Collaborative learning in technology education: D&T unit on puppetry in different Indian socio-cultural contexts

Abstract

The paper reports on the trials of a Design and Technology (D&T) unit carried out in three different Indian contexts with a focus on collaborative learning. Both collaboration and technology education are not common to the Indian school system. As part of a larger project to introduce technology education, suitable for middle school girls and boys in urban and rural areas, three culturally appropriate and gender sensitive D&T units were developed. All the units were tried out with middle school students in different sociocultural settings: two schools in urban areas (with different languages of teaching and learning) and one in a rural area. This paper presents details of a unit on puppetry which involved making a puppet and staging a puppet-show. Aspects of collaboration within and among groups were observed with respect to: roles played by the members, conflicts and their resolution, sharing of resources, communication and peer review among the students. The trials in the three clusters indicate the potential of this D&T unit to provide collaborative learning situations for the multicultural contexts of Indian classrooms.

Ideas of and Attitudes towards Projects and Changing Practices: Voices of Four Teachers

“…They viewed self and peer assessment, in their classes of over 40 students, to be impractical and unreliable, as students were not "mature" enough to grade "impartially." Research studies of design and technology projects among fewer middle school students from similar contexts showed that groups of students, even with different abilities, learned to work together effectively through engaging in complex projects involving multiple tasks (Khunyakari, Mehrotra, Chunawala, & Natarajan, 2007;Mehrotra, Khunyakari, Natarajan, & Chunawala, 2009). The studies also referred to impartial self and peer assessment of products by students.…”

Design and technology productions among middle school students: an Indian experience

“…The structure of D&T units offers opportunities for both individual and team productions, sharing of resources and negotiation of ideas. The nature of intra and intergroup collaborations and communications as part of students' activities in one of the D&T units has been studied and reported elsewhere (Mehrotra, Khunyakari, Natarajan, & Chunawala, 2006). The study seeks to make technology education applicable within the country's widely different socio-cultural settings.…”

Puppet as a Pedagogical Tool: A Literature Review

“…Puppets and puppetry have the potential to help students integrate into a group and learn how to work cooperatively. In the data set, four studies (Korosec, 2012;Mehrotra, Khunyakari, Natarajan, & Chunawala, 2007;Remer & Tzuriel, 2015) highlight co-operation within and integration into a group. Korošec (2012) notes how "[s]ilent and shy children, showoffs, hyperactive and lonely children" need special support, and how direct communication with them may be unsuc-cessful, leading to rejection.…”

“…Cooperation with the puppet helped them participate (Remer & Tzuriel, 2015). Mehrotra, Khunyakari, Natarajan, and Chunawala (2007) report on the trials of a Design and Technology (D&T) unit carried out in Indian middle schools in different sociocultural settings with a focus on collaborative learning. The design and technology unit includes a unit on puppetry, which involves making a puppet and staging a puppet-show.…”