Fostering applied design-led innovation capabilities: how do we know we are doing it better than any other subject?

Many people have asked how Design and Technology Education researchers are able to conceptualise and organise their diverse research interests for these and future DATTArc papers?

Continuing the 18 years of research tradition championed by Associate Professor Howard Middleton at Griffith University, Technology Education Research Unit (TERU), the Biennial International Design and Technology Teacher’s Association Research Conference (DATTArc) is led and managed by the academic community in collaboration with classroom practitioners from the early years, to primary and secondary education and through to initial and postgraduate Technology Teacher education. Together this biennial research event pools education researchers from internationally diverse backgrounds and disciplines to advance understanding of how societies frame, teach and critique the education of citizens in the fields of Design, Technologies, and related fields of Innovation Development.

While in-service school teachers deliver Design and Technologies related curriculum from the early years to year 12, the DATTArc focusses on the future of the field, critiques its assumptions, and directs its investigative efforts to continually foster a sustainable and democratic education.

Our theme focused on the role of applied-design and technological capabilities in education foster and develop human ingenuity and innovation traits among students. This research is typically a multi-disciplinary effort, often drawing upon ‘play-based’ and ‘project-based’ learning to develop the educated citizen. In this and future DATTArc you will see papers that articulate research:

Developmental Research in Technology Education: early years to year 12/13

• Cognitive, social and psychomotor development with respect to understanding a various aspect of technology education generally and unique within genres of technology.

Pedagogy Research in Technology Education

• Effective Teaching and Learning strategies, including formative learning diagnosis and summative learning evaluations (assessments). This includes experiential education research, group learning, online learning, etc. Assistiveteachingtechnology (educationaltechnologyandICT) and the Reggio Emilia aspect of the Technology and Design learning environment.

Epistemology Research in Technology Education

• Research on the phenomenology of technology, the form of our field of knowledge: sub-disciplines otherwise known as technacy genres such as digital technology, the technological sciences such as fields of engineering, wood technology, food technology, textiles technology or ceramics technology. Contexts of Technology such as Indigenous Technologies, habitat and technology research, technology choice and climate science education, Technologies and society research, and so Technologies education and (any other field).

Comparative Research in Technology Education

• Cross-cultural Technology Education Research, Technology and culture research, gender and technology education research.

Historical, Theoretical, Ethical and Philosophical Research in Technology Education:

• What ought we be teaching, learning and valuing? How ought we understand our history and use it to build a long evolving arch for the depth of our field of learning?

Institutional, Political, Policy and Economic Research in Technology Education

• Trends in technology education (teachers, students, academics), institutional perceptions, the economics of technology education. Technology education in national policies and its rhetoric (discourse analysis).

There is much to build and critique in new knowledge and understanding for this area of educational research. In this and all DATTArc conferences we invite research that seeks to reduce ignorance and improve the capabilities of citizens to understand, develop a capacity for informed judgements about, and be engaged agents of innovation, creativity, and critique of the made- world about them.

We invite you to browse the innovative ideas and critiques scoped in these proceedings.

Associate Professor Kurt Seemann, PhD. | Convenor & Conference Director | DATTArc Convenor