Creativity in Design & Technology

David BarlexNuffield Design & Technology

Young Foresight

Electronics in Schools

Brunel University

Presentation overview

• The Ground Rules• Creativity revealed in art objects• Designing as a creative activity• Creativity revealed in design objects• The contribution of Nuffield D&T to creativity• An heretical approach from Young Foresight • Does ICT add value to creativity?• Can electronics be creative?

The Robinson Definition

using imagination pursuing purposes being original being of value From All our Futures: Creativity, Culture

& Education

The Nuffield QCA Findings

Stimulus

Context

Reflection

Knowledge and Skill

‘Risky’ activity

Risk management

Creative activity

Looking at art objects

• Boticelli• Exquisite, time

consuming execution• What does the

gossamer gown tell us?• Was the artist lost in

time when painting that?

Looking at art objects

• Jackson Pollock• Rapid execution• Almost in a trance• Yet desperately

trying to control the dripping paint

Looking at art objects

• Elisabeth Frink• Frightening and

fascinating• Faceless, powerful

authority • Raw masculinity and

strength• A chilling vision slowly

revealed by the chisel

Designing as a creative activity

• Relating the work of Nigel Cross on designers and designing to creativity as defined by the Robinson Report

• Produce novel, unexpected solutions - being original• Tolerate uncertainty, working with incomplete information - using

imagination• Apply imagination and constructive forethought to practical problems -

using imagination & being of value• Use drawings and other modelling media as a means of problem

solving - pursuing a purpose• Resolve ill-defined problems - pursuing a purpose• Adopt solution-focusing strategies - being concerned with value• Employ abductive/productive/appositional thinking - using imagination• Use non-verbal, graphic/spatial modelling media - being imaginative

and original

Looking at design objects

• Analogous to the human arm • Springs acting as

counterbalances to the loads • The frame from stiff, strong

and light tubes• The base necessary to

prevent overbalancing is in scale with the remainder of the design

Looking at design objects

• A radical departure from the traditional forms and materials

• Distinctive circular cabinet restated in the speaker, the controls and the arc of the tuning dial

• Fuelled by the aesthetic of British Modernism

• Cost effective manufacture

Looking at design objects

• A variant on an old product

• Manufactured to solve a packaging problem

• Selling so successfully that it has become a new product in its own right

The grim reality in many schools

• LEA findings

• The research perspective

• The Oftsed view

• See Creativity in Crisis, Design & Technology at KS3 and KS4 DATA Research Paper No 18

The Nuffield secondary pedagogy

• Resource Tasks• Capability Tasks• Case Studies• Progression as a sequence of

Capability Tasks underpinned by developing strategies for designing

• Scaffolded by means of Resource Tasks and Case Studies

• Supports risk taking needed for creativity in designing

• High sales at KS3 and reasonable sales at KS4 yet limited impact

• Overall a bit disappointing

Designing at KS4

• www.secondarydandt.org • Extending the useful life of the materials• Design Hexagon - strategy plus RTs • Design Guides- issues to consider• Free to download

The primary approach

• Big Tasks• Dedicated Small Tasks• Clarity in design

decisions• The immersion

experience• A pack for teachers• A website for teachers

www.primarydandt.org

Primary Food Technology Year 1

Progression in Primary Food Technology

• Year 1 - A Fruit Salad• Year 2 - A Serving of Toast• Year 3 - A Cold Drink• Year 4 - A Pastry Product• Year 5 - A Serving of Tea• Year 6 - A Bread Product (as a bridging

activity)

The moving pictures

The roly polys

Children’s buggies

• The basic model• No special effects• Just forward and

reverse

Children’s buggies

• The reversing switch close up

• A lot of patience and persistence needed here

• But masking tape is no substitute for solder

Children’s buggies

• A closer look at the drive system

• Tension and weight causing material failure

• What can be done to improve this?

Children’s buggies

• A more sophisticated approach

• Forward and reverse• Card mounted power

supply and switch• Lighting

Children’s buggies

• Careful decoration

• Torn tissue paper for an effective camouflage

• Plus muzzle flash!

Children’s buggies

• A closer look at the insides

• Two lights• In series so not very

bright• A paper fastener

switch• And too much

masking tape!

Children’s buggies

• Even more sophisticated

• Forward and reverse• Card mounted power

supply and switch• Lights that penetrate

the body shell

Children’s buggies

• A closer look at the insides

• Elegant layout• Body shell with

moveable sun roof and windows

• An absence of masking tape

But what about this one?

• Dog rough!• Intense• Urgent• And the only one

with the light switch on the hand held control panel

Young Foresight Synopsis (i)

• Use in design & technology

• As part of KS3 curriculum

• Particularly suitable for year 9

• Also used at KS4 and KS5

• Developed to enhance creativity, collaborative learning, design ability and presentation skills

Young Foresight Synopsis (ii)

• Design but not make• Products and services for the future• Utilising new and emerging

technologies• Working in groups• Supported by mentors from industry• Presenting ideas to peers, teacher,

mentor and wider audiences

Conceptual design with the Young Foresight Tetrahedron

Technology

Society

Markets

People

The QTC Challenge

• QTC is clever stuff. • It comes as thin sheets or a powder.• It can be built into textiles or fixed to hard surfaces.• In a relaxed state it is a good insulator.• When it is stretched, squashed or twisted it becomes a

conductor.• The harder you stretch, squash or twist it the better it

conducts.• It’s already been used in power tools and a robot hand.

• What would you use it for?

Pupils’ concept 1

Pupils’ concept 2

Pupils’ concept 3

Pupils’ concept 4

Lots more examples

• At www.youngforesight.org

• PLUS

• Information about the project

• Print materials to download

• News from the regions

The Research and Development Dimension

• Patricia Murphy of the Open University has investigated problem solving in D&T and evaluated the Young Foresight Programme

• Extensive observation in classrooms coupled with intensive analysis of the data provides insight into D&T pedagogy

The Young Foresight and standard D&T classrooms compared

• Murphy & McCormick (1997)

• Murphy & Hennessy (2001) • In the standard design &

make classroom• Designing in the box• Problem solving avoided• Problem solving

unsupported• Asking for answers and

following instructions• Problem solving thwarted

• In the Young Foresight conceptual design classroom

• Autonomy• Personal decision making• Successful collaborative

learning - through dialogue students developed an integrated understanding of design issues and concepts

• Considerable ‘residual’ pay off (Hiebert et al. 1999)

Young Foresight and Design

• After the Programme all students had developed understanding of design beyond the confines of their D&T experiences and were able to discriminate between design decisions. In particular they had come to understand fundamental relationships that inform a critical approach to design and that support student creativity. This indicated that the students were experiencing design as a process rather than a series of isolated activities.

Where does ICT add value?

• For generating design ideas

• For developing design ideas

• For communicating design ideas

• For making design decisions

• For prototyping and manufacturing

Where is ICT going?

• Search engines?• New types of software?• Manufacturing?• Virtual products?• Embedded intelligence?• Who is deciding where it goes in

education?

Electronics in schoolsa risky strategy

• Based on 7 SETPOINTS• Considerable local autonomy • Responsive to local conditions• Utilising local expertise• Centred on teacher professional development• Different entry levels• On going evaluation by Open University • Managed by SEMTA• Visit www.electronicsinschools.com

Design Decisions

Technical

Conceptual

AestheticConstructional

Marketing

Myths exploded

• It’s too hard to teach• It’s too hard to learn• Girls can’t/won’t do it• It costs too much• There’s no room in the curriculum• You can’t compete with high street products

Product potential

Summing up

TAUGHT

Small Task Big Task Pedagogy

CAUGHT

Outside influences

ENABLED

Appropriate technologies

UNDERPINNED

Social constructivism

Design decisions

EXPERIENCED

References• Murphy, P. and McCormick, R. (1997) Problem Solving in Science and Technology Education,

Research in Science Education, 27, (3) 461 - 481• Hiebert,J., Carpenter, P., Fennema, E., Fuson, K., Human, P., Murray, H., Olivier, A., & Wearne, D.,

(1999) Problem Solving as a Basis for Reform in Curriculum and Instruction: the Case of Mathematics in Murphy, P. (ed) Learners, Learning and Assessment, London, Paul Chapman

• Atkinson, S. (2000) Does the need for high levels of performance curtail the devlopment of creativity in design & technology project work? International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 10 (3) 255 - 281

• John-Steiner, V.(2000) Creative Collaboration, Oxford University Press, New York • Murphy, P. and Hennessy, S. (2001) Realising the Potential - and Lost Opportunities - for Peer

Collaboration in a D&T setting, International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 11 (3) 203 - 237

• Murphy, P. (2002) in Barlex, D. (ed) Creativity in Crisis, London, Nuffield Foundation DATA• Cross, N. (2002) The nature and nurture of design ability in G. Owen-Jackson (ed) Teaching Design

and Technology in Secondary Schools, Routledge Farmer, London • Barlex, D. (2003) Considering the impact of design & technology on society – the experience of the

Young Foresight Project in Dakers, J. & de Vries, M. (eds) PATT 13 Conference Proceedings 140 - 144 Scotland, Glasgow University available at http://www.secondarydandt.org/dandtworld/report_0000000649.asp 7.03.04 4.00 pm

• Barlex, D and Rutland, M. (2003) Developing the Teaching of Food Technology in Primary Schools in England through Curriculum Development and Initial Teacher Education, International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 13 (2) 171 - 192 available at http://www.nuffieldcurriculumcentre.org/go/CurriculumIssues/Issue_17.html 8.04.04 5.30 pm

Thanks for listening

dbarlex@nuffieldfoundation.org