Summary: Reviewing the relations between teachers’ knowledge and pupils’ attitude in the field of primary technology education
Title: “Reviewing the relations between teachers’ knowledge and pupils’ attitude in the field of primary technology education”
Name: Lisa Hess
Date: 5/9/10

Reference:

Rohaan, E.J. Taconis, R., & Jochems, W.M.G. (2010). Reviewing the

relations between teachers’ knowledge and pupils’ attitude in the

field of primary technology education. International Journal of

Technology and Design Education, 20, 15-26 . Retrieved April 29,

2010, from http://www.springerlink.com/content/p020227247614xq7/

Problem: The relationship between teachers’ attitude and knowledge of technology and those of pupils’ attitudes’ in primary technology education. It is argued that most primary teachers lack the ability and confidence to develop and stimulate the natural curiosity for technology. Over the last 15 years, the numbers of science and technology students have been decreasing. Researchers explored the relationship between these two ideas. In this article, the relations between primary school teachers’ knowledge of technology and technology education and pupils’ attitude towards technology are explored. The primary aim of this review is to elucidate how technology-specific teacher knowledge affects pupils’ attitude towards technology.

Context: First, researchers used a hypothetical diagram of six aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge, their interrelationships, and their relations with pupils’ attitude. These six aspects are categorized into 3 domains: Subject Matter Knowledge, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Attitude towards Technology. In order to find relevant aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge, scientific literature in the field of primary technology education was searched. Next these six aspects of teacher knowledge and their relations are described in more detail. Then, the relation between pupils’ concept and attitude is clarified.

Findings: In reviewing the hypothetical diagram, it seems that Subject Matter Knowledge(SMK) and the concept of technology are reported to be important knowledge aspects for teaching technology. Furthermore, it is found that SMK is related to confidence in teaching technology and that teachers’ concept of technology is related to their pupils’ concept of technology. With respect to Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), knowledge of pupil’s conceptions and knowledge of the nature and purpose of technology are found to positively affect teaching and learning. Essentially this article has found that teacher knowledge affects teaching and, in turn affects pupils’ concept and attitude towards technology. However, empirical evidence on the assumed relations between teacher knowledge and pupils’ attitude is still poor. More research still needs to be done.

Recommendations: From personal experience I agree with the findings of this Literature Review. This year my grade level team and I have dived into technology and technology based education with the help of our new Promethean boards and Student Netbooks. In terms of the Subject Matter Knowledge of a teacher, students can only go as far as their teacher can take them technologically. Especially in the neighborhood in which I work, the education with technology that they receive at school is most likely the only education in this field that they will get. If a teacher has not learned about the subject or technology it will hinder the students and possibly dissuade them from future use. I do believe that there still needs to be more research, however, with or without the research, technology is a wonderful thing to incorporate into the classroom. It differentiates instruction, the students are more engaged, and they are having fun while learning.