Spatial thinking is ubiquitous in design. Design education across all age groups encompasses a range of spatially challenging activities, such as forming and modifying mental representations of ideas, and visualizing the scenarios of design prototypes being used. While extensive research has examined the cognitive processes of spatial thinking and their relationships to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning, there remains a knowledge gap regarding the specific spatial thinking processes needed for open-ended problems, which may differ from those assessed in close-ended, analytical spatial tasks. To address this gap, we used educational design-based research to develop a nature-inspired, design-by-analogy project and investigate the spatial thinking processes of young, novice designers. 16 children from an international school in the Netherlands participated in this five-week design project. Multimodal evidence from classroom recordings and children’s design works were triangulated to offer insight into the key spatial thinking processes involved in their creation of nature-inspired, analogy-based design prototypes. Our results revealed spatial thinking processes that might not align with those assessed in conventional spatial tests and may be unique to design or open-ended problem-solving. These processes include abstracting spatial features to infer form-function relationships, retrieving a range of relevant visual information from memory, developing multiple possible analogical matches based on spatial features and relationships, elaborating and iterating on the design concepts and representations to make creative and suitable solutions for the design challenge, as well as visualizing design prototypes in practical usage scenarios. By highlighting the nuanced differences between spatial thinking in open-ended, divergent thinking tasks and conventional spatial tasks that demand single correct solutions, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of how children utilize spatial thinking in design and open-ended problem-solving contexts. Furthermore, this case study offers practical implications for scaffolding children's analogical reasoning and nurturing their spatial thinking in design education.

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Understanding and effectively using visual representations is important to learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Various techniques to visualize information, such as two- and three-dimensional graphs, diagrams, and models, not only expand our capacity to work with different types of information but also actively recruit our visual–spatial thinking. Data physicalization is emerging as a beginner-friendly approach to construct information visualization. Mapping intangible data onto tangible artifacts that possess visual, spatial, and physical properties demands an interplay of spatial thinking and hands-on manipulation. Much existing literature has explored using formatted infographics to aid learning and spatial thinking development. However, there is limited insight into how children may leverage their spatial thinking to create information visualizations, particularly tangible ones. This case study documented the data physicalization activities organized in two design classrooms of an international school in Netherlands, with 37 children aged 11–12. Seven themes relevant to spatial thinking were identified from multimodal evidence gathered from the data physicalization artifacts, classroom videos and recordings of children’s making process, and semi-structured interviews with children. Our findings suggested that these children generated various ideas to create visual–spatial forms for data with the materials at hand, such as mapping quantities to tangible materials of different sizes, using spatial ordinal arrangement, and unitizing materials to set visual parameters. Meanwhile, they evaluated and adjusted the visual–spatial properties of these materials according to the numerical data they had, crafting feasibility, and others’ spatial perspectives. What was particularly interesting in our findings was children’s iteration on their visual–spatial understandings of the intangible numerical values and the tangible materials throughout the embodied making processes. Overall, this study illustrated the different types of spatial thinking children applied to create their data physicalizations and offered insights into how embodied experiences accompanying the open-ended visualization challenge allowed children to explore and construct spatial understandings.@en

This small-scale, qualitative study uses educational design research to explore how focusing on argumentation may contribute to students’ learning to engage in inquiry independently. Understanding inquiry as the construction of a scientifically cogent argument in support of a claim may encourage students to develop personal reasons for adhering to scientific criteria and to use these with understanding rather than by rote. An understanding of the characteristics of scientific evidence may clarify why doing inquiry in specific ways is important, in addition to the how. On the basis of five design principles—derived from literature—that integrate argumentation in inquiry and enhance learning through practical activities, we developed a teaching-learning sequence of five activities aimed at developing inquiry knowledge in lower secondary school students. By means of observations of a grade 9 physics class (N=23, aged 14–15), students’ answers to worksheets, and self-reflection questions, we explored whether the design principles resulted in the intended students’ actions and attitudes. We studied whether the activities stimulated students to engage in argumentation and to develop the targeted inquiry knowledge. The focus on argumentation, specifically through critical evaluation of the quality of evidence, persuaded students to evaluate whether what they thought, said, or claimed was “scientifically” justifiable and convincing. They gradually uncovered key characteristics of scientific evidence, understandings of what counts as convincing in science, and why. Rather than adopting and practicing the traditional inquiry skills, students in these activities developed a cognitive need and readiness for learning such skills. Of their own accord, they used their gained insights to make deliberate decisions about collecting reliable and valid data and substantiating the reliability of their claims. This study contributes to our understanding of how to enable students to successfully engage in inquiry by extending the theoretical framework for argumentation toward teaching inquiry and by developing a tested educational approach derived from it.@en

Design activities are gaining interest as rich contexts for learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. STEM teachers may find this challenging however, as designing requires support that they are not used to providing. In a subject like chemistry, teachers would have to balance creativity and responsibility for the students with concept learning and safety in the classroom. In a case study, we analyzed the verbal interactions of three teachers with their students during design activities in the classroom, with the aim of understanding what teachers and students talk about and how chemistry teachers support the students with their designs. During the lesson, students worked on the design of a self-heating or self-cooling cup, while also performing chemistry experiments to learn about the energy effects of reactions. Such a lesson reflects what design activities in the chemistry classroom could look like. We described the topics that teachers and students talk about, revealing that teachers support students through several types of feedback and questions. We also found that teachers support design tasks in a more open, constructive, and encouraging way than is used for experiments and chemistry concepts, which are supported in a closed, clarifying, and steering manner.@en

Physics inquiry can be interpreted as the construction of a cogent argument in which students apply inquiry knowledge and knowledge of physics to the systematic collection of relevant, valid, and reliable data, creating optimal scientific support for a conclusion that answers the research question. In learning how to devise, conduct and evaluate a rigorous physics inquiry, students should learn to choose and apply suitable techniques and adhere to scientific conventions that guarantee the collection of such data. However, they also need to acquire and apply an understanding of how to justify their choices and present an optimally convincing argument in support of their conclusion. In this modified and augmented Delphi study we present a view of inquiry knowledge and a way to assess it that acknowledges both of these components. Using our own expertise with teaching physics inquiry and using curriculum documents on physics inquiry, “inquiry knowledge” is deconstructed as a set of “understandings of evidence” (UOE)—insights and views that an experimental researcher relies on in constructing and evaluating scientific evidence. While insights cannot be observed directly, we argue that their presence can be inferred from a student’s actions and decisions in inquiry, inferred with more definitude as a more explicit and adequate justification is provided. This set of UOE is presented and validated as an adequate, coherent, partially overlapping set of learning goals for introductory inquiry learning. We specify conceivable types of actions and decisions expected in inquiry as descriptors of five attainment levels, providing an approach to assessing the presence and application of inquiry knowledge. The resulting construct, the assessment rubric for physics inquiry, is validated in this study. It distinguishes nineteen UOE divided over six phases of inquiry. Preliminary results suggesting a high degree of ecological validity are presented and evaluated. Several directions for future research are proposed.@en

In 2020 an article about USA experts’ opinions on the future of technology education was published. Several concerns were expressed by the experts in the Delphi study that had been conducted, such as a shortage of teachers and funding. From the start of the study in USA the idea was to conduct similar studies in other countries. In Finland such a study has also been done but the outcomes have not been published yet. It is interesting to see to what extent the outcomes are USA specific or more broadly valid. To find that out a similar study was done also in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) and the Netherlands. It became clear that there are similarities between the USA outcomes but also differences. Most of those differences can be explained by taking into account the local developments in the different countries@en

Secondary school students often only use the rules for doing scientific inquiry when prompted, as if they fail to see the point of doing so. This qualitative design study explores conditions to address this problem in school science inquiry. Dutch students (N = 22, aged 14–15) repeatedly consider the quality of their work: in a conventional, guided inquiry approach; by evaluating their conclusion in terms of the contextual purpose of the investigation; as consumers of knowledge facing the (hypothetical) risk of applying the findings in the real world. By gauging students’ confidence in the inquiry’s trustworthiness, we established that, while each confrontation instigated some students to (re)consider the quality of their inquiry, the final stage had the greatest impact. Students came to see that finding trustworthy results is essential, requiring scientific standards. The scientific quality of their inquiries was described, weaknesses identified and compared with the improvements students themselves proposed for their inquiries. While the improvemens were expressed in non-specific terms these align with a scientific perspective. Students now wanted to find trustworthy answers by exploiting scientific standards. In enabling students to engage successfully in basic scientific inquiry, finding ways to establish students’ mental readiness for attending to the quality of their scientific claims, and of personalised scientific criteria for their assessment, is indispensable.

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Design-based learning is considered a powerful way to help students apply and develop understanding of science concepts, but research has shown that the success of this approach is not a given. Examining students' understanding of science concepts in various design-based learning contexts has thus continued to be an important field of research. To help advance such work, we explored the affordances of a novel analytic approach for studying data gathered in design-based learning classrooms. We used the “chemical thinking framework,” specifically its “conceptual sophistication” dimension, to analyze 10th-grade, chemistry students' design talk and drawings. We gathered this data during small-group design planning and drawing activities in the classrooms of two teachers whose students were designing a product that harnesses chemical energy to change the temperature of a beverage or snack. The findings demonstrate that this analytic approach was able to reveal that students (implicitly) drew on their understanding of several chemistry concepts while designing. Moreover, it showed that students could use everyday as well as more sophisticated understandings regarding a given chemistry concept while designing. This study furthermore unveiled differences in what and how students' design talk and drawings may reveal use of conceptual understanding, and it showed that different student teams may use a unique combination of understandings during design planning and drawing. We describe how this study's analytic approach complements existing approaches in design-based learning research, and how our findings provide implications for research and practice.@en

Learning to engage in scientific inquiry is an important goal in secondary physics education. However, attaining this learning goal continues to be a challenge. We addressed this problem by devising and testing a teaching sequence that aims at developing students’ (aged 14-15) understanding of and adherence to scientific criteria. We observed, that after going through this sequence, the students' critical attitude evolved and they developed basic understandings of how to conduct a physics inquiry. They started to substantiate the decisions made in their inquiries. The teaching sequence thus seems a suitable starting point for engaging young students in scientific inquiry. @en

This full paper reports on research into feedback perceptions. In recent years enrolment in Engineering Education went up and the number of international students increased, leading to larger classes and greater variety in prior education within the classroom. Literature review reveals large classes lead to fewer opportunities for students to interact with their teachers and receive high quality formative feedback. Feedback helps students to reflect on the quality of their work. Engineering Education is characterized by overloaded, heavily scaffolded curricula, and learning activities; it is paramount to provide students with feedback they perceive as useful and meaningful. The larger diversity in the classroom means there is a larger diversity in feedback perceptions that needs to be taken into account when providing feedback. In this work we present the preliminary outcomes of a study that was informed by the following research question: How do first-year bachelor students perceive feedback? We performed multiple semistructured interviews with 17 first-year students in computer science during their first semester, and aimed to collect data on the students' lived experiences and the spread of student realities, using a phenomenological approach. The preliminary results show that there are many essential aspects that influence students' feedback perceptions. Study shows that such aspects as large class and relationships with teacher play very important role in developing certain feedback perceptions amongst students.@en

Philosophy may not seem to be an obvious source to discover methods for successful product innovation management. However, this book shows that systematic reflection on the nature of product innovation management, supported by insights from the philosophy of technology, can illuminate the innovation process in technology and engineering. Presenting methodological guidelines and philosophical reflections, this book guides readers through each phase of product innovation. At each step, ideas from the philosophy of technology are translated into practical guidelines for managing these processes. The book works through the philosophical perspectives on innovation, methods in innovation design and research, and the value and ethical implications of innovation. Bridging the gap between philosophical context and practical methodologies, this book will be highly valuable for postgraduate students and academics researching and teaching innovation and philosophy of technology.

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This paper explores students’ ability to analyse and interpret empirical data as inadequate data analysis skills and understandings may contribute to the renowned disappointing outcomes of practical work in secondary school physics. Selected competences, derived from a collection of leading curricula, are explored through interviews and practical tasks, each consisting of three probes. The 51 students, aged 15 and commencing post-compulsory science education in the Netherlands, were able to carry out basic skills such as collecting data and representing these. In interpreting the data in terms of the investigated phenomenon or situation however, performance was weak. Students often appeared to be unable to identify the crucial features of a given graph. Conclusions based on the data were often tautological or superficial, lacking salient features. Students failed to infer implications from the data, to interpret data at a higher level of abstraction, or to specify limitations to the validity of the analysis or conclusions. The findings imply that the students’ understanding of data-analysis should be developed further before they can engage successfully in more ‘open’ practical work. The study offers a collection of activities that may help to address the situation, suggesting a baseline for guided development of data analysis abilities.

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The aims of the study were to investigate high school students' conceptions of learning technology (COLT) in mainland China and the Netherlands, and tried to explain the differences from different educational and social backgrounds. The phenomenographic method was used, interviewing 85 students from both counties. The findings of the research shows that COLT in this study is conceptualized as (1) learning knowledge, (2) learning technology skills, (3) learning technology methods and abilities, (4) using knowledge into practice, (5) doing research, and (6) preparing the exams and getting the credits. There are only a few differences found in the kinds of COLT between Chinese and Dutch students, and reasons behind them are explored.

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Bringing design practices to chemistry education is gaining interest with recent science curriculum reforms emphasising design, and calls for integrated STEM education. Design is a central practice in the chemistry discipline, and could foster meaningful chemistry education. Although chemistry teachers are key in bringing design to chemistry classrooms, and in realising design’s potential for learning, little is known about their views on teaching and learning regarding design. To reduce this gap in literature, we explored chemistry teachers’ pedagogical ideas in the context of a Dutch professional learning community on design in chemistry education. We elicited teachers’ ideas through semi-structured interviews and lesson forms which teachers kept while implementing a design project. Multiple patterns emerged through analysing teachers’ ideas. We found that the teachers did not see teaching design as a goal of chemistry education. Instead, teachers valued design as a teaching approach to engage students in applying chemistry concepts, in developing soft skills, and in applying or developing research practices. In this paper, we present more patterns in teachers’ ideas, and discuss possible explanations of these findings in depth. Finally, we give suggestions for future research, and teacher professional development that may help support a change to bring design into chemistry education.

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Preliminary empirical research conducted by the leading author has shown that design students using biological analogies, or models across different contexts, often misinterpreted these, intentionally or unintentionally, during design. By copying shape or form without integrating the main function of the mimicked biological model, students failed to consider the process or system directing that function when attempting to solve the design need. This article considers the first step in the development of an applicable educational model using distant analogies from nature, by means of biomimicry thinking methodology. The analysis examines results from a base-line exercise taken by students in the Minor Design with Nature during the Spring semester of Industrial Design Engineering at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in 2019, verifying that students without biomimicry training use this hollow approach automatically. This research confirms the gap between where students are at the beginning of the semester and where they need to be as expert sustainable designers when they graduate. These findings provide a starting point for future interventions in biomimicry workshops to improve systematic design thinking through structural and scientifically based iterations of analogical reasoning.

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During a Design and Technology class, engagement is both required to start creative hands-on work and a sign of pupil’s creative thinking. To find ways to achieve engagement, we can look to the Montessori tradition. Due to the fact that learning is regarded as feeding insight through experimenting, tasks have to offer pupils the opportunity to gain knowledge about isolated details of the learning situation. This is realised by brief, simple and objective tasks combined with liberty to approach the hands-on work in one’s own way. Applied to Design and Technology, we can define brief, simple and objective tasks with a focus on a technique as an isolated detail of the learning situation. Offering liberty during hands-on work enables creative thinking. The deployment of well-defined tasks with a focus on a technique is possible by dividing a complex assignment into a collection of brief tasks with single problems and working towards single objectives in the topic, making use of a single technique. Such a collection is a format that has the potential to enable ongoing engagement. This case-study researches the actual effect of a stepwise organised collection of tasks on the design performance of pupils of nine to twelve years old. The results show that the tasks turned out to be useful in initiating engagement. In combination with joint presentations, ongoing engagement was achieved resulting in well-considered designs and products. In addition, dialogue with disengaged pupils delivered solutions towards engagement. As a side-effect of dialogue the teacher-pupil relationships and the pupil-pupil relationships improved.@en

In this article, the morality in the “wickedness” of design problems as wicked problems is explored. I will use for that purpose the characteristics of wicked problems as identified by Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber. These characteristics suggest interdisciplinary thinking for solving such problems. An awareness of the wicked nature of design problems can stimulate proper use of the concept of utopias for solving these problems. I will use the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd to provide a framework for understanding the nature of design problems as wicked problems.

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Mathematics is of major importance in science subjects. Unfortunately, students struggle with applying mathematics in science subjects, especially physics. In this qualitative study we demonstrate that transfer of algebraic skills from mathematics in physics class can be improved by using pre-knowledge effectively. We designed shift-problems involving instructional models to carry out small interventions in textbook problems. Shift-problems are feasible for teachers to adopt in teaching practice. To gain insight in the extent to which students improved their application of algebraic skills including basic skills and symbol sense behaviour, we selected three grade-10 physics students. In round one, the students solved algebraic physics problems as they appear in physics textbooks. Two weeks later in round two, the same problems were presented as shift problems to them where we activated prior mathematical knowledge by providing systematic rule-based algebraic hints at the start of these tasks. Algebraic skills were presented in a similar way to how these were learned in mathematics textbooks. We observed that students' problem-solving abilities increased from 48.5 % in the first to 81.8 % in the second round, indicating the effectiveness of how we implemented shift-problems. Furthermore, we discussed the implications of our results for the international science audience.

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