Developing perspectives on ‘the demonstration’ as a signature pedagogy in design and technology education

Abstract

This paper builds on a previous study of the 'demonstration' as a signature pedagogy in design and technology (D&T). The demonstration is a fundamental pedagogical tool in practical subjects, for the development of learners' procedural knowledge, from observation and imitation to autonomy and adaption of a technique. As such, it tends to align itself at the restrictive end of an expansive-restrictive pedagogical continuum. In the preceding study, a dialogue emerged around the role of the teacher as a "competent management of the learning experience", including teachers' competency and clarity of subject knowledge. The findings of this study highlight two similar, yet distinct, perspectives of the teacher as an expert and the teacher as a facilitator. This study continues a developing professional conversation around the nature of the demonstration, exploring a snapshot of teacher educators' subjective beliefs and values. The responses of the participants to a set of 62 statements, representing a range of potential opinions and perspectives, were deployed and analysed using Q Methodology. The sample is purposive and comprised of D&T teacher educators based in England. The study draws parallels with direct instruction and demonstration, and concludes that there different approaches to and ways of viewing demonstration. In addition, further consideration of the expansive-restrictive continuum as a framework for planning and evaluating learning in D&T may support theorisation of the subject, inculcation of theory and research informed practice.The research question for this study is-'What do D&T teacher educators believe to be effective practice when demonstrating skills and knowledge?' This study continues to develop the dialogue, begun by McLain (2017) and McLain et al. (2015), around the subjective views on the 'demonstration' in D&T; focusing on teacher educators in England and building on the initial analysis of data discussed in McLain (2016McLain ( , 2017. McLain (2016McLain ( , 2017 demonstration was described as encompassing aspects of teacher modelling and explaining, often supported by questioning. Furthermore, 'demonstration' typically focuses on practical techniques and procedures, often (although not exclusively) with regard to making and tool use. The literature review in McLain (2017) presented central concepts from a largely constructivist perspective and this paper seeks to critique different perspectives. This literature review explores the concept of a signature pedagogy and expands the discussion around the role of the 'demonstration' in relation to so-called domains of learning. In addition, literature from cognitive science (cognitive load theory, direct instruction and social learning theory), which purport to challenge the constructivist perspective on learning, is explored and evaluated. Literature review

Towards a signature pedagogy for design and technology education: a literature review

“…The sample of articles were selected from the British Education Index (EBSCO-Host), using the search term "signature pedagogies" in academic journals for the period 2000-2020. The search returned 21 papers, excluding those written by the author (McLain, 2017(McLain, , 2019; 6 of which identified 'signature pedagogy' or 'signature pedagogies' in the title, 18 in the abstract and 11 in the keywords-only one article only mentioned the term in the main body of the paper (Table 2).…”

“…The term signature pedagogy has only recently been used in research literature in the field. For example, Stables (2020) focuses on signature pedagogies for the future and McLain (2017McLain ( , 2019 on the established pedagogy of demonstration. In the later article, McLain questions whether demonstration was a true signature pedagogy of D&T, which may indeed be part of the 'surface structure' described by Shulman; as a teaching method that contributes to, but does not stand alone as, a signature pedagogy.…”

Science teacher’s perceptions of the nature of technology: a Q-methodology study

“…The statements in Q methodology are supposed to represent a wide range of views held by a community (McLain, 2021). Therefore, in this study, the statements in each category originated from well accepted research in the related literature (see Table 3 for the references); and a pilot study was carried out with 10 science teachers before conducting the main study.…”

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“…Bentuk lain yang digunakan selama psikoedukasi adalah pemeragaan, yaitu pengembangan pengetahuan prosedural peserta didik, dari observasi dan imitasi hingga otonomi yang berfokus pada teknik dan prosedur praktis (McLain, 2019). Oleh karena itu, pemeragaan merupakan metode yang tepat untuk agar peserta dapat memahami dan mempraktikkan teknik-teknik untuk meredakan stres.…”

“…Selain itu, digunakan metode pemeragaan pada sesi kedua. Pemeragaan merupakan salah satu teknik yang bertujuan mengembangkan pengetahuan peserta didik yang berfokus pada teknik dan prosedur praktis (McLain, 2019). Pemeragaan dinilai sebagai metode yang efektif digunakan untuk menjelaskan teknik-teknik meredakan stres, karena pada sesi ini peserta tidak hanya perlu mengetahui tapi juga mempraktikkan atau melakukan langsung gerakan-gerakan pada setiap teknik yang dicontohkan oleh pemateri.…”