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Epistemological treatment of design in technology education

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Abstract

Design as a construct has multiple meanings depending on context, function, and agenda. This paper proposes to set out functions of design as it manifests in the context of technological activity for the purposes of technology education. The importance of context and by association intention in technological and designerly activity is presented with reference to recent reforms of lower secondary school subjects in Ireland, in an attempt to demonstrate the complexity of design’s treatment in technological activity. Critical to the success of designerly outcomes and outputs, is having a clear intention for the objectives of learning. This paper proposes a framework of articulations of design in the context of technological activity that attempts to position its utility with respect to the development of capability. Unpacking ‘learning about design’, ‘learning by design’ and ‘learning to design’ provides delineated intent that makes explicit learning, pedagogical, and evaluative decisions, reinforcing the position that it is what learners can do opposed to know, that is central to technological activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Technology Education, Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone, Ireland

    Niall Seery, Joseph Phelan & Jeffrey Buckley

  2. Department of Education and Communication in the Technological Sciences, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

    Jeffrey Buckley

  3. School of Education, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Donal Canty

Authors
  1. Niall Seery
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  2. Joseph Phelan
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  3. Jeffrey Buckley
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  4. Donal Canty
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Correspondence to Niall Seery.

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Seery, N., Phelan, J., Buckley, J. et al. Epistemological treatment of design in technology education. Int J Technol Des Educ 33, 1547–1561 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-022-09781-y

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