At this time I’m working on a pilot study for our qualitative class. My study is focusing on the effectiveness of the teacher using technology in their classes. At this point I have observed 5 different teachers ranging grades 1-5. I asked the teachers if I could come in to observe them teaching a lesson using technology. After careful analysis of my field notes and clarification from the teachers I believe that the teachers level of confidence with technology leads to the level of integration seen in their lessons. The above image depict my interpretation of my pilot study. The article Reviewing the relations between teachers’ knowledge and pupil’s attitudes in the field of primary technology education (Rohaan, Taconis & Jochems, 2003) supports my theory.
This article reviews literature on primary school teachers’ knowledge of technology and student’s attitudes towards technology. Its main focus is to see how the teachers’ technological knowledge affects pupils attitudes towards technology.
The article
begins by reviewing research on the importance for students to be able to think
critically and the need for to solve practical problems and the growing need
for engineers and technologists. Discussing that technology education should
make students technologically literate. Students
in primary schools possess a natural curiosity for science and technology but
elementary teachers lack the ability and confidence to develop this curiosity
for technology.
The review
continues discussing how primary teachers need to be thoroughly versed
in a wide variety of subject including technology which the researchers refer
to as Technology-specific teacher knowledge.
These aspects were categorized into 3 domains:
- Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK)
- General
- Concepts of technology
- Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)
- Knowledge of pupils’ concepts of technology
- Knowledge of pedagogical approaches and strategies for technology education
- Knowledge of nature of subject
- Attitudes
- Concepts
The authors
share the importance of SMK with respect to technology discussing Grossmans
(1990) model of teacher knowledge. Which
states without knowledge of the structure of a discipline the teachers may
misrepresent both the content and the discipline they are trying to teach. With this in mind they suggest that pre
service primary teachers should recognize their technological deficiencies and
should be better prepared in the key area of technology. These are broken into ten fundamental
concepts by The International Technology and Engendering Association.
A second idea for SMK is the teachers’
concept of technology. A study of primary
school teacher in England
found they held a wide range of ideas on the subject. The authors contend that these perceptions directly
affect students’ understanding technology.
For instance if the student has a teacher that is fluent with technology they will gaining a richer understanding of the field then a student that has a
teacher with a narrower scope. Furthermore
researchers believe that what teachers define as technology is often
non-scientific due to the vague definitions the US government provides. This only perpetuates the cycle of poor
information being transferred to students.
The researchers
continue along this same path of review relevant literature with the concept of
teacher knowledge, comfort level and student engagement for several more
pages. They conclude that teacher
attitude and comfort level/confidence are directly related to the depth of the
technological lessons being taught in the classroom. This in turn motivates the students and help shape
their ever growing interactions with technology.
References
Grossman, P. (1990). The making of a teacher: Teacher
knowledge and teacher
education. New York: Teachers
College Press, Columbia
University.
Rohaan,
E., Taconis, R., & Jochems, W. (2010). Reviewing the relations between
teachers’ knowledge and pupils’ attitude in the field of primary technology education.
International Journal of Technology & Design Education, 20(1), 15-26.
doi:10.1007/s10798-008-9055-7
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