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Critical Issues and Problems in Technology Education Critical Issues and Problems in Technology Education

Robert C. Wicklein University of Georgia

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Wicklein, R. C. (2004). Critical issues and problems in technology education. The Technology Teacher, 64(4), 6-9.

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CRITICAL ISSUES AND PROBLEMS INTECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

Robert C. Wicklein, DTE

T

"This is our decade, we will eitherdevelop as a strong and viableinstructional program or we will witherand die as an insignificant relic of afailed curriculum" (Custer, 2003).These prophetic words by the 2002-2004 president of the Council onTechnology Teacher Education (CTTE)seem to be ringing more true with thepassing of each school year. In thesecritical times it is imperative that weutilize every available resource to buildand establish our field of study and toaddress and solve the issues andproblems that we now face. Therefore,if we are to guide our professionsuccessfully through the myriad ofproblems and concerns that impact us,we will need to be strategic in everydecision. A crucial first step topreserve the future of the profession isto gather empirical data thataccurately identifies the critical issuesand problems facing technologyeducation.

Research Goals

To address the need of identifying acomprehensive base for the criticalissues and problems, research wasconducted to ascertain the perspec-tives of classroom teachers, universityprofessors, and supervisors oftechnology education. The goal of theresearch was to determine the criticalissues and problems based on thefollowing two (2) questions;

• What are the critical Issues thatare currently impacting tbetechnology education field ofstudy?

• What are the critical problems thatare currently impacting thetechnology education field ofstudy?

In order to obtain standardizedinformation from the most knowl-edgeable subjects integral to this topic. 1

If we are to guide our profession successfully

through the myriad of problems and concerns

that impact us, we will need to be strategic in

every decision.

survey-based research methodologieswere deemed appropriate to collectdata. A combination of randomsampling and total population datacollection strategies were employed.Stratified random sampling was usedto collect data from classroomteachers of tecfinology education. Atotal of 347 middle school and highscfiooi teachers were randomlyselected from tfie four regions of theInternational Technology EducationAssociation (ITEA) to participate in tbisstudy. In addition, tbe entire populationof 132 university departmentbeads/program leaders in technologyteacber education, as well as the totalpopulation of 55 state and regionalsupervisors, were selected to receivethe survey questionnaire. Tbeseindividuals represented an appropriatecross-sectional perspective of tbecurrent needs and difficulties facingthe field of technology education.

Survey Construction

Tbe survey was divided into four (4)sections. Section 1 - Demographics -sought to collect data on tbeappropriate demographic categories,including instructional position, (e.g.,middle school teacber, bigh schoolteacher, etc.), years of experience,gender, and age. Section 2 -Directions - explained tbe proceduresfor completing tbe survey and definedthe terms used in tbe survey (e.g..Critical - bigh degree of importance fortbe field; Issue - a concern tbat mayaffect progress or development for tbe

T field; Problem - an obstacle that ispreventing progress or development fortbe field). Section 3 - Criticallssues -sougbt the rating and ranking on 18pre-identified critical issue items.Section 4 - Critical Problems - soughtrating and ranking on 21 pre-identifiedcritical problem items. Participantswere asked to rate tbeir level ofagreement or disagreement on eachitem by using a likert-type scale,indicating Strongly Agree, Agree,Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. Inaddition, each participant wasasked to independently rank order thetop tbree (3) critical issues andproblems tbat tbey deemed tbe mostvital to the field of tecbnologyeducation.

ResultsDf the 534 survey questionnaires thatwere mailed, 301 were completed insome fasbion and returned. Eive (5)surveys were incompletely orinaccurately filled out and weredeemed unusable, therefore, 296surveys, or 55%, were analyzed forevaluation. Table 1 presents tbe resultsof the demographic data collected inthis study.

Participants were asked to identifytbeir level of agreement ordisagreement on eacb survey item. Alikert-type scale was utilized toascertain participant perspectives with4=Strongly Agree, 3= Agree,2 = Disagree, and 1 = StronglyDisagree. Table 2 represents tbeanalyses of tbe overall group mean

6 December/January 2005 • THE TECHNOLOGY TEACHER

Table 1Demographics of Study

Participants

Middle School Teachers

High School Teachers

University Professors

Supervisors

Gender

Male

Female

Experience

1-3 Years

4-8 Years

9-15 Years

More than 15 Years

Age20-25

26-45

46-65

More than 65

N90

107

53

47

N267

29

N19

44

53

174

N4

113

176

4

30.3

36.0

17.8

15.8

90.29.8

6.4

14.9

17.9

58.8

1.3

38.0

59.3

1.3

scores and standard deviations for thetop five (5) critical issues fortechnology education. Each of the topfive (5) mean score ratings ranged inthe Agree to Strongly Agree choice.

Table 3 represents the analyses of theoverall group mean scores andstandard deviations for the top five (5)critical problems for technologyeducation. Again, each of the top five(5) mean score ratings ranged in theAgree to Strongly Agree choice.

When asked to rank order the topthree (3} critical issues and problemsby importance and significance for thefield of technology education, theparticipants in this study provided aninteresting mixture of issues andproblems. Several of the top rankedissues and problems were consistent

T

Table 2

Overall Mean Scores/Standard Deviations - Top Five Critical Issues forTechnology Education

1

2

3

4

Critical Issue

Recruitment of students/teachers into teachereducation programs

Positioning technology education within the whole

school curriculum

Identifying and procuring adequate funding sources

for technology education

Enhancing business and industry connection with

technology education

Mean

3,62

3.44

3.35

3.32

SD

0.55

0.65

0.66

0.68

Integration of technology education with other

school subjects 3.30 0.70

Table 3

Overall Mean Scores/Standard Deviations - Top Five Critical Prohtems forTechnology Education

Critical Problem Mean SD

Insufficient quantities of qualified technologyeducation teachers 3.60 0.61

Inadequate understanding by administrators and

counselors concerning technology education 3.52 0.69

Inadequate understanding by general populace

concerning technology education 3.41 0.68

Increased high school graduation requirements

impacting on technology education programs 3.29 0.73

Inadequate financial support for technology education

programs 3.29 0.75 i

with the overall mean scores asreported in Tables 2 and 3; however,other items surfaced as being vital tothe field, yet were not evaluated highlyin the mean scores ratings. Table 4presents the rank orders for the criticalissues.

Table 5 represents the analyses of therank order for the critical problems intechnology education.

There was consistency among ratingsin levels of agreement/disagreementand rank orders on some of the criticalissues and problems. Recruitment ofstuder^ts/teachers into teachereducation programs was identified asthe highest rated critical issue as wellas tbe number one ranked item acrossall categories of technology educators(e.g., overall, middle school, highschool, university professor, andsupervisor). Another critical issue thathad consistency both in the meanscore ratings and rank order was.Identifying and procuring adequatefunding sources for technologyeducation. This item was rated as the3"̂ highest critical issue and was alsoranked 3'̂ ' highest on the overall statusorder. Conversely, Enhancing businessand industry connection withtechnology education was rated as the4'^ highest critical issue as analyzed bymean scores but was not identified byany of the educator groups when rankordered.

The matching of rating scores withrank order for the critical problems metwith much more consistency. Four {4}of tbe top rated critical problems werealso categorized within the top five inrank order. The critical problem items,Insufficient quantities of qualifiedtechnology education teachers.Inadequate understanding byadministrators and counselorsconcerning technology education, andInadequate understanding by generalpopulace concerning technologyeducation, were rated and rankedidentically (position 1, 2, 3) on bothmeasurements. In addition, Inadequatefinancial support for technologyeducation programs was rated as the5"' most important critical problem andranked 4"^ most significant criticalproblem.

THE TECHNOLOGY TEACHER • December/January 2005 7

Table 4Rank Order of Critical Issues in Technology Education

Critical Issue

Recruitment of students/teachers into teacher education programs

Curriculum design and development for technology education

Identification of a knowledge base for technology education

Positioning technology education within the whole school curriculum

Identifying and procuring adequate funding sources for technology education

Integration of technology education with other school subjects

Revisions and development in technology teacher education

Rank Order

Overall

1

2

3

4

5

MSTeacher

1

2

2

3

4

HSTeacher

1

25

3

4

Univ.Prof.

1

3

2

4

4

Super.

1

23

4

5

Table 5

Rank Order of Critical Problems in Technology Education

Critical Problem

Insufficient quantities of qualified technology education teachers

Inadequate understanding by administrators and counselors concerning

technology education

Inadequate understanding by general populace concerning technology education

Lack of consensus of curriculum content for technology education

Inadequate financial support for technology education programs

Increased high school graduation requirements impacting on technology

education programs

Inadequate marketing and public relations of technology education

Resistance to change in technology education

Rank Order

Overall

1

2

3

4

5

MSTeacher

2

1

4

3

5

HSTeacher

4

1

3

2

5

Univ.Prof.

1

4

5

2

3

Super.

1

2

3

5

4

ConclusionsEach of the critical issues andproblems identified in this study bearsfurther investigation and possibleaction to correct the crisis. Clearly,some of the issues and problems aremore critical to specialized groups, atcertain times, and in particularlocations. However, other issues andproblems are serious and systemic tothe entire profession of technologyeducation. Some actions will requirethe efforts of literally every personinvolved in the profession, while otherswill need to be addressed by a selectgroup of educators. The crux of thematter is that strategic actions bytechnology educators at all ranks areneeded if the profession is to take its 1

rightful place within the schoolcurriculum.

The most obvious conclusion from thisresearch is the concern and crisis overthe insufficient quantities of qualifiednew technology educators entering theinstructional ranks. As the strongestindicator in this research, the dilemmaover recruitment and preparation ofnew technology teachers coming fromuniversity programs dwarfs all of theother concerns. Identified as thehighest priority in both the criticalissues and problems sections of thestudy. Recruitment of students/teachers into teacher educationprograms and Insufficient quantities ofqualified technology educationteachers are vital to the current and

future health of the technologyeducation profession. Without aserious and immediate effort toaddress these needs, the field oftechnology education, as we know it,will cease to exist in the short-rangefuture.

Inadequacies seem to also plague thefield of technology education,Inadequate understanding byadministrators and counselorsconcerning technology education andInadequate understanding by generalpopulace concerning technologyeducation speak to the issue andproblem of confusion and mis-understanding of what technologyeducation is about. Technology

8 December/January 2005 • THE TECHNOLOGY TEACHER

educators commonly experience theinaccurate assumptions by pro-fessional educators and general publicalike as to the goal, purpose, andactivities of the field. Serious effortsneed to be directed at developing aclear and distinct description of theprofession that can be easily graspedand understood by those inside andoutside of the profession. The commonassumption held by many technologyeducators is that an explanation oftechnological literacy will suffice indescribing our goals and purpose. ThisIs a mistaken assumption thatcontinues to confuse many decision-makers as well as the general public.

Curriculum design and developmentand the need for consensus ofcurriculum content were ranked withinthe top five (5) critical issues andproblems; however, they were notrated (mean scores) highly in thisstudy. In addition, funding oftechnology instructional programsranked high for both issues andproblems but was not rated within thetop five (5) of these categories. Theseinconsistencies may be indicative of aseparation of general needs whencompared to prioritizing considerations.In whatever capacity, curriculumdesign, development, and consensus,along with procuring adequate financialsupport for technology education,remain as high needs for the field.

RecommendationsThe majority of the issues andproblems that were identified in thisstudy were also evaluated assignificant in similar studies conductedin 1993 and 1996 (Wicklein, 1993;Wicklein & Hill, 1996). The unique-nesses of the issues and problemsfacing technology education at thistime in its history may very well be ata point of no retum, where solutionsmust be found if the field is to sun/ive.

The following recommendations willserve to help guide our professionthrough the issues and problemsfacing us:

• Undertake significant efforts aimedat recruiting and preparing newtechnology education educators atall levels.

T • Identify and communicate a clearand understandable purpose oftechnology education to allpopulations,

• Reach consensus in curriculumdesign and development as highpriorities.

• Evaluation of this data byprofessional leadership to aid infuture planning and focus of theprofession.

• Conduct research of this type atregular intervals.

'This is our decade" (Custer, 2003); ifwe are to grow into an instructionalfield that is clear, distinct, and highlyvalued, it will take the efforts of everyavailable human resource technologyeducation has^elementary teachers,middle school teachers, high schoolteachers, university professors, andsupervisors. We are all in this boattogether.

T ReferencesR. Custer (personal communication, March

13,2003),

Wicktein, R.C. (1993). Identifying criticalissues and problems in technologyeducation using a modlfied-delphitechnique. Journal of TechnologyEducation. 50). S/i-Ti.

Wicklein, R.C. & Hill, R.B. (1996),Navigating the straits with research oropinion? Setting the course fortechnology education. InternationalJournal of Technology and DesignEducation, 6(1), 31-43.

Robert C. WtckieinIs a professor in theDepartment ofOccupationalStudies at theUniversity ofGeorgia in Athens.He can be reachedvia e-mail at wick-one@uga.edu.

This is a refereed article.

T

THE TECHNOLOGY TEACHER • December/January 2005 9