In technology education, gifted students need complexity but few studies address this phenomenon. Differentiated instruction and educational activities that provide complexity can meet diverse learning needs and create inclusive settings. In Sweden generally, inclusive settings are common. The aim of this paper is to present a framework for analyzing complexity in technology education activities. The framework combines knowledge dimensions (factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive knowledge) with abilities (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create) and higher order thinking. An exemplar activity for lower secondary technology education will be used to demonstrate the utility of the framework as an analytical tool. The results can provide input in planning and developing technology education concerning gifted students’ needs of complexity and contributes to a discussion about inclusiveness in the settings of technology education. 

Gifted students need complexity in technology education. In response, this article aims to present a fram-ework for analyzing complexity in technology education activities (AKTA), which can be used to meet gifted students’ needs of complexity. The framework has been created by combining abilities (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create) with knowledge dimensions (factual, conceptual, proce-dural, and metacognitive knowledge) and higher order thinking. Furthermore, the framework is applied to activities for lower secondary technology education to demonstrate its utility as an analytical tool. The framework is intended for use in discussing, planning, and developing technology education with a focus on gifted students’ needs.

Gifted students have specific educational needs. For instance, they need teaching to be challen-ging and stimulating. Teachers in inclusive settings have a variety of needs to consider. However,when it comes to technology education, little is known about gifted students’ needs. The aim ofthis study is to describe and synthesize knowledge about gifted students’ needs in technologyeducation based on a systematic literature review and a thematic analysis. The results comprisefour themes describing gifted students’ needs and how teaching can be organized to meet theseneeds: Complexity, Autonomy, Authenticity, and Support. The themes, conceptualized as the CAASframework, can guide teachers in their efforts to plan and carry out technology teaching asa proactive response to gifted students’ needs.

In this qualitative study, we investigated how students and teachers responded to the design of a digital self-assessment tool and how they experienced the use of the tool to support understanding and development of twenty-first century skills when working with makerspace activities. There were 65 lower secondary school students and four teachers participating in the study. We used individual interviews with the teachers and group interviews with the students. Data were analysed with thematic coding of transcripts from interviews. The results showed that the participants found that the tool needed technical improvements, but that they gained some insights into the meaning of the included twenty-first century skills (collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, life/social skills and communication). However, it was particularly difficult for students to understand the meaning of life/social skills and how this connected to makerspace activities. Still, both students and teachers argued that it is possible to develop twenty-first century skills during makerspace activities. Teachers also found connections between the skills and learning objectives in the school subject technology, but also in other subjects. We were unsure of how used students were to self-assessment and we believe that teachers’ role is essential, even when it comes to supporting students in self-assessment. Finally, both students and teachers argued that twenty-first century skills are of importance for the future and the project served as an eye-opener in this aspect. 

Many countries, including Sweden, teach gifted students in mixed-ability classrooms and teachers often need to differentiate their teaching. Gifted students have specific needs and for the subject technology these needs are described in terms of complexity, autonomy, support and authenticity (CASA-framework, Brink, submitted). How the subject technology can meet these needs is described using the CASA-framework, however, there is a lack of knowledge to what extend the subject actually offers CASA to gifted students. 

Therefore, we conducted a content analysis on the three existing educational textbooks for lower secondary school (age 13-15) in Sweden. Krathwohl’s framework (2002) was used to capture the knowledge type and the cognitive processes involved in the text, tasks and other content in the textbook.  

Our preliminary results show that complexity is offered to some extent. Autonomy is addressed occasionally through home-assignments. Support is not made explicit and authenticity is apparent throughout all textbooks. However, tasks result in a school-related product and rarely impact the wider society outside school. At the conference, we will present an overview of our findings and show examples of where and how the textbooks meet gifted students´ needs. 

Digital design tools as computer aided design (CAD) are commonly used when teaching about design and product development in Swedish lower secondary school technology education. From a previous phenomenographical study (Brink et al., 2021), it is known that teachers are experiencing teaching with CAD to be complex, challenging and include several learning outcomes. Teaching with CAD thus enables differentiated teaching and it is important to learn more about this teaching, especially regarding gifted students.  

The aim of this ongoing study is to describe gifted students’ needs in technology education and identifying important features in technology education regarding gifted students’ needs. The study also aims to develop knowledge about teaching with digital design tools as CAD in inclusive and differentiated settings and describe from a teacher perspective, if and how teaching with digital design tools can stimulate and challenge gifted students in lower secondary school.

The first part of this study is planned as a scoping review and a content analysis of policy document and available resources for Swedish technology education. This will result in a theoretical framework for use in the second part of the study. The second part is planned as an intervention study where researcher and teachers together develop, analyze and document a CAD activity through three different workshops (3 – 5 teachers at each workshop), for use in lower secondary school technology education. Data will be collected through observations, documents from the workshops and from semi-structured interviews with the participating teachers after the workshops. The qualitative data will be analyzed with the theoretical framework from the first part of the study. It is expected that the result of the study can be used to guide teachers in technology to better include and challenge gifted students in learning. The results are also expected to increase the knowledge base of differentiated technology education in inclusive settings, with relevance for Nordic educational research with interests in technology education and gifted education. The results can also be important for technology teachers and teacher educators. 

Brink, H., Kilbrink, N., & Gericke, N. (2021). Teaching digital models: Secondary technology teachers’ experiences. International Journal of Technology and Design Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-021-09659-5

Students who are gifted and students with high abilities can have special educational needs. Teaching should be challenging and stimulating and teachers and educators in inclusive settings have a variety of needs to consider, included the gifted students’ needs. However, when it comes to secondary technology education, little is known about gifted students’ needs. The aim of this ongoing study is to describe and synthesize knowledge about gifted students’ needs in technology education through a systematic research literature review and a thematic analysis. The tentative results are four themes describing gifted students’ needs in technology education as Complexity, Autonomy, Support, and Authenticity. The themes can be used by teachers and guide them in their efforts to plan and implement diverse and differentiated technology teaching as a proactive response to the gifted students’ needs in inclusive settings.

Student teachers who previously have gained academic knowledge or vocational skills often find it challenging to transform content knowledge into teaching activities that contribute to their future secondary students’ learning. Student teachers express a need for pedagogical tools, time to practice, and opportunities for reflection. Previous research has shown that this can be achieved through micro-teaching, which in our interpretation implies that student teachers practice teaching 1) with a limited subject-specific content 2) for a limited amount of time 3) in a low-stakes situation. The aim of this study is to investigate in what ways micro-teaching can support student teachers in designing and conducting subject-specific and pedagogical teaching activities. Our research method is inspired by action research, and conducted in four steps. The first step is to carefully plan how to implement micro-teaching for student teachers in our own teaching. The second step is the implementation. In a third step, we evaluate student teachers’ experiences from conducting micro-teaching through a survey and individual interviews. The fourth step involves analyzing the results, and adjusting our initial plan for implementation of micro-teaching, if needed. Together, these four steps make up the first cycle. We plan to conduct a second cycle before the research questions can be answered. At the time of writing, we are conducting a first cycle in different subjects. Since the study is still in its infancy, there are no results to report, but we expect to find both similarities and differences between the different subjects in how micro-teaching can support student teachers in transforming existing content knowledge into teaching activities.

Knowledge about computer programming and knowledge in computer programming are important features in technology education in Swedish compulsory schools, and therefore mentioned in the technology syllabus. Knowledge about computer programming is necessary to understand the contemporary world we live in, where much of the technology is connected and programmed. To develop knowledge in computer programming, pupils can be offered teaching which allows the pupils to program. In this chapter, results from a previous study (Brink et al., 2021) will be discussed, where interviews about models and modelling were conducted with lower secondary school technology teachers. The results reveal that teachers can understand computer programming as modelling in technology education and experience similarities between the two concepts, modelling and computer programming. Implications for teaching practice can be to teach more explicitly when modelling in different modes of representation and when different modes are preferable. This study contributes to development of the body of concepts relevant to technology education.