Characteristics of Technology: Possible Learning Experiences: Senior Secondary

The Nature of Technology Strand Explanatory Papers Updated May 2010

Characteristics of Technology

Possible learning experiences

The learning experiences suggested below have been provided to support teachers as they develop their understandings of the Characteristics of Technology component of the Nature of Technology strand and how this could be reflected in student achievement at various levels. There is no expectation that these would form the basis of any specific unit of work in technology. The learning experiences have been written in such a way as to support student learning across a range of levels. This stance reflects the majority of classrooms where it is expected that students will demonstrate a range of levels of achievement.

Students identify a technologist and carry out a series of interviews with them about their work in order to develop an informative case study about their Technological Practice. The technologist selected should allow students insight into the interdisciplinary nature of technological developments and the collaboration practices of technologists. The interviews (face to face, E-mail, phone, etc.) need to be appropriate for the technologist, and could be supplemented with additional explorations (for example, analysis of product information, websites, marketing materials, related articles, etc). Students ask questions that will identify the details of a Technological Outcome the technologist is working on or has completed in the past.

It is important that the student allows the technologist to identify a Technological Outcome they are comfortable discussing. Issues associated with intellectual property and market sensibility could be explored by the student in relation to this. Students also work with the technologist to establish: the technological knowledge and other knowledge and skills they require; the personal and professional attributes they have; and the way in which they work with others. Extensive investigation of the decision-making processes employed by the technologist could be undertaken, and their levels of creative and critical thinking explored in the context of the identified example.

After completing their individual case study, students could set up a series of formal debates focusing on such things as 'technologists should be held accountable for any technological disasters'. In taking part in the debate, students pool the understandings gained from comparing and contrasting individual case studies to develop collaboratively based affirmative or negative arguments. Arguments should recognise the complexity of technology as a collaborative field that requires complex decision making based on different perspectives, creative and critical thinking, and practical and functional reasoning. Arguments should also provide insights into student understanding of such things as the role of codified technological knowledge, personal influences, and sustainability issues that impact on technological developments.

Students achieving at level 4 could be expected to:

explain how a technologist seeks to change how people perceive the world and/or their physical abilities and discuss the potential short and long term impacts of these on society and/or the environment;
identify examples of creative and critical thinking in the decision making of a technologist; and
identify the knowledge and skills used in the technologist's practice and categorise this into different disciplines.

Students achieving at level 5 could be expected to:

discuss the role of creative and critical thinking in the technologist's practice;
explain how the past experiences, attitudes, and knowledge of the technologist impacts on how they undertake their work;
identify codified technological knowledge important to the technologist and explain how it impacts on their practice; and
explain how and why the identified technological knowledge became codified.

Students achieving at level 6 could be expected to:

discuss the interdisciplinary nature of the knowledge and skills used in the technologist's practice;
identify examples of collaboration the technologist is involved in and explain how this impacts on their work;
explain an example of when codified knowledge has been challenged due to new knowledge, capability, or changing social pressures; and
discuss the advantages and disadvantages of technologists working in collaborative teams, and what techniques technologists use to manage such team work and any intellectual property issues that may arise.

Students achieving at level 7 could be expected to:

explain how ongoing contestation and competing priorities impact on decision-making processes undertaken by technologists, and discuss examples of how decisions reflect a technologist's own background, their colleagues' backgrounds, established codes, and the influential contemporary factors from wider physical and social environments;
discuss the influences of rapidly developing technological knowledge and capability and changing social expectations on Technological practice; and
explain how technologists employ creative and critical thinking to support innovative practice and discuss the role of technologists when challenging existing social boundaries.

Students achieving at level 8 could be expected to:

illustrate and explain the complexity of Technological Practice that must be undertaken to manage on-going contestation and competing variables (from technologists, stakeholders, general public, and wider social and physical environments) to ensure resulting interventions in the world are justifiable;
explain why technological developments result in unknown and/or unanticipated consequences, and critique the role of technology in the development of sustainable environments; and
argue for or against the requirement for technologists to collectively embrace a level of social responsibility.