Development of Students’ Technical Abilities between 1993-2022 in Finnish Comprehensive Schools

Abstract

The aim of this study was to find out if there have been any changes in technical abilities among Finnish school children during the last 30 years. Technical abilities were first measured in the affective, psychomotor, and cognitive areas in the year 1993 and these results were later compared with the results from 2012 and 2022. The number of test participants was 267 in the year 1993, 317 in 2012 and 282 in 2022. The age of the student respondents was 11–13 years. The measurements were done with exactly the same research instruments in all three years. Some positive changes were found in affective area among girls’ test groups. Unfortunately, in all research groups the development was negative in the psychomotor and cognitive area. The reason for the decline could be in the reduction of craft and technology education lessons available, especially for boys. From a broader point of view, the changes can be due to the changes in society as a whole. It seems that the curriculum changes during last 30 years have not worked as they have been planned. Especially, boys underachievement is explained by the fact that, even if students work with systematic planning models and use their creativity, aesthetical design usually overshadows technological issues. It is assumed that progressive teaching and assessment favour girls and traditional methods are more congenial to boys.