Motivation and methodology: perspectives from an ongoing research enquiry into students' conceptions of technology

This paper outlines the circumstances which h ave encouraged me to develop my interest in to ' what makes ' techno l ogy' tec h no l ogy' , from a reflection on my own practice , to a formal investigation into students ' conceptions of tec h no l ogy in my own and o th er schoo l s . Although other studies have been under t aken , these h ave in the m a i n been conce rn ed w it h values a n d a tt i tu des towards technology . The methodo l ogy reported in th i s paper enables conceptions of technology to be captured in a form such th a t a ' co n ce pti o n s t a t eme nt ' ca n be constructed v i a a prede t erm in ed opt i on matrix . This written ' conception statement ' e n ables an ind i vidual t o con fi rm th at the i r concep ti on i s correc tl y r eco r ded. In addi ti on to the written form , concep t ions held by a number of individuals can be compared both graphically and numerical l y . T he r a n ge and fr equency of i de n t i ca l concep ti o n s can be determined fo r any sample of i n div i dua l s . T he past decade has seen a rapid cha n ge in t he teach i ng o f tec hn o l ogy i n schoo l s i n E ngland and Wa l es. This period of change has resulted in many teachers reflecting on their existing practice . The mos t f un damenta l q u estion for thi s area o f t h e curriculum is a decept i vely problematic one - what is technology? T his can be easily extended to inc l ude a consideration of a ra n ge of assoc i ated q u es ti ons : What do other teachers consider tec h no l ogy to be? What do students consider technology to be? What do parents consider technology to be? What do SCAA and examination board officers consider technology to be? and focusing on the s i tuatio n i n my ow n insti t ution : What do I condsider technology to be? What do other members in my department team consider technology to be? How do our conceptions match those held by the working party whi c h formu l ated the Nationa l Curriculum Techno l ogy Order? T hese questions have significant i mp li ca ti ons for t h e developmen t of a school ' s policy statement and curriculum model for the delivery of technology , and the way in which the programmes of study are i n terpreted in the construct i on of schemes of work . My appointment to a H ead of Design and Technology post in 1990 caused me to reflect carefully on these questions . The developme n t of a departme n tal philosop h y , pol i cies , schemes of work and supporting INSET activities were key aspects of th i s new post as the Order for Technology in the National Curricu l um came into force . Init i ally my interest in students ' conceptions of technology was supported by i n vestigat i ve ac ti v i ty f or a n Open Unive r si t y MA modu l e ' E ducational E valuation ' . This investigation has now developed i nto a research degree project being undertaken at L o u ghborough U niversi t y . T his article charts the journey through the Open Un i versity evaluation project to the research methodology which has been developed to ' capture ' conceptio n s of tec h nology as part o f t h e research programme at Loughborough U niversity . This programme is now well underway and it is hoped that col l eag u es m ay find this account interesti n g and even perhaps be enco u raged to ref l ect formally on aspects of their own practice . I am sure that the Department of Design and T echnology at L oughborough University wou l d we l come the oppor t unity to support other teachers who wish to pursue such research interests.