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"Skogh, Inga-Britt"
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Integrating social sustainability in engineering education at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate what are perceived to be the main challenges associated with the integration of social sustainability into engineering education at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
Design/methodology/approach
– Semi-structured interviews were conducted with programme leaders and teachers from four engineering programmes. The paper focuses on how the concept of social sustainability is defined and operationalised in the selected engineering programmes, how social sustainability is integrated and taught, and what resources are required to support teachers and programme leaders as social sustainability educators.
Findings
– The findings show that programme leaders and teachers at KTH struggle to understand the concept of social sustainability. The vague and value-laden nature of the concept is considered a challenge when operationalising educational policy goals on social sustainability into effective learning outcomes and activities. A consequence is that the responsibility for lesson content ultimately falls on the individual teacher. Study visits and role-play are seen as the most effective tools when integrating social sustainability into the engineering curriculum. Allocation of specific resources including supplementary sustainability training for teachers and economic incentives are considered crucial to successful integration of social sustainability. The findings indicate that social sustainability education needs to be built on a theoretical foundation. It is therefore suggested that a literature canon be established that clarifies the contours of social sustainability.
Practical implications
– The findings of the paper can be used as a basis for discussion regarding measures for improving social sustainability training in engineering education, a subject which has attracted relatively little attention, to date.
Originality/value
– There is a noticeable lack of empirical research on how technical universities integrate social sustainability into engineering education. The paper provides an account of how actors directly involved in this work – programme leaders and teachers – define and operationalise the social dimension of sustainable development in their engineering curricula, the pedagogical tools they consider effective when teaching social sustainability issues to engineering students, and the resources they believe are needed to strengthen those efforts.
Journal Article
Experienced technology teachers’ teaching practices
Teachers’ teaching practice plays a key role in the learning process of pupils, and for teaching to be successful, teachers must have knowledge in many different fields. This obviously also applies to teaching the subject technology. However, lower secondary school technology education in Sweden has reportedly been described in terms of teaching not following the curriculum along with widespread uncertainty among teachers regarding how to design their teaching practices. To address this national challenge, we need to understand the existing technology teaching practice. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore the considerations experienced technology teachers make. The study is based on interviews with technology teachers who work in lower secondary school (13–15-year-old pupils). The collected data consist of teacher’s statements regarding their own expertise and teaching practice. To visualize the described teaching practice we have analysed collected data through the lens of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The results show both similarities and differences in the teachers’ descriptions. Speaking in terms of PCK, the purpose and teaching focus expressed by the respondents, framed within the category ‘Orientations to teach technology’, vary considerably. However, regarding ‘instructional strategies’, the consensus among those experienced teachers is striking. Experienced technology teachers’ teaching practices are proven to provide valuable information about the subject’s potential, and the findings offer a basis for the future development of the subject of technology as well as future teacher education and professional development courses.
Journal Article
Outcome analyses of educational interventions: a case study of the Swedish “Boost of Technology” intervention
In Sweden, there have been multiple large scale interventions to support compulsory school teachers generally and within specific subjects. Due to the costs associated with such interventions it is critical that interim evaluation measures exist which can indicate potential success. Additionally, evaluation measures which can measure the actual impact of interventions relative to their intended aim are also needed as validation tools. The Swedish regional ‘Tekniklyftet’ or ‘Boost of Technology’ project which ran from 2011 to 2013 is presented here as a case study exploring evaluation measures for educational interventions in technology education. Three different evaluation approaches were used as measures of the intended outcomes of the intervention. These included (1) analysing the preconditions which exist in schools for teachers of Technology, (2) analysing the use of local long term technology education planning documents (school work plans) developed during the intervention, and (3) analysing the potential change over time in student performance in Technology based on national grades at the end of compulsory school. The findings gained from each approach indicate that the Boost of Technology project was a success. However, there were shortcomings associated with each approach. They are therefore discussed in the Swedish context with the intention to support future international stakeholders in the evaluation of interventions aspiring to develop technology education.
Journal Article
Technology Teachers as Researchers
This book presents the scientific output of the TUFF research school in Sweden. In this school, a group of active teachers worked together on a series of educational research studies. All of those studies were related to the teaching about technology and engineering. The research program consisted of studies at various angles of view: a philosophical view, a national view, and a classroom practice view.
eBook
Bridging a gap: in search of an analytical tool capturing teachers’ perceptions of their own teaching
Computing and computers are introduced in school as important examples of technology, sometimes as a subject matter of their own, and sometimes they are used as tools for other subjects. All in all, one might even say that
learning about
computing and computers is part of
learning about
technology. Lately, many countries have implemented programming in their curricula as a means to address society’s dependence on, and need for programming knowledge and code. Programming is a fairly new school subject without educational traditions and, due to the rapid technological development, in constant change. This means that most programming teachers must decide for themselves
what
and
how
to teach. In this study, programming teachers’ teaching is studied. With the aim of exploring the connection/possible gap between
teacher’s intentions
and
the teacher’s instructional practice
, an expansion of the conceptual apparatus of phenomenography and variation theory is tested. In the article, phenomenography and variation theory and the suggested supplementary theoretical tool (Georg Henrik von Wright’s model of logic of events) are briefly presented and then deployed upon one selected case. Findings reveal that teachers’ intentions (reflected in their actions) include an emphasis (of teachers’ side) on the importance of balancing theory and practice, using different learning strategies, encouraging learning by trial-and-error and fostering collaboration between students for a deeper understanding of concepts. In conclusion, logic of events interpretations proves to be useful as a complementary tool to the conceptual apparatus of phenomenography.
Journal Article
Pre-university Engineering Education
Pre-university engineering education has become the topic of increasing interest in technology education circles. It can provide content for the E in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, which is in the interest of technology educators at different educational levels as it builds the bridge between them and the science and mathematics educators. In this book goals for pre-university engineering education are explored as well as existing practices from a variety of countries.
eBook
PRE-UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING EDUCATION RESEARCH AT A UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY: A Case Study of the Pre-university Engineering Initiatives at KTH
In recent years, the issue of students’ knowledge and interest in science and technology has attracted the attention of several international studies (e.g., PISA/OECD, ROSE, TIMMS). Findings from these studies have influenced debates about education in general and about STEM subjects in particular (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
Book Chapter