Technical Education in Primary School: pupils’ knowledge and skills to solve every day technical problems

Author(s):

Bernd Haasler(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching

Format:

Paper

Session Information

27 SES 06 A, Teaching Arts and Techniques at Primary School

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-11

15:30-17:00

Room:

A-204

Chair:

Monique Loquet

Contribution

Children today grow up in technically advanced environments. Children’s rooms equipped with electronic toys and device can be found everywhere. However, even the mechanical functioning of fairly simple toys, sports equipment or common utilities is often fairly complex, technologically challenging and hard to understand in terms of its construction and modes of operation, even for adults.

The paper presents results from a research project that investigates what kinds of approaches and understandings children have and which skills and problem solving strategies they apply to deal with usual and every day technical challenges of common equipment and utilities. Of interest is, on the one hand, to find out more about the technical prior assumptions and basic understanding primary school children possess. On the other hand, the project also investigates how children solve technical problems in practice by confronting them with hands-on activities taken from their everyday life. In this way, the project scrutinises how preparatory basic knowledge in terms of problem solving approaches and planning interplays with practical skills when performing hands-on activities.

Method

The test tasks children are asked to complete are, by purpose, no modeled, didactically singled out technical challenges. Rather the children are confronted with real everyday problems in their complexity that are not easy to solve and which can be considered “serious challenges” also for adults. Children’s practical performance of the tasks is being video-taped by the test instructor. Based on hermeneutic principles the aim is to understand the children’s approaches. With inductive methods prototype approaches of everyday technical problem solving strategies of children are being elaborated.

Expected Outcomes

Empirical educational research of technical education with primary school children who, in some European countries, have technical instruction in school can help to design didactical approaches for this subject in the future. The paper will present the research design and results of the empirical preparatory study to evaluate the technical understanding of 10-years old primary school students. This preparatory study is being conducted in one German Federal State with 50 pupils.

References

Hacker, W. (1992). Expertenkönnen. Erkennen und Vermitteln. Göttingen: Verlag für Angewandte Psychologie. Höpken, G., Osterkamp, S., Reich, G., & International Technology Education Association (Eds.). (2003). Standards für eine allgemeine technische Bildung. Villingen-Schwenningen: Neckar-Verlag. Neuweg, G. H. (1999): Könnerschaft und implizites Wissen. Münster: Waxmann Verlag

Author Information

Bernd Haasler (presenting / submitting)

University of Education Weingarten

Professur Technikdidaktik

Weingarten

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