The purpose of this thesis is to describe and explain the influence of the Practical and Applied Arts on randomly selected comprehensive high school students. The research examined the history of the Practical and Applied Arts, the reasons for students taking the courses, the state of Practical and Applied Arts in Saskatchewan,the future of Practical and Applied Arts, the need for more research, and the effect the courses had on graduates career and education choices (over the ten-year period immediately following high school graduation). <p>Data were collected by an online questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The data were analyzed by the researcher. A seven member interpretation panel purposely chosen to represent four different profiles was used to interpret and provide meaning to the data.

Purpose of this study was to investigate environmental literacy of 6th grade students at a private school. In detail of study it is also investigated that how mothers&amp / #8217 / educational background on environmental literacy dimensions (knowledge, attitude, use and concern) and besides, relationship between environmental background characteristics and environmental literacy dimensions. The study was carried out during the fall semester of the 2007-2008 academic year. The sample of study was chosen from an accessible population and consisted of 681 sixth grades students from a private school in Ankara. Environmental Literacy Questionnaire (ELQ) is used to collect data. The relationship among environmental literacy dimensions i.e., knowledge, attitude, use and concern was investigated by Means of zero order correlation. Effect of mothers&amp / #8217 / educational level on the environmental literacy of the students is analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Finally, canonical correlation is used in order to analyze relationship among environmental background of students, that is self-assessment about their interest in environmental problems (perception of interest), their views on the importance of environmental problems (perception of importance), their self evaluation of their environmental knowledge (perception of knowledge), their involvement in outdoor activities (activities), their perception of their parents&amp / #8217 / interest in environmental problems (parents&amp / #8217 / interest) and their perception of their parents&amp / #8217 / involvement in environmental activities (parents&amp / #8217 / involvement) / and environmental literacy dimensions. Results showed that majority of students (64%) received with mean of 8.2 questions out of 11 questions. Results also revealed that they have positive attitude, aware of importance between human and environment. Moreover, students have concerns about environmental problems. Results of means of zero order correlations indicated that between knowledge - use and attitude &amp / #8211 / concern are correlated positively, significantly but small. Moreover attitude-use and use &amp / #8211 / concern are correlated strong and medium in that order. Effect of mothers&amp / #8217 / educational level on EL, which is analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), indicated that dimensions of EL do not differentiate significantly by education level of mothers. By canonical correlation, it is found that parents&amp / #8217 / involvement in environmental activities positively related to environmental attitude, use and concern which stand for increase in parents&amp / #8217 / environmental involvement, increase in attitude, use and concern.

This mixed methods study focused on six individuals' experience with producing and uploading art instructional content to YouTube. The main aim was to understand the goals and motivations of educators who are not state certified classroom teachers outside of the YouTube environment. This study provides insight about how the field of art education is expanding beyond classrooms, museums, studios, and community centers. Participants had varied motivations and goals for posting their content, but commonalities were identified during data analysis. Narrative inquiry and coding were used to identify and understand meaning and themes within and across interviews. Quantitative data indicated that a shift in gender roles associated with 20th century education might be under way. Little scholarly research has been undertaken on the art educational offerings of YouTube. Although art education is a broad field, vast numbers of people in the global community turn to YouTube for free education. Looking at who offers art instruction on YouTube gives the field of art education a unique insight into its own evolution. / text

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<p><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"> <p align="left">The purpose of this study was therefore to address the following primary research question: &lsquo / What effect would a specially designed, developed, implemented and evaluated Material Science (MS) course have on serving teachers in terms of their perceptions and knowledge/understanding regarding content in MS and instructional practice in D&amp / T?&rsquo / </p> </font></font></p>

Syftet med denna studie är att utifrån ett didaktiskt perspektiv undersöka budskap om teknik i ett urval svenska skönlitterära barnböcker samt undersöka hur berättelsernas tekniksyner förhåller sig till deras natur- respektive framtidssyn. Analyserna grundar sig på sex svenska författares skönlitterära barnböcker: Selma Lagerlöf, Otto Witt, Elsa Beskow, Karl-Aage Schwartzkopf, Sven Wernström och Sven Nordqvist. Dessa böcker innehåller frågeställningar och problematiker som i dag anses betydelsefulla och relevanta inom teknikens didaktik. Studien har tre analytiska perspektiv: att identifiera tekniken som finns representerad i barnböckerna, att undersöka barnböckernas tekniksyner i förhållande till natur och framtid samt att finna gemensamma och särskiljande teman berättelserna emellan. Analyserna visar att de olika tekniksynerna i barnböckerna är mångfacetterade. Hur tekniken gestaltas kan delas in i sex övergripande teman: tekniken som metafor eller liknelse, som antropomorf, som autonom, som resultat av kreativ drivkraft, männens teknik samt som icke tidsbunden. Det förekommer också olika syn på teknik och dess inverkan på såväl individ som samhälle. Natursynen som dominerar kan beskrivas som svagt antropocentrisk och en majoritet av berättelserna förmedlar bilden av det effektiva framtidssamhället där tekniken löser människans problem. En slutsats är att barnlitteraturens tekniklandskap kan bidra till att både vidga och fördjupa det teknikdidaktiska perspektivet. Det ambivalenta budskapet i böckerna gör att teknikens mångskiftande natur lyfts fram samt problematiseras på ett sätt som läroböcker sällan gör. Skönlitterära barnböcker skulle därför kunna fungera som utgångspunkter för didaktiska diskussioner om teknikens natur samt dess inverkan på människa, samhälle och natur i såväl nutid som dåtid. / The aim of this study is to examine, from a didactic perspective, messages conveyed about technology (view of technology) in a selection of Swedish children’s books containing elements of technology education, and to explore how these views of technology relate to nature and futures perspectives. The analysis is based on children’s books by six Swedish authors: Selma Lagerlöf, Otto Witt, Elsa Beskow, Karl-Aage Schwartzkopf, Sven Wernström and Sven Nordqvist. These books contain depictions of technology, but also depict issues and problems relevant in the field of technology education. The study has three analytical perspectives: the identification of technologies represented in the books; interpretation of the views of technology transmitted in the stories in relation to nature and futures perspectives; and identification of shared and divergent themes in the stories. The analysis shows that in general, the books present technology in diverse ways. Various facets of technology appear in the material and these are categorized into six themes: technology as metaphor or analogy; as anthropomorphic; as autonomous; technology as a result of a creative driving force; masculine technology; and technology as enduring. There are also different views of technology and its impact on individuals as well as society. The dominant view of nature in the books is weak anthropocentric and a majority of the stories convey the image of an effective future society in which technology solves human problems. A conclusion is that the technology landscapes in children’s fiction could contribute to broadening technology education. The ambivalent messages in these books reveal technology’s multifaceted nature and its complexity. The messages in children’s literature could also make it possible to problematize the nature of technology in ways that  textbooks seldom can. Children’s fiction could thereby be jumping boards for creative discussions about the nature of technology, and technology’s effects on individuals, society and nature in past and present time. / <p><strong>The published thesis is the second edition.</strong> <em>Minor changes has been made in the second edition such as correcting grammatical errors, correcting a footnote, missing letters and two missing references.</em></p>

Technological knowledge is of many different kinds, from experience-based know-how in the crafts to science-based knowledge in modern engineering. It is inherently oriented towards being useful in technological activities, such as manufacturing and engineering design. The purpose of this thesis is to highlight special characteristics of technological knowledge and how these affect how technology should be taught in school. It consists of an introduction, a summary in Swedish, and five papers: Paper I is about rules of thumb, which are simple instructions, used to guide actions toward a specific result, without need of advanced knowledge. One off the major advantages of rules of thumb is the ease with which they can be learnt. One of their major disadvantages is that they cannot easily be adjusted to new situations or conditions. Paper II describes how Gilbert Ryle's distinction between knowing how and knowing that is applicable in the technological domain. Knowing how and knowing that are commonly used together, but there are important differences between them which motivate why they should be regarded as different types: they are learnt in different ways, justified in different ways, and knowing that is susceptible to Gettier type problems which technological knowing how is not. Paper III is based on a survey about how Swedish technology teachers understand the concept of technological knowledge. Their opinions show an extensive variation, and they have no common terminology for describing the knowledge. Paper IV deals with non-scientific models that are commonly used by engineers, based on for example folk theories or obsolete science. These should be included in technology education if it is to resemble real technology. Different, and partly contradictory, epistemological frameworks must be used in different school subjects. This leads to major pedagogical challenges, but also to opportunities to clarify the differences between technology and the natural sciences and between models and reality. Paper V is about explanation, prediction, and the use of models in technology education. Explanations and models in technology differ from those in the natural sciences in that they have to include users' actions and intentions. / <p>QC 20140512</p>

The thesis deals with how technology as a school subject is presented to the pupils in the Swedish compulsory school at junior high school level. The main focus is on how teachers work with the subject matter in teaching, which is on the level of the enacted curriculum. The official documents established by the national school authorities, the intended curriculum, and the hidden curriculum are both of special interest in the study. The hidden curriculum refers to possible, but not intended consequences of the enacted curriculum for pupils’ understanding of technology as a school subject.            The empirical analysis of the study is based on a narrative analysis on the one hand and the variation theory on the other. The empirical data collection consists of data from: (a) interviews with five teachers and (b) a series of classroom observations, covering an entire section of each teacher’s course of the subject matter.           The data from the interviews with these teachers indicated that they understood the concept of technology as human made artefacts aiming to satisfy practical needs. When it came to the understanding of technology as a school subject the teachers differed between understanding the aim of the subject as to: (1) practice craftsmanship, (2) prepare the pupils for future careers as engineers, (3) illustrate science, (4) strengthen girls’ technical self-confidence and (5) get the pupils interested in technology in order to become inventors in the future. The data from the classroom observations indicated that the teaching presented in technology gave the pupils the opportunity to develop three specific capabilities: (1) evaluate and test functionality, (2) be precise and accurate and (3) construct, build and mount. The three capabilities were possible to develop when accomplishing tasks of practical character. Results also indicated that technology as a school subject was taught in different ways depending on the teachers’ educational background, the physical learning environment and the size of the school class. Variation theory was applied as a tool in the analysis of the data from the classroom observations, i.e. the teachers’ ways of working with the subject matter. The analysis indicated that the most frequently used pattern of variation was ‘contrast’.  Through the contrast-variation the teachers managed to contrast better or worse alternatives of constructing and using artefacts. It can be argued that this pattern of variation, ‘contrast’, is the proper pattern when pupils are working with limited or expensive material.           The overall conclusion of the study is that teachers’ interpretations of current intended curriculum and their choices of subject matter and teaching methods affect which abilities the pupils are offered to develop in technology as a school subject. Based on the results of the study it can be argued that the education and the teaching of technology lacks realism and the result is that technology as a school subject may be experienced by pupils as not very important. It is obvious that the school subject technology, as well as teaching in technology, in the Swedish compulsory school, demands more attention from the national school authorities, in order to develop the pupils’ understanding that technology as a subject is related to the future development of society and social welfare.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Earl Woodruff.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-166).