Technology Education and Designerly Ways of Knowing: The Pedagogical Goal of Design is Understanding

Abstract

Improving student understanding by connecting content and practices through curricula that integrates science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has been a national priority in the United States for well over half a century. This educational reform has resulted in the U.S. now fully embracing technological/engineering design based learning (T/E DBL) strategies as a means of ensuring STEM integration and achievement of student understanding. Student understanding is the principal learning outcome to be attained through T/E DBL where the instructional goal is explicit in “having students design to understand” when working toward the development of a viable technological and/or engineering solution that meets a human need (Wells, 2016, pp. 14-15). Immersing students in T/E DBL experiences develops their habits-of-hand (designerly abilities) that intentionally leads to their developing the habits-of-mind (designerly ways of knowing) requisite of true understanding. As an approach to acquiring knowledge and achieving understanding, designerly ways of knowing (Cross, 1982) is unique to the T/E design based learning approach. This article provides classroom exemplars as a means of demonstrating how T/E DBL uniquely imposes on learners a need-to-know requiring them to draw on multiple STEM subjects as they move between convergent thinking (what they know) and divergent thinking (what they need to know) when working to learn the content knowledge and practices needed in designing technological or engineering solutions.