NEWS AND INFORMATION

The constitution of subjects intechnological-scientific education

Arne Jakobsen, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby and Stig Andur Pedersen,Roskilde University Centre, Denmark

Introduction

We report here on a project which is seen as a contribution to the development of acurriculum theory for higher technical and vocational education. The aims of theproject are:

(i) to investigate the process by which the subjects in technological-scientificeducation are constituted;

(ii) to identify and examine the factors determining this process;(iii) to examine the changes of an epistemological nature which the tech-

nological development causes in the content of the subjects, and thuscontribute to the development of a theory about the constitution ofsubjects.

The content, structure and limits of subjects are subjected to continuous change.Through the project we have tried to establish a theory which explains the process—the constitution of subjects—by which the content, structure, and limits of theengineering subjects are determined and changed, and the factors which enter intothis process.

These factors are of various kinds. Some factors concern the qualificationswhich the education in the subject provides, compared with the demands forqualifications as they occur in various lines of industry. Other factors are concernedwith the relationship between the subject and the scientific and technologicaldisciplines on which the subject is based. And still other factors are related toproblems about the educational institution and the teaching. Thus, an analysis of theconstitution of subjects comprises analyses of aspects belonging to qualificationtheory, epistemology, and pedagogical theory in a narrow sense. The object of thetheory—the constitution of subjects—can be illustrated as follows:

Aspects of:qualification theory __^^ •) the con- "1 thereby ^ ^ contentepistemology ~^~> enter into > stitution > deter- <^-— limitstheory of instruction-^"'^ ) of subjects J mining ^ ^ structure

of thesubject

We have planned the project to consist of the following activities.

1. Analysis of issues relating to a curriculum theory for higher technicaland vocational education.

The analysis forms the basis for establishing a model for the analysis of subjects. Themicrostructure of the theory—shown in the figure above—is discussed, and theconstitution of some specific subjects is analysed.

340 NEWS AND INFORMATION

The constitution of subjects, i.e., the determination on content, limits andstructure involves the determination of a number of elements of content. We havetried to explain the presence and placing of these elements in the content of thesubject on the basis of various justifications. These justifications which constitute themicrostructure of the theory, are that:

• parts of content which are directed at application are justified by the aim thatthey provide—more or less directly—the possibility for action in relation tocertain types of practical problem or situation;

• some parts of subject content form the theoretical basis for other parts;• some parts of content illustrate and concretize the knowledge which enters into

other parts;• some parts of content are in a metatheoretical relation to other parts.

Besides this, the justifications can also have the function of legitimizing the subjectcontent which is understood here to mean justification by values and opinions.

This aspect of the current project is, in part based on the results from the projectDeveloping bases for didactical analyses of subjects within technical and vocationaleducation, which is carried out by the Royal Danish School of Educational Studiesfor Teachers at Commercial and Technical Colleges and for which the authors areresponsible.

2. Analysis of the effects of qualification demands on the constitution ofsubjects in advanced technological-scientific education.

This part of the project is based on results from an investigation into engineeringqualifications, which is supported by the Social Science Research Council andconducted by the author. In it, the connection between the development of theindustrial conditions, including the technological development, and the demand fordifferent types of qualifications are examined.

The examination concerns the direct link between, e.g., knowledge aboutcertain methods or parts of disciplines and, as is often the case, demands for stability,responsibility, etc. It also concerns the type of connection which arises whentechnological development and development of industrial conditions result indemands for new skills to solve new types of problem or in demands for newstrategies for problem solving.

And it also concerns the development of demands for new qualificationsfollowing changes in the nature of technological theory and methods.

3. An analysis of the relationship between technology and, on the one hand,science and, on the other, systems theory.

The constitution of subjects in technological-scientific education cannot be ex-plained without an understanding of the theoretical status of technology. Therefore,the project includes the development of aspects of an epistemological theory oftechnology.

Some shifts in the knowledge content of the engineering subjects can beexplained in terms of changes in the relationship between science, technology andsystems theory. Examples of such changes are the increasing scientifi cation of certainareas of technological knowledge, or the substitution of systems theory for science asa basis for technological knowledge. Further changes in the knowledge domain resultfrom attempts to generalize technological subjects.

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Conclusion

Parts of our current investigations—especially part 3—involve the analysis ofselected subjects, which are undertaken in cooperation with teachers of the subjectsin question. Results from these analyses will be published separately.

The results of the project are initially reported in a series of working paperspublished by the Royal Danish School of Educational Studies for Teachers atCommercial and Technical Colleges and Roskilde University Centre.

Thus we have either published (or plan to publish) some six working papersdealing with matters of qualifications, basic didactic matters, and the question aboutthe nature of the knowledge which is contained in engineering education.

Two recent publications (apart from the working papers in Danish) relevant tothe project described here are: ARNE JAKOBSEN and STIG ANDUR PEDERSEN 1980,Didactic Analysis of Subjects in Engineering Education. European Journal ofEngineering Education, Vol. 4, pp. 261-284 and ARNE JAKOKSEN and STIG ANDURPEDERSEN, 1982, Constitution of Subjects in Engineering Education. IMFUFA, Tekst53 (Roskilde Centre: Denmark).

Further details about this project and related work may be obtained from theauthors.