and reason about the difficulties associated with closing the gap between the provision of engineering education in universities and the needs of society. Broadly speaking, the disparity between societal expectations and university graduate profiles highlights that despite achievin...

Women are significantly underrepresented in engineering and engineering related disciplines. One area where this is clearly illustrated is in the percentage of females enrolled in higher education engineering courses. The 2016 data on enrolment by field from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that the maximum pe...

It is well established that spatial ability correlates with STEM performance. This has been shown through substantial longitudinal evidence e.g. (Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). Specifically, it has been demonstrated as an important factor in engineering and technology education consistently for the last two decades (Buckley, 2018; Sorby, 1999, 200...

Technology Education continues to establish itself internationally as a primary contributor to a broad and balanced curriculum that prepares students for the technological age that we are living in. It is critical that those responsible for the shaping and delivery of our subjects pay special attention to how they are conceived and delivered to stu...

A new curricular framework, presented by the Department of Education and Skills (DES), (2015) implements an assessment strategy that has changed from a predominantly summative to a more formative integrated approach. With the emphasis being placed on the process of learning rather than the product, it is critical that the assessment practices and i...

Gender representation in technology and engineering education is generally not equitable with females being underrepresented in many areas (e.g. Sultan, Axell, & Hallström, 2018; Yoder, 2017). While there are many perspectives on gender representation in technical fields, from the perspective of advancing engineering and technology as disciplines,...

The healthcare products market is a diverse market supplying critical care products ranging from pharmaceutical products to biologics to medical devices. The regulation and best practices associated with the manufacture of such devices is very well documented in ISO standards, AAMI Technical, European and US Pharmacopeia. As part of Good Manufactur...

Like many areas of curricula internationally, technology education has encountered difficulties in achieving continuity between the rhetoric of prevailing policy and the reality of enacted practices. In technology education, the conceptually oriented nature of curricular goals is theorised to play a significant part in influencing this relationship...

Technical report on the features of quality associated with project work in the the Irish Junior Cycle technology subjects commissions by the Irish National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

Since first conceived, the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has attracted much attention. Despite being lauded by educationalists as the unique knowledge base of teachers, research on the concept over the past 30 years has yet to result in a universally accepted definition being presented. Much of the contentions surrounding the lack...

A substantial degree of empirical evidence has illustrated the correlation between spatial skills and performance in engineering education. This evidence has been foundational in the construction of educational interventions which have resulted in both increased levels of spatial ability and increased educational performance and retention. However,...

A core aim of contemporary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is the development of robust problem-solving skills. This can be achieved by fostering both discipline knowledge expertise and general cognitive abilities associated with problem solving. One of the most important cognitive abilities in STEM education is s...

ABSTRACT Background: Substantial research highlights the differences between scientific and technological knowledge. Considering that learning is heavily focused on the acquisition of knowledge, it is important to examine the individual and systematic implications of these types of knowledge. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the...

A philosophical shift in policy now situates the development of technological capability as the focus of Irish technology education. Internationally, the effectiveness of curricular reform in the discipline has previously been called to question, as the legacy of the preceding vocational craft subjects has been seen to throttle the evolution of pra...

The educational significance of eliciting students’ implicit theories of intelligence is well established with the majority of this work focussing on theories regarding entity and incremental beliefs. However, a second paradigm exists in the prototypical nature of intelligence for which to view implicit theories. This study purports to instigate an...

Technology subjects are a relatively recent addition to the discipline offerings at post-primary level, and have a short but interesting history in terms of associated educational research. In this paper, an overview of the evolving research agendas that emerged in response to the nature of practice, from the perspectives of the Technology Educatio...

This paper problematises the current status of technology education on curricula internationally. Contemporary understandings from the philosophy of technology are used to depict how technological knowledge differs from more conventional knowledge bases, leading to questions of how technology education can be compared to other areas on the curricul...

Design activities typically involve and culminate in the creation of models representative of new ideas and conceptions. The format is often dictated by the specific discipline, with ideas in design and technology education regularly being externalised through the use of computer aided design (CAD). This paper focusses on the realisation stage of a...

This full research paper approaches the teaching of STEM from a new multidisciplinary perspective. While the importance of the STEM agenda is not in dispute, the plurality in treatment of STEM as individual subjects or disciplinary areas of study potentially limits the evolution of a new conception of STEM education. In this paper, determinist disc...

An abundance of empirical evidence exists identifying a significant correlation between spatial ability and educational performance particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Despite this evidence, a causal explanation has yet to be identified. Pertinent research illustrates that spatial ability can be developed and th...

Since first conceived, the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has attracted much attention. Despite being lauded by educationalists as the unique knowledge base of teachers, research on the concept over the past 30 years has yet to result in a universally accepted definition being presented. Much of the contentions surrounding the lack...

Spatial ability has been established as having a significant effect on performance and subsequently on retention in engineering education. However, the cause for this phenomenon is not yet fully understood. Based on previous findings, it is posited that spatial ability has an effect on the students' capacity to acquire knowledge. This study aspired...

The Technology subject in general post-primary education is unique based on its conception and treatment of knowledge. The task specific utility of knowledge is emphasised and at the same time, in reflection of the breadth of technology in society, the variance in the context of learning tasks can be quite large. The subject is considered to have a...

This paper utilises the distinction between the activity of learning (acquiring of knowledge) and the resultant outcome of learning (acquired knowledge) to discuss the nature of learning espoused in technology education. Reference is made to the significant body of research which has accumulated from the field of learning sciences and the potential...

Conference proceedings for the 2018 PATT36 International Conference. Editors: Niall Seery, Jeffrey Buckley, Donal Canty and Joseph Phelan

Hartell, E., Buckley, J., Gumaelius, L., Doyle, A., & Seery, N. (2018). Arbeta med komparativ bedömning (Working with comparative assessment). Skola & Samhälle. http://www.skolaochsamhalle.se/flode/skola/eva-hartell-m-fl-arbeta-med-komparativ-bedomning/

Currently, there is significant interest being directed towards the development of STEM education to meet economic and societal demands. While economic concerns can be a powerful driving force in advancing the STEM agenda, care must be taken that such economic imperative does not promote research approaches that overemphasize pragmatic application...

This chapter will attempt to frame the potential of a flexible approach to teaching and learning that provides diagnostic and formative evidence to enhance traditional practice in K-12 education. Commencing with a brief account of the Community of Inquiry model (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) as a potential framework for online and blended lea...

Creativity and innovation are leading topics for the twenty-first century, not only in individual, cultural or social contexts but also within a wider perspective in business or economic development. For that reason, creative and innovative activities have started to feature in many design-based programs in second level education. Design and Techno...

Design activities form an extensive part of design and technology education with a link being posited within the pertinent literature between the cognitive activity of learning and the cognitive activity of design. It is therefore critical that design educators' understand the effects that design constraints can have on the learning process. This p...

One of the most significant challenges for curriculum development is to comprehensively position a program of study that is both current and relevant. This challenge requires balancing the perspectives of the role of education that serve both the individual and the wider society. Engaging all stakeholders is critically important so as to ensure tha...

One of the leading frameworks in engineering education specifically associated with design based competencies is the CDIO framework. This has been incorporated internationally into many institutions offering engineering education courses. Characterized by four unique stages, the CDIO framework affords an ideal scenario to incorporate a continuous a...

With commensurate aims of developing graphical expertise and designerly thinking, contemporary graphical education embodies a dichotomy which can be potentiated as a complimentary or an antagonistic synergy. This paper highlights the need to develop discipline specific evidence to inform a complimentary development of these aims. The concept of emb...

Substantial empirical evidence illustrates the significance of spatial ability for STEM academic achievement. However, it is critical that research efforts continue to identify cognitive factors which are associated with STEM education to further increase the impact which cognitive interventions can have. Considering the cognitive factor of fluid i...

Spatial ability, particularly the cognitive capacity for mental rotations, is a critical component of human cognition. Proficiency with mental rotation tasks is linked with education performance in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and with more general tasks such as real world wayfinding. Spatial working...

The philosophy and epistemology of technology education are relatively unique as the subject largely focusses on acquiring task specific relevant knowledge rather than having an explicit epistemological discipline boundary. Additionally, there is a paucity of intelligence research in technology education. To support research on learning in technolo...

One of the leading frameworks in engineering education specifically associated with design based competencies is the CDIO framework. This has been incorporated internationally into many institutions offering engineering education courses. Characterized by four unique stages, the CDIO framework affords an ideal scenario to incorporate a continuous a...

Spatial ability, particularly the cognitive capacity for mental rotations, is a critical component of human cognition. Proficiency with mental rotation tasks is linked with educational performance in various Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and with more general tasks such as real world wayfinding. Spatial worki...

Hartell, E., Canty, D., Seery, N., Doyle, A., & Buckley, J. (2017). Bedömningsexempel och sambedömning med hög reliabilitet (Worked Examples and Collaborative Assessment with High Reliability). Skolforum 2017. Stockholm, Sweden: Skolforum.

In contemporary education, teachers' epistemological beliefs governing what and how to teach are important due to their influence on practice, pedagogy, assessment, and the learner. Teachers' beliefs are perhaps of more significance in technology education as defining clear subject boundaries regarding 'what to teach' has traditionally proven diffi...

The intent of this paper is to discuss the nature of Design and Technology (D&T) education and arising from that the potential contribution of cognitive psychology to further understanding of designerly thinking in action. D&T education is discussed in relation to its purpose and necessity as a discipline in education. A discussion pertaining to ho...

The inception of psychometric research concerning individual differences in cognition was grounded in explaining and enhancing performance in education (Spearman, 1904). This work established the construct of a single general intelligence often described as IQ. The aim of enhancing educational practices continues to underpin much of psychometric re...

The type of assessment implemented within an educational course has profound effects on the nature and depth of learning that students engage in. Typically there are two core types discussed within the pertinent literature. These are criterion and norm referenced assessment. The nature and impact of these modes of assessment have been explored with...