The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe how technology teachers
foster a positive disposition towards Critical Thinking (CT) in their learners. One of
the general aims listed in the South African National Curriculum Statement (NCS)
specifically calls for the use of CT to enhance learners’ ability to identify and solve
problems. In the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for
technology, CT is required to successfully solve problems during the design process.
The design process, which is central to technology, thus offers many opportunities to
nurture CT should teachers be willing to exploit them.
CT consists of two components, namely, CT skills and CT dispositions. CT skills refer
to the cognitive abilities of a person, while CT dispositions are concerned with an
individual’s internal motivation to think critically. A fair amount of research regarding
CT focuses on CT skills. The limited research available on CT dispositions reports
mostly on its definition, classification, and assessment. The paucity of literature on
CT dispositions suggest that teachers cannot draw from existing literature to inform
their practice regarding the ways in which one could foster a willingness to think
critically. This study, therefore, aimed to improve our understanding of the strategies
used by technology teachers to promote CT disposition. The conceptual framework
for this study was based on Facione’s (2011) seven dispositions towards CT, and
was augmented by a description of the design process in technology education. The
premise for using this framework is based on the assumption that if an individual is
positively disposed towards CT, they will be inclined to critically solve the problems
encountered during the design process in technology. The design process further
presents the opportunity to nurture CT dispositions.
This study engaged in a qualitative research approach and a multiple case study
design to investigate how technology teachers foster CT dispositions in their
learners. To this end, 10 senior phase technology teachers were purposefully
selected and interviewed. The interviews comprised open-ended questions about
each disposition to gain an in-depth understanding of the strategies that teachers use
in their classroom. Five of these teachers were then observed for one design-based
lesson to explore how these strategies are actualised in the technology classroom. The analysis of the interview data indicated that the participants used a variety of
strategies to foster all the CT dispositions. These strategies were also noted during
the observations, with no new strategies being revealed. The strategies included the
use of assessments, discussions, the classroom environment, examples, feedback,
modelling, questioning and resources. It was found that the participants used four
main strategies as initial actions that acted as a platform for, or led to the use of
supporting strategies to foster all of the CT dispositions.
Through this study, some strategies that were identified in the literature regarding the
nurturing of CT, its skills and dispositions were confirmed. Other strategies were
identified as relating to the principles for teaching CT dispositions, while two
strategies were recognised that were not mentioned in the literature. It is
recommended that further research be conducted on the effectiveness of these
strategies, learners’ experience of the strategies, and that longer periods of
observation be done to include the facilitation of the entire design process.
The research on CT dispositions up until this point has not suggested or described
explicit strategies to specifically foster the dispositional component of CT. The
findings and conclusions of this study are also not considered as the final answer to
this paucity of literature, it does, however, pose as a departure point for further
investigation and development. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria 2020. / pt2021 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:up/oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/80448 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Janse van Rensburg, Joalise |
| Contributors | Rauscher, Willem Johannes, u12052737@tuks.co.za |
| Publisher | University of Pretoria |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Rights | © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
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