Ethical Mastery of Innovative Technologies

In this paper we present an alternative bio-epistemological-based approach to economic ethics issues, which suggests that economists need not only an understanding of the ecosystem in terms of irreversibility, but even more an understanding of the way the process in ecosystem make actual the principle of ameliorative equilibration. This means that among many technological innovations that extend the field of the possibilities only those that prove to be integrative and able to ameliorate the adaptation process will be chosen and preserved. In our view, only this type of prospective approach could be considered ethical as it realizes the principle of ameliorative equilibration and harmonizes the technological innovation process with the process of the ecosystem.social cooperation, biophysical constraints, negentropic rocess, ameliorative equilibration, vection, cross-disciplinary research.

Toward ecological literacy: A permaculture approach to junior secondary science

Environmental, economic, and social trends suggest the need for more sustainable ways of thinking and patterns of behavior. Such a shift would require humanity to function at high levels of ecological literacy, which relies on a certain amount of scientific literacy. However, troubling evidence indicates an international pattern of student disengagement with science at the secondary level. Evidence also suggests that it is difficult to integrate environmental or sustainability education at this level, both within New Zealand and elsewhere. This research was aimed at examining the use of a novel approach, using permaculture, in junior secondary science (years 9 and 10) to enhance students‘ ecological and scientific literacy, as well as their attitudes toward studying science in school. Permaculture is an ecological design system based on science and ethics. A permaculture approach to science education involves eco-design thinking as well as the use of local permaculture properties and practitioners, and the science behind common permaculture practices. The approach is also meant to be relevant and engaging, and to promote systems thinking. This study involved the design and delivery of an intervention based on permaculture principles to one year 10 science class in New Zealand. Research took the form of a naturalistic, interpretive, mixed methods case study, which included the use of questionnaires, interviews, and observations. Data collection focused on the impacts of a permaculture approach on the teaching and learning of science, on students‘ ecological literacy, and on students‘ attitudes toward learning science in school. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires probed students‘ opinions on the environment, science, and learning science in school, and tested their sustainable thinking and systems thinking with concept mapping and SOLO Taxonomy exercises. Classroom observations took place over the course of 12 weeks, on average 3 days per week, totaling 31 days. Before and after some classroom visits I had informal conversations with the teacher, along with three formal interviews before, during and after the intervention. Three focus groups of students were interviewed immediately following the intervention. Findings show that a permaculture approach to junior secondary science can impact positively on students‘ understanding of science and sustainability, and may impact on their attitudes toward studying science in school. It also appeared to impact positively on the science teacher‘s attitude toward including sustainability in his teaching practice, and on his own sustainability learning. Regarding both students and teachers, a permaculture approach appears to have been effective to cultivate attitudes and trellis learning. The teacher and the students responded favorably to many aspects of the intervention, including the overall focus on the environment, the field trips, and some classroom learning activities. The teacher reported appreciating the way the intervention contextualized science with real world examples. Most students reported appreciating the experiential aspects of the intervention, as well as the relevance that a permaculture approach to science education provided. Findings indicate that advances in ecological and scientific literacy varied among students. Some students appeared: to improve their use of science and sustainability vocabulary; to become more aware of select socio-scientific issues; and, to better recognize scientific and ecological limits and possibilities. Some students also showed advances in sustainable thinking and systems thinking. Although many students expressed concern about issues such as pollution, wildlife, and genetic engineering – and prioritized protecting the environment over making money – there appeared to be a disconnect between these feelings and a sense of personal responsibility to act. Most students reported enjoying learning science with a focus on the environment, with one cohort indicating much greater enjoyment of the permaculture approach than their usual level of enjoyment of learning science in school. Trends in environmental degradation, population growth, energy inflation, and economic stagnation – especially pronounced since the beginning of this inquiry in 2008 – indicate that the world of the future will require ecologically literate citizens who can design and create truly sustainable systems for all human endeavors. Cultivating such citizens, and trellising their science and sustainability learning has implications for science education. This thesis identifies an innovative approach for junior secondary science in New Zealand that provides a way towards a more sustainable future

Perceptions and attitudes of pupils towards technology : in search of a rigorous theoretical framework

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 (2016) provided an overview of the current state of research, in a chapter in the Springer Handbook of Technology Education. However, due to length restrictions the chapter had to be concise and thus focused primarily on the mainstream instruments and their derivatives. More detailed descriptions of the perceptions and attitudes of students as well as discussions of unconventional and non-related instruments therefore had to be omitted. Consequently, the purpose of this article is to extend the chapter concerned by providing a more extensive and nuanced review of the total substantive body of knowledge that has been generated in just over three decades. The following research question underpinned the literature review: How may the existing research and subsequent findings be systematised into a more rigorous theoretical framework that may assist scholars in navigating their way through the current research on the perceptions and attitudes of students towards technology? In addition to the previous findings made and conclusions drawn in the chapter, it was found that such a theoretical framework should be informed by the following guiding insights: viewpoints concerning the construct of attitudes towards technology, as well as measuring such attitudes; the mainstream instruments in The Pupils’ Attitudes Towards Technology (PATT) studies and their derivatives, as well as problematic aspects associated with these; unconventional, PATT-related instruments; new, non-related instruments for ascertaining students’ attitudes and concepts; the general research findings on students’ attitudes; means that may positively develop students’ attitudes; and unidimensional versus multidimensional studies studying the effect of all characteristics or determinants of all aspects of learners’ attitudes. Such a rigorous theoretical framework may serve as a valuable resource for future researchers embarking on this area of research, as it provides a synopsis that may assist in enhancing an understanding of research that has been done and work that needs to be done in order to contribute to developing new knowledge in the field of design, technology, and engineering education. It also indicates gaps in this research area, notably in researching the behavioural component of attitudes