The skills and qualities of students entering design and technology initial teacher education

Transcription

1 Loughborough Uiversity Istitutioa Repository The skis ad quaities of studets eterig desig ad techoogy iitia teacher educatio This item was submitted to Loughborough Uiversity's Istitutioa Repository by the/a author. Citatio: LEWIS, T., The skis ad quaities of studets eterig desig ad techoogy iitia teacher educatio. IDATER 1996 Coferece, Loughborough: Loughborough Uiversity Additioa Iformatio: This is a coferece paper. Metadata Record: Pubisher: c Loughborough Uiversity Pease cite the pubished versio.

2 This item was submitted to Loughborough s Istitutioa Repository by the author ad is made avaiabe uder the foowig Creative Commos Licece coditios. For the fu text of this icece, pease go to:

3 Lewis 5.5 The skis ad quaities of studets eterig desig ad techoogy iitia teacher educatio Tim Lewis Sheffied Haam Uiversity Abstract Typicay, uti recety, Iitia Teacher Educatio (ITE) providers have provided desig ad techoogy (D&T) courses for mature ad post graduate certificate studets based o a uderstadig that the studets previous quaificatios provided a soud basis o which to buid D&T subject expertise to eabe them to teach i schoos. This research was prompted by the perceptio that a chage was takig pace i the skis ad kowedge studets brig to their D&T ITE course from previous courses. To ascertai the ature of chage this study ivoved 27 Higher Educatio istitutios ad over 600 mature traiee D&T teachers. Research istrumets icuded questioaires ad structured iterviews. Additioay, recet course documets of both HND ad degree courses were scrutiised to gai isight ito the course cotet ad how this reated to the kowedge ad skis required by the D&T teacher. Aaysis of the data idicates that may studets ack practica skis ad their desigig expertise is variabe. The majority do ot have strog techoogica profies. Studets are cocered about their shortfa i D&T expertise. The research quatifies the extet of these difficuties reated to the quaificatios studets have o etry to ITE. ITE ecturers have reservatios about these quaificatios ad use additioa idicators reated to persoa quaities to hep determie suitabiity for etry to ITE courses. Itroductio The subject of desig ad techoogy ad its predecessor Craft, Desig ad Techoogy have recruited cosiderabe umbers of potetia teachers from a rage of idustria sources, with a variety of previous quaificatios. Severa istitutios have deveoped D&T strads of their oe year Post Graduate Certificate i Educatio (PGCE) courses recruitig from degrees ragig from egieerig to product desig. Iitia teacher educatio (ITE) providers acquired a uderstadig of the kowedge ad skis required by these studets based o a awareess of the studets previous quaificatios ad experiece ad how they reated to the foreruer of D&T i schoos. The impemetatio of Techoogy i the Natioa Curricuum 1 i 1990 resuted i chages to the subject expertise eeded by teachers of this curricuum area. Further chage has take pace with the impemetatio of the revised ad reamed Desig & Techoogy i the Natioa Curricuum 2 i This research was prompted by a impressio of a wideig gap betwee the subject skis ad kowedge studets have o etry to courses ad the requiremets of teachig D&T i schoos. Studets appeared to be havig difficuty deaig with aspects of desigig ad their practica capabiity ad techoogica uderstadig seemed more varied. Heads of Departmet i schoos were aware of these difficuties ad reguary expressed cocer. These impressios were cofirmed by a oca study pubished i Desig ad Techoogy Teachig 3. Sice this study the ew versio of D&T i the Natioa Curricuum 2 has bee pubished with cocise programmes of study, givig a cearer picture of the skis ad kowedge the D&T teacher is required to dea with. This research has bee coducted i order to obtai a accurate picture of the D&T skis mature studets have at the poit of etry to D&T ITE specificay refereced to the requiremets of teachig D&T i the Natioa Curricuum. The quaities cosidered are those which idicate a 1

4 5.5 Lewis prospective studet has potetia to deveop D&T kowedge, uderstadig ad skis. The objective is to assist istitutios deveop traiig programmes which more cosey match the requiremets of D&T ITE studets. Research method There were four eemets i the research: questioaires used to assess the D&T skis ad kowedge mature studets have from their previous courses; iterviews with studets about previous courses ad experiece refereced to their uderstadig of D&T i schoos; aaysis of severa curret HND ad degree course documets; iterviews with staff ivoved i the seectio of studets for ITE courses, aimed at gaiig isight ito specific persoa quaities desirabe i studets eterig D&T teacher educatio. The Questioaire Percetage eromet figures for studets startig D&T courses show the foowig share of studets registered o each type of course:.5% - oe-year Post Graduate Certificate i Educatio (PGCE) courses; 34.5% - two-year courses for mature studets cosistig of PGCE, BEd, BA/BSc with quaified teacher status (QTS); 29% - 3-or-4 year courses cosistig of BEd or BA/BSc with QTS courses desiged for studets with A eve quaificatios. (Figures suppied by ITE providers: 1994) This research cocetrated o studets eroed o PGCE courses ad courses for mature studets, as they represet the majority (71%) of studets eterig D&T ITE. A importat aspect of recruitmet is that appicats' previous quaificatios provide a soud basis for traiig as a speciaist D&T teacher, athough ITE providers have recogised for some time that the majority require further subject study to equip them for teachig i schoos. As oe-year PGCE courses are focused o deveopig professioa teachig competeces there is itte time for the studet to ehace their prior kowedge. It is, therefore, particuary importat that ITE providers have a cear uderstadig of a studet s skis ad kowedge gaied from previous courses. This was estabished usig a questioaire which icuded the foowig sectios: quaificatios used as the basis for etry to ITE; teachig ad earig methods used durig the previous course for D&T reated skis ad kowedge. Questios were i the foowig categories: desigig skis; makig skis usig had toos; makig skis usig machies; techoogy, particuary eectroics, mechaisms ad structures; commuicatio skis, particuary drawig. Respodets used the foowig scae to idicate teachig ad earig method used to cover aspects of D&T o their previous courses. Noe = Not covered by ay forma teachig durig your previous course. Limited coverage = Taught by some form of ecture or demostratio as part of your previous course, but with miima practica foow up. Covered i detai = Taught by ecture or demostratio as part of your previous course, pus extesive practica foow up. These defiitios were estabished by discussio with studets ad a piot questioaire. Studets emphasised the eed to focus o the practica foow up, as they viewed hads-o experiece as a essetia part of the earig process if they were to be competet ad cofidet D&T teachers. Home Ecoomics was ot icuded as at the start of the research the status of this subject withi Techoogy had ot bee resoved by the Schoos Curricuum ad Assessmet Authority. Tabes 1 ad 2 show the resuts of the questioaire; etries i bod are sigificat ad referred to i this text. For this aaysis the studets' previous quaificatios are grouped ito egieerig, desig, D&T ad other. The umber of D&T respodets was sma as these are reativey ew courses. Uiversity ad Coege Etrace ists 2

5 Lewis 5.5 Oe year PGCE Degree Desigig Usig had toos Usig machies Techoogy Drawig d d d d d Egieerig Desig D&T Other Two PGCE y ea r Other Tabe 1: Oe ad two year PGCE courses: questioaire data Figures i bod are referred to i the text Figures are percetages of studets: =oe =imited coverage d=covered i detai HNC/HND Desigig Usig had toos Usig machies Techoogy Drawig d d d d d Egieerig Desig D&T Other Tabe 2: Udergraduate studets foowig two year courses: questioaire data Figures i bod are referred to i the text eeve degree ad four HND D&T courses. The other category is sigificat as it represets 29% of oe-year PGCE studets ad most of two-year PGCE studets. Oe-year PGCE courses First degree subjects represeted i oe-year PGCE courses icude egieerig, desig, D&T ad other. The rage of degree subjects i the other category varies from Fie Art, Scupture ad Architecture to Computer Techoogy, Cosumer Services ad Scieces. A have profies weak i differet aspects of D&T, a cosistet feature beig miima practica capabiity. Fie Artists ad Architects idicate good desigig ad drawig capabiity, whereas the Computer Techoogists have received miima drawig or desig work durig their degree courses. As oe-year PGCE courses provide professioa traiig with about two thirds of the time spet i schoos the graduate has itte time to acquire D&T skis, yet the data show that the majority of oe-year PGCE 3

6 5.5 Lewis studets do ot have a adequate D&T ski base. As expected, the majority of desig studets have a soud basis for teachig desigig i schoos, but graduates of the D&T degrees appear ess we equipped. The others fair better tha expected with 49% we equipped, but over haf (58%) of the egieers have ot had foow-up desig activity i their previous course. Desig studets are we equipped to teach drawig but most other studets have miima practica drawig durig their course, yet this is a essetia ski for the D&T teacher. Desig ad Techoogy i the Natioa Curricuum (1995) 2 has cear statemets i the kowedge ad uderstadig programmes of study about the techoogy to be covered at each key stage. For KS3 ad 4 techoogies are isted as part of the kowedge ad uderstadig, yet data coected shows that graduates eterig ITE courses do ot have strog techoogica profies. Surprisigy, about haf the egieers have ot had the opportuity for techoogica practica work. Desig studets are the most disadvataged group techoogicay with haf (49%) ot havig received techoogy teachig ad more tha oe third (%) beig taught through a ecture programme. The D&T graduates are oy margiay better off tha desig studets. Usig toos ad machies shows a more satisfactory picture, with more tha haf the desig ad D&T studets havig good practica profies. However, the data shows that there are may studets i equipped to dea with practica project work which is cetra to D&T activity i schoos. It is ot surprisig that the other studets are weak i usig had toos ad machies, but the egieer has simiar weakesses, athough oe third have used machiery extesivey. Aaysis of degree course documets for egieerig ad desig courses gives a isight ito why these courses caot be reied o to provide a soud basis for D&T ITE. Egieerig courses ow have: miima practica work, therefore graduate egieers are uikey to have a rage of practica skis uess they foowed a sadwich course ivovig workshop practice; a uit structure which eabes the udergraduate to taior a programme of study ofte with eemets of maagemet or busiess at the expese of practica project work; much of the techoogica teachig deivered by ecture with foow up work cofied to computer simuatios, particuary i discipies such as eectroics, structures, peumatics ad computer aided maufacture; drawig skis taught through computer aided desig systems which produce two ad three dimesioa images quicky without study of the pricipes ivoved. Desig degree courses show structures with: miima time aocated to forma teachig of practica skis, typicay to 40 hours; cosiderabe time devoted to paper desig exercises; miima ceary defied techoogica teachig. The extet of practica project work i desig courses seems to deped o projects set by tutors ad idividua studets iterests. May courses have idustria cotacts whereby studets are abe to deveop techoogica capabiity through project work, but the extet ad ature of this is difficut to quatify. It has ot bee possibe to aayse other degree course documets because of the wide rage of subjects. However, the ewer D&T degree courses seem to provide a soud basis for D&T teachig with the proviso of a icrease i techoogica cotet. Tabe 1 shows the data retured by studets eroed o two-year PGCE courses which are beig ru by a sma umber of istitutios. The D&T profie of these studets shows imited capabiity brought from previous courses, with serious weakesses i usig had toos ad machiery but sighty better drawig ad desig expertise. Overa, the D&T profie of these studets is margiay worse tha other studets foowig oe-year PGCE courses but as they have a extra year to buid up their profies they shoud become 4

7 Lewis 5.5 competet ad, therefore, better equipped to teach i schoos. Two-Year degree courses Two-year BEd degrees for studets with quaificatios ad experiece reated to idustry have bee a major source of D&T teachers. However, BEd courses ow accout for ess tha haf (45%) of studets with this backgroud; 55% are eroed o recety deveoped BA/BSc with Quaified Teacher Status (QTS) courses. Studets with the more craft-focused City & Guids fu techoogica certificate represet oy 11% of two year degree studets; % have Higher Natioa Certificates (HNC); ad 57% the higher eve Higher Natioa Dipoma (HND). The majority of studets foowig these routes to teachig are, therefore, we quaified at etry. Most studets (39%) are draw from the egieerig professio, ad there is a sigificat umber with desig quaificatios (25%), but this figure is exceeded by studets draw from other courses (32%). The rage of quaificatios i this category is differet from those foud i the PGCE other category with 25% of studets havig buidig quaificatios ad 14% with caterig/food techoogy quaificatios. The remaider is made up of studets with various techoogica quaificatios (53%), pus a further 8% with busiess ad fiace quaificatios ad a virtuay o-existet D&T profie. Whe compared with the graduate egieer the HNC/HND egieer is ikey to be cosideraby weaker at desigig ad drawig, sighty better at usig toos ad machiery but with eve ess-hads o experiece of usig techoogy. The HNC/HND desiger shows a strog profie i desigig ad drawig but, as i the case of graduate desig studets, a weak techoogica profie. Disappoitig is the profie of the D&T speciaist i this group who appears to have had a theoretica course at HND eve. Their profie is simiar to that of studets i the other category with margiay greater expertise i usig machies, techoogy ad drawig. The cocusio draw from aaysis of HNC/ HND course documets is that chages i cotet ad structure are broady simiar to those of degree courses. Practica work does ot appear to be a strog feature. Studet Iterviews Structured iterviews were used to gai isight ito studets views about D&T ITE. The majority of studets idicated that they had based their decisio to move ito the teachig professio o a desire to work with youg peope ad had chose D&T as they cosidered their quaificatios ad experiece provided them with appropriate skis, or, they had ejoyed practica work whe pupis at schoo. Most had visited schoos prior to appyig ad experieced a positive reactio to the D&T see. Of the twety-five studets iterviewed, two cosidered their previous course had provided a soud basis for D&T ITE ad thirtee fet they were i equipped i severa aspects of D&T. The remaiig te cosidered they had some specific skis reated to D&T but their previous course had bee too arrowy focused to cope with the breadth of D&T. Eightee iterviewees expected their ITE course woud address their shortfa i D&T expertise. Fourtee studets foud desigig difficut, particuary egieers ad others. Te studets expressed doubts about its feasibiity i schoo, athough they did ackowedge they had ot bee abe to observe pupis ivoved i desigig activity. Five desig studets were cocered about the differeces betwee desigig i schoo ad their previous experiece. Reservatios were expressed about techoogy, with desig studets sayig the kowedge was outside their scope ad egieers statig doubts about their abiity to cope with the diversity expected i D&T. A amost uiversa cocer voiced by studets was their ack of, or iadequate practica skis (twety-two studets). I severa cases this worry had bee exacerbated durig the first schoo experiece whe studets foud they coud ot cope with the rage of skis required. Two thirds of studets commeted that they had experieced egative commets from D&T teachers regardig their practica capabiity ad this had affected their cofidece. A oe-year PGCE studets (tweve) iterviewed cosidered that 5

8 5.5 Lewis isufficiet time was give to practica skis durig their course. Iterviewees were uaimous i their view that quaities such as patiece, abiity to get o with peope ad orgaisatio skis were importat to the teacher, twety studets commetig that these are iheret persoa quaities whereas D&T skis coud be acquired. Uiversity staff iterviews D&T staff i traiig istitutios are aware that previous quaificatios coud be used oy as a iitia guide of a appicat's D&T capabiity. I additio to ookig for quaities appicabe to a appicats for ITE, such as a abiity to get o with chidre, they emphasised the importace of searchig out evidece of ethusiasm for practica activity ad wiigess to deveop ew skis ad kowedge. Severa istitutios ask appicats to brig exampes of D&T reated work to iterview ad use this as the basis for a discussio about D&T skis. Oe istitutio set appicats a questioaire about their D&T capabiity ad used resposes as a basis for a iterview. Most had come to the cocusio that assessig a appicat's D&T capabiity at iterview had become more difficut. A particuar quaity ooked for i appicats is fexibiity of thikig ad a wiigess to embrace techoogy eve though it may ot have bee a sigificat part of a previous course. Staff i severa istitutios use sciece quaificatios gaied at schoo as a idicator of potetia techoogica capabiity as i may cases they have o better gauge. A were cocered about appicats havig a ope mided approach to D&T, usig aswers to esoteric desig questios as a idicator of the appicat's fexibiity whe approachig ew earig situatios. Severa commeted that they seemed to be iterviewig studets who had ot had the opportuity to do practica ad/or techoogica work i their previous course or empoymet ad were seeig a D&T ITE course as opportuity for this. Cocusio The DFE circuar Iitia Teacher Traiig (Secodary Phase) 5 states that for oe year PGCE courses Istitutios shoud satisfy themseves that: the cotet of a etrats iitia degree is appropriate to the secodary schoo curricuum ad ewy quaified teachers shoud be abe to demostrate a breadth ad depth of subject kowedge extedig beyod the Programmes of Study ad examiatio syabuses i schoo.. The recety pubished Miimum competecies for studets to teach Desig ad Techoogy i Secodary Schoos '6 outies a further view of core requiremets. The evidece of this research highights that may oe year PGCE studets have difficuty i meetig these requiremets, yet the professio woud face probems i teacher suppy without these recruits. Pre-course extesios aimed at buidig up the studets D&T profie coud address these difficuties. Graduates i the other category shoud be advised to do a two year PGCE. Studets eroed o two year udergraduate courses have ceary defied weakesses which coud be deat with by scrutiy of idividua profies foowed by study taiored to address specific weakesses. Refereces 1 Departmet of Educatio, Techoogy i the Natioa Curricuum. HMSO, March Departmet for Educatio, Desig ad Techoogy i the Natioa Curricuum. HMSO, Jauary Lewis, J.T. Partership schoos, uiversities ad the shortage of D&T skis. Desig ad Techoogy Teachig, vo 27, o 2, 1995, pp Uiversity ad Coege Etrace Officia guide Uiversities ad Coeges Admissios Service (UCAS), Departmet of Educatio, Iitia Teacher Traiig (Secodary Phase). Circuar 9/92, September 1992, ad DATA. Miimum competecies for studets to teach Desig ad Techoogy i Secodary Schoos. Desig ad Techoogy Associatio. Research paper umber 4, 1995, pp