Teachers Researching, Children Designing

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established both the need for research and some of the directions it should take. There was general consensus among the participants that research needs to focus on what actually happens in the classroom: how teachers teach and how students learn. Research should begin with some conception of the goals appropriate for technology education, and then look for the ways in which these are or are not achieved. also make the case for investigations grounded in classroom practice. However, as so often happens in education, there is a wide gap between intention and implementation. Karen Zuga’s paper (2000) showed that very little of the current research is focused on teaching and learning in technology classrooms. Moreover, participant Mark Sanders pointed out that the problem is compounded by a shrinking pool of researchers. Its importance notwithstanding, it is unclear who will actually do this research. There is an obvious, but largely overlooked answer to this question. Even in the United States, teachers are gradually becoming attracted by the promise of technology education. Several large NSF-funded projects are demonstrating the potential role of technology as a spur to literacy, both as motivation for math and science, and for teaching general problem-solving strategies. The standards may also help in this regard. The Benchmarks (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993) clearly express the importance of technology in the curriculum while the national standards for mathematics, science, and English call for contextual learning that can easily occur within the contexts of technology. As teachers experiment with this new subject material, many issues about teaching and learning will naturally arise. With appropriate support, teachers can play key roles in exploring many of the research questions in technology education. There is an even more important argument for teachers’ participation in educational research. Too many educational research projects have little to do with the day-today realities of the classroom teacher. Teachers are sometimes seen as irrelevant to ” larger issues ” such as standards, curriculum, or children’s cognitive development. This point of view is reflected in cynical terms such as ” teacher-proof curriculum. ” At best, the traditional researcher regards the