Educating Future Engineers and the Image of Technology: Applying the Philosophy of Technology to Engineering Education

This thesis deals with the matter of making reforms in engineering education, and it highlights the significance of delivering a more comprehensive image of technology and its different aspects in the course of training students about technology and engineering. The innovative contribution of the thesis lies in its approach of taking advantage...

Models as artefacts of a dual nature: A philosophical contribution to teaching about models designed and used in engineering practice

Although ‘models’ play a significant role in engineering activities, not much has yet been developed to enhance the technological literacy of students in this regard. This contribution intends to help fill this gap and deliver a comprehensive account as to the nature and various properties of these engineering tools. It begins by inspecting two...

The New Zealand Curriculum's approach to technological literacy through the lens of the philosophy of technology

<br/>New Zealand’s curriculum, in terms of its approach to technological literacy, attempts to deliver a sound, philosophy-­based understanding of the nature of technology. The curriculum’s main authors claim that it conforms well to Mitcham’s (2014) categorization of different aspects of technology’s nature. Nevertheless, taking advantage of...

'Standards' on the bench: Do standards for technological literacy render an adequate image of technology?

The technological literacy of students has recently become one of the primary goals of education in countries such as the USA, England, New Zealand, Australia, and so forth. However the question here is whether these educations - their long-term policy documents as well as the standards they provide in particular - address sufficient learning...