The following publications have been reviewed by the authors;The Good Technology Guide 1994 - reviewed by Danny OwenObjects and Images: Studies in Design and Advertising - reviewed by Prof. P. RobertsClassroom Pedagogy and Primary Practice - reviewed by Alan CrossBasic Electronics For Tomorrow's World - reviewed by Allan TruemanBeyond The Core Curriculum - reviewed by  CD. SnellFood For Thought - reviewed by Rhona Humphrie

Cross, Alan

Humphries, Rhona

Owen, Danny

Roberts, P.

Snell, C.D.

Trueman, Allan

English

Loughborough University Library: Open Journals

OFTWARE REVIEWSoftwareReviewALIAS UPFRONTAlias Research: £75Available from Capedia Ltd, 11Lower DagnallSt, StAlbans, tel. 0727869791Reviewed by John HansonAlias UpFront is a 3-D design package whichallows you to draw 3-D shaded objects directly,and which has been a pleasure to review. Itcomes in Mac and PC versions (I used thelatter) and loads effortlessly. It comes with acomprehensive and well illustrated manual,which I ignored as I dived straight into theprogram. The icons are easy to deduce and themenu and mouse operations conventional, so Iwas able to produce several reasonably crafted3-D shapes in a few minutes.Most of the design packages I have used havebeen difficult to use and require you to havedone a 2-D drawing and then translate it into3D. Even those that allow you to build upobjects in 3D in a Lego-like way usuallyrequire a great deal of work to build up acomplex object. UpFront is very easy to use forthose with little experience of PCs or designpackages, and the manual's step-by-stepinstructions take users quickly from a simplestarting point to complex drawings.I was entranced by the way the package drawsspheres and domes, and my final drawingswere full of them. It is very easy to sketch outsimple shapes and then use the program tobuild up structures in sections, or to cut awayor add extra layers to create a background. Theshadow option creates a realistic andnatural-looking image and the range of texturesand colours available enabled the production ofgood and detailed images. Up Front can easilybe used as an architect's design tool, and thecombination of shadow from any sun positionand easily created groups of shapes wouldmake it very powerful in this field. It alsoallows you to design a product such as a box orshelves and view them against a background invarious lights and from different angles. Youcan also place objects in front of scanned realimages, which makes it a powerful tool forgarden or stage design. It is as good as anyother package I've seen for designing andexperimenting with small objects, and fordesigning larger areas and related groups ofobjects, it is far better than anything else I'veseen.Its weak points are few. As with most designpackages, alterations to complex images arevery slow. It is easy to get lost in the fine detailof large images and to confuse angles of view- fortunately, a HOME key allows you toreturn to your original image. I also found thataltering the image size by zooming in and outcould be confusing, but no doubt practicewould overcome that.Where does UpFront fit into education? Inschool we are often bad at large-scale designprojects and I will use this package withyounger secondary pupils to look at large areadesigns such as gardens and playgrounds.Pupils also find 3-D visualisation difficult andthis package will be useful with older pupils,trying out shapes for use in products., At A leveland in higher education this program could bevery useful in a range of design-based coursesto design backgrounds for fashion shows, theinternal or external structure of buildings or thelayout of gardens.Two other features I found particularlyattractive were its price (£75 against $995 forthe US version) which is a bargain, and thehelpfulness of the UK supplier, which isunusual in the world of design software.BOOK REVIEWSBookReviews• UIAH publications can be obtainedfrom UIAH Publications, Hiimeentie135 C, SF 00560 H elsinld, FinlandThe Good Technology Guide 1994DATA£9.95 (Primary); £19.95 (Secondary)Reviewed by Danny OwenWith all the developments that have takenplace in National Curriculum Technologyduring the last four years, you can be forgivenif you have lost track of all the curriculumsupport material that has been published -and fear not, for your prayers have beenanswered with this two-volume guidepublished by DATA.Both volumes follow the same format, withresources classified as Construction Materials,Food Technology, Control Systems andEnergy, Structures or Process Skills, with theaddition of Business and Industrial Practices inthe secondary volume. The guide is very easyto use: each entry has a brief description of theresource, its target key stage and all theinformation you need to be able to buy it. Thelayout, colour coding and index sections workwell and are very user-friendly. You can searchfor ideas based on a topic, specific skill,material requirement or even price which,when you might only have £20 to spend, isimportant. It is more than a Yellow Pages guidein that there are also objective assessments ofsome of the more worthwhile resources.The first edition will be updated in 1995 whenI expect additional entries to appear, especiallyfrom small publishers and software developers,and more evaluations. It is a book which noschool can afford to be without if you are tomake informed decisions on resources fortechnology.Objects and Images: Studies in Designand AdvertisingSusann Vihma (ed.)WAR: $40 ISBN: 9519384499Reviewed by Prof. P. RobertsThis is a collection of papers presented at aninternational conference in Helsinki, on thetheme of the semantic dimension of designedobjects. Put more simply, it asks why peoplechoose particular products and what therelations are between choices, individualvalues and the making of personal identity andmeaning. It's an interesting internationalcollection, inevitably displaying the strengthsand weaknesses of conferences when heldtogether by a theme at a high level ofgenerality. Provided the reader takes avicarious part in the conference, the strengthsoutweigh the shortfalls.There are 23 contributions in all, and thepresenters include some established nameswith some familiar messages: Alberto Alessi,for instance, on Italian design factories inDesign and Poetry. Peter Lloyd Jones is goodon Time and the Perception of EverydayThings; Odile Solomon's Aesthetic Referencesand Cultural Representations and particularly,Fredrik Wildhagen's Product Semantics in aMacro Perspective offer illuminating insightswithin very useful frameworks. There are alsotypically interesting contributions from VictorMargolin and Christopher Frayling. Much ofthe substance of the more philosophical papersis a perennial part of some undergraduatecourses, and not entirely absent in somecourses in schools. Not all the papers are agood read, but the greater attention now beinggiven to the meanings carried by (or attributedto) objects, is important.Three points arise from Objects and Imageswhich underline the timely appearance of itspapers. One, their discussion represents aconcern (but thankfully not one that is earnestin tone) towards attending to the humandimension of design - not to design as amarketing tool to sell more and more productsthat are hardly required, but to designing as thenecessary making and expression of meaningand identity. Two, scanning the papers andreading those which strike a chord offers thepossibility of taking part in the conversationby which a field and its discourse develop. Thislarger professional conversation is stimulating,alive and accessible to those who wish to takepart, and its development is certainlynecessary. Three (and this has a bothersomeaspect), even from the particular perspective ofproduct semantics, the papers reveal theintellectual poverty, the utilitarian emphasisand the static nature of National CurriculumTechnology: bothersome in the sense that theremight be expected to be a more evidentrelatedness between similar activities ingeneral education and those found inprofessional design education and practice; andthere is really very little sense of connection.We can be encouraged, however, in the sensethat there is a larger view beyond the NationalCurriculum's partialities and limitations, inwhich all practitioners could share and develop.BOOK REVIEWSClassroom Pedagogyand P 'l PracticeClassroom Pedagogy and Primary PracticeDavid McNamaraRoutledge: £37.50 (hardback); £11.99(paperback) ISBN: 0415083125 (plb)Reviewed by Alan CrossThe extent to which this is read may beaffected by one word in its title. The wordpedagogy is neither understood nor widelyused in British primary education. Yet it ispedagogy, the science or art of teaching, whichmost practitioners value. Whether or not weuse the pedagogy, there is much inMcNamara's notion that it is the teacher whoought to be the centre of classroom activity. Hesees the teacher as the most significantresource in the classroom and makes a strongcase that as teachers our claim to credibility isthrough pedagogy based on a firm foundationof knowledge of the subject being taught.Significantly, this review appears in apublication of DATA, our subject association.Consideration of teaching style and skill ishighly relevant to primary design andtechnology. In order for primary teachers toimplement D&T, I feel they require whatMcNamara calls a repertoire of pedagogicalexpertise. A book like this might not be at thetop of your holiday reading list, but as ateacher of primary technology, ought to beconsidered. All of those engaged inconsideration and development of teachingskills would find much of value here.McNamara does not waste -time onmeaningless polarities such as progressive vstraditional. Books like this one will move us onin our consideration of teaching and learning.Behind his argument here is a need torecognise the worth of what good practitionersactually do. He reacts against attempts to dressteaching up in theory, preferring that weidentify and articulate clearly that practicewhich works. A method is suggested by whichteachers might analyse their teaching and thusgain professionally in the classroom andbeyond through a raised level of awareness.Considerable emphasis is given within thebook to the concept of the teacher as aprofessional. This status has never been whollycertain and is threatened by attitudes, ideologyand policies. McNamara seeks to promote aframework of expertise in teaching asprofessional knowledge in which we wouldcelebrate and develop that which is usable orlikely to work.The title, which uses the word primary, is alittle misleading as almost all of the examplesin the book (and much of the emphasis) istowards Key Stage 2. This does not mean thatthe book is without value to teachers of KeyStage 1. Much of the considerable value of thebook is that it presents a number of challengingquestions and demands that primarypractitioners seek to articulate the essence ofteaching in a primary classroom. One suchexample and an important emphasis of thebook is that of subject content. This discussioncontributes to our ongoing debate in primaryeducation, in spite of somewhat dismissivereferences to topic teaching which, whilst notperfect, has some strengths.We have some way to go in consideration ofteaching in primary education. This book is awelcome and important contribution to thedeveloping balance of emphasis in teachingwhich considers the relative roles of teachersand children in the classroom.Basic Electronics For Tomorrow's WorldLen JonesCambridge University Press: £11.95ISBN: 0521409179Reviewed by Allan TruemanThis book covers all of the basic electronicsone is ever likely to encounter in the schoolsituation. It could be used in all secondarycourses that involve electronics and at A levelfor parts of the design & technology syllabus.The drawings and diagrams are clear and easyto understand, but could have been improvedby the use of colour.There are nine chapters covering topics asdiverse as logic gates and paying for electricityconsumed in the home. The practical work inthis book can be carried out using prototypeboard, copper stripboard or printed circuitboard, and each method is outlined andexplained in the text.In general, this book covers basic electronics ina detailed and comprehensive manner, and ifyou are either starting a course or about toreorder books, this would make a good coursereader. At the very least it would make a goodsource book as its coverage is socomprehensive that it would fill gaps left bymost other textbooks.BOOK REVIEWSBeyond The Core CurriculumMike Harrison (ed.)Northcote House Publishers: £11.99ISBN: 0 74630 649 0Reviewed by CD. SnellCo-ordinators in core subjects of English,mathematics and science are well served bypublishers, but in the foundation subjects atprimary level co-ordinators have been less wellserved. This book sets out to rectify thatsituation. It is a series of contributions bydifferent authors with experience in their ownfield at primary level, edited by Mike Harrison,Director of the Centre for Primary Education atthe University of Manchester.For co-ordinators with less experience, ituncovers what was always potentially there buthad not always been recognised. For the moreexperienced co-ordinator, it serves as arefresher and perhaps a source of ideas notpreviously considered.Colleagues at secondary level will gain usefulinsight into and a different perspective of theirown subject. It will perhaps also remind themthat a lot of hard work goes into preparingpupils at primary level before secondaryschools receive them. The issue ofcross-curricular involvement is frequentlyraised whilst still acknowledging the right ofany teacher to independence when appropriate.Treatment of the traditional subjects is much asone would expect, and of the so-called newsubjects, I found the section on IT particularlyinformative. There is good advice in thechapter on technology, but I felt that some ofthe information was a repetition of already wellexhausted material and not overly usefuldiagrams that smack of College-of-Education-speak, to coin an Orwellian phrase.In conclusion, there is a lot of good generaladvice on administration, management andpsychology that is incidental, and other facetsof education that will prove interesting. Theopening chapter in particular is worthre-reading.Food For ThoughtSTEPCambridge University Press: £5.95ISBN: 052140 636 6Reviewed by Rhona HumphriesFood for Thought is part of the STEP Design &Technology 5-16 initiative, which has been amajor educational development produced bythe Staffordshire D&T team. This book isaimed at Key Stage 3 pupils and is designed tolook at new food products in a way whichmirrors the commercial process. TheProduction of Food Products covers in depththe market research strategies, the developmentof food product, packaging and labelling,advertising and the product launch. Anothersection shows very clear flow diagrams helpingto define what exactly are examples of systemsand how these systems interact in, for example,the production of foods.The section on developing research skills iswell presented with the emphasis on guidingpupils to use a variety of techniques and anyform of research in a meaningful and relevantway to assist the D&T process. Ideas forindividual and group work are highlighted inorange throughout the book for teacherreference. Teacher planning is also helped bythe use of a Data File which covers a variety ofIT strands, and these could be used forassessment exercises or simply mapping thedelivery of National Curriculum technologythrough IT.The book is well planned and will help todeliver areas of the PoS which have not beenas well documented in other publications, andtherefore fills a major gap for teachers whoseown expertise in the business elements ofproduction development is in need of support.The book also includes many useful projectsfor delivery across the department, such asusing control systems in the food industry.The book is attractive and colourful, with manyeye-catching graphics. Text is in a variety ofcolours and key points are well highlighted. Itwould serve as a useful resource for thedelivery of business studies and foodproduction elements of technology and couldbe used in its entirety to deliver technologyacross a department. It is also good value at£5.95.· DATA MEMBERSHIPJoining DATADATA is theprofessionalassociation for allthose involved indesign and technologyeducation.For £25 individualmembei'ship you willreceive each year sixissues of DATANews,three issues ofPrimaryDATA, threeissues of Design &Technology Teaching,10% discount on alleducationalpublications, liabilityinsurance - andmore!Fill in the membershipform and make yourprofessional voiceheard!.'ili\ Membership ApplicationPlease fill in all the requested information. This helps us to give you a personal service.(TitleSTUDENTS:Year course ends: Course hase (Primary/Secondary)(Work Address:InstitutionHome Address:,Post CodeTel: Fax:Please mail to: HomeD Work DLEAPhase (Key Stage) and curriculum interests(eg textile"KS J)Are you interested in joining groups:Locally 0Post CodeTel:Status of institution ego GM I TSII independentPrimaryI Sccondary/SN/ FE I HEIITT I otherIndividual membership £25 Overseas membership £40Institutional membership (member equivalents) £25 (I) £40 (2) £60 (3) £100 (6)Student membership £10 (From 1994 includes 1styearof teachingif youoriginallyjoinedas a student)ethod of Payment Standing OrderDirect Debit I authorise DATA until further notice in writing to charge my Visa / Access card(bycreditcardonly) account in respect of my annual membership subscription.Please charge my Visa / Access / card with the amount shownCard Number Expiry Date ..-Jl 16 Wellesbourne House, Walton Road, Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, CV35 9JBTel: 0789470007 Fax: 0789841955

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