Technological literacy: from function to meaning

Technological literacy has been given increasing attention in recent literature on the technology curriculum. This paper focuses firstly on some discussion of one of the most commonly accepted definitions, which seeks to explicate technological literacy in functionalist terms. It then goes on to consider some of the metaphysical assumptions underpinning the techno-scientific framework which, it is argued, threaten to impoverish our understanding of that framework and consequently any view of technological literacy developed within it. A view of technological literacy is then developed which presents it as the resultant of an active engagement in the construction of meanings. It is argued that this is a form of technological literacy which aims to inculcate the creative skills essential to the forming of a constructively critical perspective on the techno-scientific framework

Ethics and the technology curriculum

'Values' in the technology curriculum are usually put in technical or commerical terms. This can lead to a conflation, between commercial/industrial domains, and the pedagogic domains which is frequently unresolved in curriculum literature, and which can manifest itself in a confusion between insturmental and intrinsic values. Commercial artefacts are generally taken as having instrumental value only, ie they are typically valued only as means to further ends. In addition, if the artefact ceases to be commercially viable then the processes and skills contributing to its production are similarly otiose unless they can be turned to the production of other artefacts which again render them of instrumental value only. This paper seeks to clarify the distinctions between instrinsic and instrumental value in relation to the technological curriculum, and argues that the values that should be identified and explicated are often instrinsic and not merely instrumental. The techno-scientific framework itself, it is argued, is impoverished through a tacit rendering of value systems in instrumentalist terms. Active pedagogic engagement through the technology curriculum is seen as an essential corrective towards a viable techno ethics

Design and problem-solving

The 'problem-solving' model of design and technological activity has emerged in recent decades, for example in recent work by APU. I have drawn attention elsewhere to some problems thrown up by the underlying epistemological assumptions typically presupposed by popular versions of the problem-solving model. Other commentators have also challenged what may be seen as a central assumption of the problem-solving activity; that it can be treated in some sense as itself a skill that may be acquired through design and technology activity, which may then be applied more generally to other problem areas, even in other domains not necessarily related to the original problem-solving context. The debate about the 'generalisability' of such (relatively) high level 'skills' as problem-solving has also invited much discussion across whole areas of learning and the curriculum in recent years. I want in this paper to explore some of the assumptions that tend to be associated with the problem solving' approach to design and technology education, firstly by putting them in the context of the broader debate about 'problem solving' as a vehicle for learning. Secondly, I will argue that the problem solving model of design and technology education does little to promote our deeper understanding of the actual 'learning' involved and that we should seek to replace this model with a more comprehensive one which may more successfully capture our intuitions about the educational value of the activity

Using models in design & technology education: some conceptual and pedagogic issues

Models in design and technology education are generally perceived as information carriers; educators at least tacitly regard them as carrying, clarifying, and enlarging on information of one kind of another which is relevant to design activity. However, the information carrying role of models is often confused with another pedagogically important one; models in design and technology education can also have a function with regard to the explication and teaching of concepts [an issue frequently confronting science teachers] and this can be distinguished from their function as carriers of information. In this paper I will attempt to clarify and distinguish these roles. Following upon this, I will suggest ways in which design and technology educators can make their use of models and modelling activity more effective

Learning about structures: a pilot study comparing physical and IT - based models

It has been argued elsewhere that models as used in design & technology education may be seen not only as information carriers, but also as capable of modelling conceptual structures, and conceptual relations. When models are carefully produced to carry out the latter function perspicuously, they can fulfil a teaching role which is quite distinct from their role as information carriers. However, our researches, both into much of the current literature dealing with the uses of models in teaching and learning, and into the everyday uses of modelling activities in the classroom, indicate that models and modelling activities are often not as pedagogically effective as they might be. One of the main difficulties highlighted in earlier discussions is that designers of models and modelling materials, particularly those used in pedagogic contexts, tend to assume that these models are more transparent to the learner than they actually are. This transparency factor as we may describe it, is an important consideration if models are to serve not only as effective carriers and communicators of information, but also as pedagogic devices for the teaching of key concepts in design & technology education

A ducted wind turbine simulation model for building simulation

Power production is shifting away from centralized generation plants to production of heat and power at the point of demand. A technology that may play a part in this shift is the ducted wind turbine (DWT). The emergence of small building integrated micro turbines opens up the possibility of utilizing the differential pressures occurring around buildings for local power production. This paper describes work to develop and test a simple mathematical model of a ducted wind turbine and its integration within a building simulation tool. A case study in which the simulation model will be used to analyse of the likely power output from a building incorporating ducted wind turbines within the façade is also presented

Design as conversation with digital materials

This paper explores Donald Schön's concept of design as a conversation with materials, in the context of designing digital systems. It proposes material utterance as a central event in designing. A material utterance is a situated communication act that depends on the particularities of speaker, audience, material and genre. The paper argues that, if digital designing differs from other forms of designing, then accounts for such differences must be sought by understanding the material properties of digital systems and the genres of practice that surround their use. Perspectives from human-computer interaction (HCI) and the psychology of programming are used to examine how such an understanding might be constructed.</p

Reliance of building energy in various climatic regions using multi criteria

Selecting a ventilation system for a certain building has always been considered as one of the critical problems for designers. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is characterized by a large area of significant climatic changes. In this research, five criteria are identified to compare and select one of the most popular ventilation systems, mechanical or natural. The identified criteria include Energy efficiency in buildings, Building function, Thermal comfort, the Maintenance cost of building, and Microclimatic conditions. The use of a mechanical system may be useful for achieving the building function and thermal comfort, while it seems to be more expensive. On the other hand, the natural ventilation system saves energy in the long run but it may not meet a comfort level for many users. Three regions which cover most of the climatic variations in the country are selected as a case study. A Ventilation Decision Making Model (VDMM), depends on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a multi-criteria analysis technique, is proposed and developed. For feeding data to the VDMM, field measures for indoor air temperature and relative humidity are conducted as well as applying an energy simulation model to predict indoor energy performance in the selected regions. Based on the results of VDMM application on the investigated case study, a decision to KSA construction market is introduced. The results absolutely support using the mechanical system in both Riyadh and Jeddah regions while utilizing the natural system in Abha region is more preferable. The VDMM is characterized by its flexibility, accepting more alternatives or criteria and its validity to be applied to other regions inside or outside KSA

Investigating the influence of neighbouring structures on natural ventilation potential of a full-scale cubical building using time-dependent CFD

Building location and orientation with respect to incident wind angle are important parameters in determining wind-driven natural ventilation. Experimentally measured façade pressures and ventilation rates in the Silsoe cube under single-sided and cross-flow ventilation configurations are compared with CFD simulations conducted in OpenFoam and ANSYS Fluent using a typical linear workflow approach. Eight wind directions are studied with the cube in isolation and in a new staggered nine cube array format. Comparison is made using CIBSE's prescribed ventilation calculation method based on internal/external building pressure differences. Ventilation rate in the isolated cube with single-sided opening was comparatively lower than either of the cross-flow cases, and relationships between air change rate and wind angle were much weaker in the array cases. For the single opening case with the isolated cube, ventilation effectiveness decreases as the wind turns towards the opening due to increased short-circuiting of airflows. Turbulent structures close to windows improve mixing in the array case. Simulations suggest that vortex shedding from up-wind buildings provides pulsating ventilation in both window configurations, which may attenuate the negative effects of upwind flow obstruction