Piet Ankiewicz

University of Johannesburg | uj · Science and Technology Education, Faculty of Education

This article presents an investigation into the value-based affordances of volition as an integral philosophical component of technology education, specifically in relation to design methodology. As the central aspect of technology education, design has a prominent position in curricula all over the world, not just in subjects named Design and Tech...

When it comes to the teaching of STEM, the literature often refers to inquiry-, discovery-, problem-, project-, design-based learning and or teaching. However, it largely mentions it in a fairly haphazard and messy way without contextualising it within a sound theoretical framework. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to relate the abovementioned...

Co-design pedagogy appears to be gaining momentum in technology education to counteract the critique of design education for the lack of collaborative initiatives. Hence, co-design pedagogy aligns with technology education in socially constructed values that are inter-subjective and co-constructed. Socially co-constructed values imply that technolo...

In a small scale, four-year longitudinal, quasi-experimental research project, technology student teachers could study the school subject in parallel, together with the development of discipline knowledge (or their major) within the broader development of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). We investigated the performance of students-who had...

Design is a central aspect of technology education and has a prominent position in curricula all over the world, not only in subjects named Design and Technology (and similar) but also in most other technology and engineering subjects, or disciplines. In philosophy, it has been asserted that design volition (axiology) has a strong relationship with...

STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—has become important as an educational construct and phenomenon in recent years. However, it is only just recently that STEM education has begun to be examined from a philosophical point of view. There is therefore a need for further investigation of its philosophical basis, particularly in rel...

Like technology and technology education (Ankiewicz, 2019a), fashion design as a discipline lacks a scientifically founded, discipline-specific philosophical framework that may hold affordances for fashion designers, research scholars, and curriculum developers. Attempting to develop an autonomous theory for fashion design might be overly ambitious...

Video games are a medium most students are familiar with; thus, they can be used as educational tools to meet the needs of twenty-first-century students. Given the popularity of video games with teenagers, they can be incorporated as educational tools in the science classroom. However, the affordances of using Minecraft Education (Minecraft Edu)—as...

Since Cummins (1979; 2008) developed the concept of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), many researchers have investigated and discussed how language and content interact. How can this interaction be taken into account to advance the knowledge and skills of students in content subjects such as science and technology? It is useful to tak...

The expectations, experiences and performances of the first cohort of technology students enrolled for the programme with a parallel approach to the development of PCK at a university were researched for four years since 2016. The findings of previous stages of this longitudinal study were reported at the PATT36 and 38 conferences. This paper focus...

South Africa is a multicultural country with 11 official languages. The majority of school learners have an African language as home language. Up to their third grade the learners' home language is the language of learning and teaching (LOLT). From Grade 4 onwards the LOLT switches to English which has a significant effect on learners' performance...

The continual trend of the declining number of prospective student teachers in technology education necessitated a revisit and investigation of the entrance requirement (for technology teacher education) of having studied technology as a school subject. Subsequently a small scale, longitudinal, quasi-experimental research project was adopted with t...

Technology is value laden; hence technology education should create opportunities for students to learn about and practically apply value judgements to enable them to become future agents of change. Over the past three decades the rationale to include values, especially moral values, in technology education has gained increased momentum. Incorporat...

Technology education was introduced as a successor to various forms of craft or technical education in some parts of the world in the 1980s. In South Africa (SA) the implementation of technology education was in more than one sense unique. Not only was it a new subject within the South African educational context, but it coincided with the dawn of...

Less than 11% of South African learners choose STEM subjects in higher education, although STEM is compulsory in junior high school. One reason is the difficulties many school learners have with English as the language of teaching as most of them have a different mother tongue. In Flanders the STaalvaardig project which consists of an online profes...

Alternative entrance requirements and flexible curriculum options for the four-year BEd degree in technology education were implemented in 2016 attempting to combat the trend of decreasing enrolment numbers. The entrance requirement of Engineering Graphics and Design (EGD) in year 12 was dropped, and Engineering Graphics and Technology Education (E...

Odora Hoppers (2005) found that indigenous knowledge (IK) is often included in a clinical and sterile way in the formal curriculum, if addressed at all. She further mentioned the complementarity between indigenous and western knowledge systems (Odora Hoppers, 2002). Technology curricula for schools seem to be based on the institutional and formal W...

Traditionally, design-based research (DBR) unifies research, design and evaluation of interventions aimed at improving educational practice. Shifts elucidate DBR as a novelty to bridge the gap between knowledge generated from research with that of design practice. DBR, therefore, locates itself in both educational and design practice contexts. This...

STEM – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – has become ubiquitous in education. How STEM and STEM education are to be defined is still a matter of debate, however, and it is only just recently that STEM education has been probed from a philosophical point of view. The need for a philosophical basis for STEM education is therefore fun...

Simulating industry practice, pedagogical values and strategies in mainstream tertiary fashion design education (FDE) foreground that students typically research fashion trends that involve visual representations through collated secondary images to drive the design process ultimately evoking and representing inspiration, imagination, intuition and...

According to Mitcham’s (Thinking through Technology, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1994) fourfold philosophical framework, technological knowledge and volition, with their origin within human beings, give rise to technological activities expressed as concrete technological objects. Technologies are associated with a wide array of voliti...

The perceptions and attitudes of pupils towards technology have been researched for just over three decades. Recently, following an extensive review of the available literature, Ankiewicz (in: De Vries (ed) Handbook of technology education, Springer International Handbooks of Education, 2016. https ://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38889-2_43-1) provide...

Abstract The perceptions and attitudes of pupils towards technology have been researched for just over three decades. Recently, following an extensive review of the available literature, Ankiewicz (in: De Vries (ed) Handbook of technology education, Springer International Handbooks of Education, 2016. https ://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38889-2_43-1...

Fashion design as design for consumers consequently aligns with the technology-driven design and traditional user-centered design paradigms. Although not incorrect, shifts towards design with present the potential for an alternative fashion design praxis. However, in a South African context, fashion design praxis and practice have never been explor...

Pupils’ Attitudes Towards Technology (PATT) studies and the PATT Foundation have played an international leadership role in the field of technology education for just over three decades. It has been instrumental in determining the research agenda and establishing an international research fraternity in technology education (Jones et al. 2013; Motti...

Finland word dikwels gesien as die ‘goudstandaard‘ in natuurwetenskaponderwys, danksy die land se uitmuntende prestasie in internasionale toetse soos die program vir internasionale studentassessering (PISA) en tendense in internasionale wiskunde- en natuurwetenskapstudie (TIMSS). Daarteenoor laat Suid-Afrika se prestasie in TIMSS veel te wense oor....

Students' technological concepts and attitudes have been researched for just over three decades. The chapter addresses several viewpoints concerning the construct of attitudes toward technology, such as definitions of attitude, and fundamental reasons for measuring students' attitudes. The main part of the chapter presents the Pupils' Attitudes Tow...

Continuing professional teacher development (CPTD) is generally accepted as an indispensable tool for the professional development of technology teachers. The current theoretical framework for CPTD comprises a variety of models. However, criteria underpinning these models are not explicit. If, in turn, the criteria were explicit, it could serve as...

Real issues of web design and development include many problem-solving tasks. There are, however, some inadequacies associated with the implementation of appropriate pedagogy for organised and structured instruction that supports the rational problem-solving paradigm. The purpose of this article is to report on a study for the design and implementa...

Science teachers in South Africa and globally experience difficulties with the integration of indigenous knowledge into their science lessons—a requirement of many science curricula. One of the reasons for this may relate to the views teachers hold about indigenous knowledge. Such views can form a barrier against successful inclusion of indigenous...

Tegnologie-onderwys wat wêreldwyd nog relatief nuut is, het nie ’n uitgebreide navorsingsbasis, goed gevestigde klaskamerpraktyk en ’n wetenskaplik deurdagte,vakgefundeerde, filosofiese raamwerk waarop dit kan steun nie. Tegnologie is ook ’n ontwikkelende skoolvak sonder ’n ekwivalente akademiese dissipline waarop kurrikulumontwikkeling en klaskame...

Inheemse kennis word dikwels kunsmatig as ’n bykomstigheid in die vorm van stereotipiese voorbeelde in sogenaamde Westerse dissipline-gebaseerde skoolvakkurrikula vir Tegnologie ingesluit. Die aard en grondtrekke van inheemse tegnologiese kennis is desondanks nog nie deeglik ondersoek en gedokumenteer nie, wat probleme en uitdagings vir kurrikulumo...

Learning programmes for technology education and its facilitation at chalk leveloften lack a scientifically founded, subject-based, philosophical framework. Matters arecomplicated by the fact that technology at school level is globally a developing subject withno existing equivalent academic discipline which can serve as a source of curriculumdevel...

Since the implementation of technology as relatively new school subject, challenges are constantly being posed to higher education institutions (HEIs), and in particular those engaged in teacher training and the professional development of technology teachers. Teacher training programmes had to be developed and implemented within a limited time fra...

Technology education is globally still relatively new, and it lacks a substantive research base, a well-established classroom pedagogy and a scientifically founded, subject-based philosophical framework that may serve as a directive for related aspects. Technology is also a developing school subject with no equivalent academic discipline upon which...

Over the past few years, educators in South Africa have been subjected to many changes in the educational sphere. Not only was a new approach to education, namely outcomes-based education (OBE) implemented, but the curriculum was also changed and now consists of eight learning areas, some of which are groupings of traditional school subjects (e.g....

This article explores the viability of implementing a technology learning programme in a school for learners with special educational needs. TechnEd (the former RAUTEC), Bernina, the school and the Gauteng Department of Education were involved in the project. The nature of the project required a qualitative, action research approach using group int...

Traditionally a divide has existed between faculties of education at higher education institutions (HEIs) and trade and industry, but the business sector is increasingly buying into community development with corporate social investment, especially regarding technology education. We report on a continuing professional teacher development (CPTD) mod...

Technology is frequently considered in terms of its impact on entities outside its essential nature: as the impact of technology on the environment and society, but also the impact of human values and needs on technology. By taking particular social implications of technology into account, the Science–Technology relationship can be extended to the...

It appears that learning and instruction in technology education are emerging from an atheoretical perspective. Research indicates that the grounding of learning and instruction in technology education within a theoretical base is long overdue. This article explores the role of conceptual frameworks derived from learning theories relevant to co...

Over the past few years, educators in South Africa have been subjected to many changes. Not only was a new approach to education, namely Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) implemented, but the curriculum was also changed and now consists of eight learning areas, some of which are groupings of traditional school subjects (e.g. languages). Technology, ho...

Changes in the educational approach in South Africa from the traditional to the new outcomes-based education (OBE) approach required educators to make adjustments, especially concerning the shift away from traditional evaluation to using OBE-assessments which made specific demands on educators. However, limited information is available in literatur...

Traditionally a divide existed between faculties of education at higher education institutions (HEI's) and trade and industry, but the business sector is increasingly buying into community development with corporate social investment, especially regarding technology education. This paper reports on two continuous professional teacher development (C...

A synergy between the technological process and web design methodology and its influence on the development of the cognitive skills of learners in the ISD context is described. The synergy between the stages of the technological process and a web design methodology integrated within the IWDP has positive implications for the development of complex...

Address delivered on accepting the position of Professor in Technology Education at the Rand Afrikaans University on Wednesday, 15 October 2003.

A significant number of studies have examined the use of action research in different learning areas (Lewin, 1947; Hult & Lennung, 1980; McTaggart, 1991; Whyte, 1991; Tesch, 1990; Schein, 1987; Selener, 1992; Baskerville & Pries-Heje, 1999; Mordock & Krasny, 2001; Baskerville & Wood-Harper, 1996). Most of these studies have focused on the use of ac...

It appears that programme development in technology education is emerging from an atheoretical perspective. This could be attributed to the absence/neglect of conceptual frameworks (philosophical underpinning) in the development of programmes in technology education. This article explores the role of the content dimension of the 'essential features...

Various instruments measuring either technological literacy or pupils’ attitudes towards technology are available. Recent research has emphasised that these instruments have not been validated for the South African context, yielded invalid and unreliable data for this specific context, and should therefore be adapted (Ankiewicz, Myburgh & Van Rensb...

Reproductive learning has answered the survival needs of the past and, although this kind of learning is still required, it is no longer sufficient in education. If one of the challenges of education is to prepare children for a fast-changing world, then teaching children to be creative becomes an imperative. Teachers seem to lack the skills and kn...

The teacher's role in facilitating learning and thinking in Technology Education classrooms is crucial to creating an environment conducive to the promotion and development of thinking. The aim of this study was to determine how teacher facilitation can promote and develop thinking in Technology Education lessons. A single case study using a qualit...

The traditional methodologies of systems design, including Web page design, provide models for the products of software development projects, but fail to concentrate on explicit procedures for setting up and running project development. 'Research has been fairly silent on the question of how best to set up and run multimedia projects from a teacher...

The purpose of this study was firstly to explore and describe post graduate students' experiences of Technology Education in the TechnoLab and secondly to deduct recommendations to assist and facilitate the learning process of students in the TechnoLab. The research design can be described as qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual. Tw...

The PATT (Pupils’ Attitude Towards Technology) questionnaire, as validated for the USA, was used to assess and analyse South African learners’ attitudes towards technology. The responses of 500 girls and 510 boys, from the Gauteng Province in South Africa, were analysed using a principal component and a principal factor analysis. The explained vari...

The aim of this study was to describe the experience of learners who utilise concept maps as a learning method in Physical Science. Opsomming Die doel met die studie was om die ervaring van leerders, wat begripskaarte as leermetode in Natuur- en Skeikunde gebruik, te beskryf. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer t...

One of the recommendations made in the discussion document,A Curriculum Model for Education in South Africa (CUMSA), which was released by the Department of National Education in 1991, is that technology education should be offered for the first nine years of pre-tertiary education as a compulsory subject and for the last three years as an optional...

Steplike changes in the modulation of cosmic rays can be identified when the counting rates of neutron monitors at high and low cutoff rigidities are compared. It is suggested that these steplike changes are caused when cosmic rays are accelerated by a series of outward moving shock waves during transport of the cosmic rays from the heliospheric bo...