The 5th Biennial International Conference on Technology Education Research "Exploring Technology Education: Solutions to issues in a Globalised World" will be held from 27 - 29 November 2008 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Keynote speakers
- Dr David Johnston - Oxford University
- Professor Clare Benson - Birmingham City University
- Dr Judith Moreland - Waikato University
In 1969 the Nobel Prize winning researcher Herbert Simon attempted to categorize learning. Simon concluded that all learning could be located in one of two categories. The first was the natural sciences which Simon argued were concerned with understanding what is while the second Simon categorized as design which was concerned with what might be that is, with the explicitly normative purpose of achieving desirable ends. The underpinning for most contemporary technology education programs is some form of design process and technology teachers grapple with the challenge of providing learning experiences that develop in their students the abilities to engage with meaningful problems and achieve desirable solutions. The ways in which teachers are helping students to identify issues and formulate ways to address them are not well known but are the subject of research in many countries. This conference aims to present research examining these aspects of technology education.
The conference organising committee invites papers that address aspects of teaching and learning in technology education concerned with the theme of the conference. While papers addressing the conference theme are particularly welcome, authors are invited to submit research papers addressing any topic relevant to technology education.
Delegates will come from a wide range of technology education stakeholders - teacher educators, teachers, researchers, post-graduate students, policy makers, curriculum developers, consultants, and members of the broader educational community.
TERC 2008 Review Board