To See Reason: Technology Teachers’ Interventions and Students’ Reasoning in the Design Process

Abstract

In this study, the aim has been to explore teacher interventions in relation to students' reasoning in the design process. It is important that technology education develops students’ reasoning in design so that the students can learn to draw conscious conclusions and to make the thought process behind these conclusions explicit. The teacher’s support is pivotal to this learning. However, research on teacher practice when students reason within technology education is limited. Nonetheless, gaining knowledge about this would support further insights in how to develop students’ reasoning in design. Data has been collected through two classroom observations of lessons in technology education in Swedish secondary schools. Video and audio were recorded using two cameras and teacher-mounted and student group microphones. Transcribed video and audio data were analyzed through thematic analysis. In the results, the teacher interventions have been described and presented in relation to the important reasoning types in design; means-end reasoning and cause-effect reasoning. Findings indicate that the students’ reasoning is more visible when the teacher asks counter questions or questions to check-up or to challenge the student’s actions. The results of this study will be beneficial to propel further research about teaching in relation to students’ reasoning in design.