Nigel Zanker | Loughborough University (original) (raw)
Papers by Nigel Zanker
Supplementary information files for 'The effect of teacher's confidence on technology and... more Supplementary information files for 'The effect of teacher's confidence on technology and engineering curriculum provision'<br>Abstract:Secondary school, age range 11 – 14, technology and engineering education in England has been delivered mainly within Design and Technology (D&T). This inadvertently makes D&T teachers responsible for pupils' engineering education and motivation. This paper analyses D&T teachers' (N = 33) technology subject knowledge through self-assessment competency questionnaires, before and after developing a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-focused project of their choice for their classroom. Participants were least confident in teaching the areas of technology that required mathematics and scientific knowledge. The results analyse a suggested misalignment between teachers' Creative Arts background subject knowledge compared to the technology subject knowledge required for engineering education. Suggested cau...
For those studying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), the teaching practice p... more For those studying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), the teaching practice placement can be a daunting experience. Trainee teachers have to adjust into a new workplace and a complicated professional role which can be stressful; this can result in teachers leaving the profession in their early years if they do not equip themselves with coping strategies and display resilient behaviour. The aims of this study were to gain a deeper understanding of how a cohort of science and design and technology PGCE students settled into schools on their teaching placement and to investigate any differences between mature trainees (those who had taken at least one gap year after their undergraduate degree) and those who have continued straight through their education. Two questionnaires (pre n= 42; post n=48) and a voluntary interview (n=7) were used. Many trainees described their experience as rewarding, yet exhausting and challenging. However, the interviews highlighted there ...
This paper explores the pedagogy underpinning the use of laser manufacturing methods for the teac... more This paper explores the pedagogy underpinning the use of laser manufacturing methods for the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at key stage 3 design and technology. Clock making (horology) has been a popular project in design and technology (D&T) found in many schools, typically it focuses on aesthetical design elements. This paper describes a new project, which has been developed to enhance the STEM content of a horology project through advanced utilisation of laser cutting machinery. It allows pupils to produce their own products from self-made mechanical timing mechanisms. The central aim is to strengthen the application of the underlying technology of mechanisms and the manufacturing capability of laser cutting technology in D&T. Trials with schools have shown success in gaining pupils’ interest in STEM and provided feedback to improve the project. It has highlighted limits when delivering the engineering and maths content with teachers from non...
This item was submitted to Loughborough’s Institutional Repository by the
Design and technology education : an international journal, 2016
69 REVIEWS Design and Technology Education: An International Journal 21.2 This book is one in the... more 69 REVIEWS Design and Technology Education: An International Journal 21.2 This book is one in the series Contemporary Issues in Technology Education published by Springer. The aim of the series is to draw on the latest research by focussing on contemporary issues, to create debate and to push the boundaries in order to expand the field of technology education and to explore new paradigms. This book offers a platform from which to continue discussions about how technology education might progress into the future. It is timely in light of the D&T Association’s ‘Designed and Made in Britain..?’ initiative to highlight to policy makers that Design and Technology in schools is critical to the UK’s future success. The book is organized into 15 chapters.
London Schools Excellence Fund: Final Report: Enhancing the teaching of STEM through Design and T... more London Schools Excellence Fund: Final Report: Enhancing the teaching of STEM through Design and Technology
Materials technology is also known as 'resistant materials'; it covers the designing and ... more Materials technology is also known as 'resistant materials'; it covers the designing and making of products primarily in metals, timbers and plastics, and modelling in card and foams. It may also, in some schools, include ceramics, electro-mechanical systems and compliant materials such as textiles. As the subject has developed, in some schools it has become 'product design' or 'core design'. If teaching in all these areas sounds daunting, don't panic! Your training will cover materials technology, core design and at least one additional area. If you are a post-graduate student, your first degree is unlikely to have covered the breadth of knowledge and skills required for materials technology. However, teaching in a design and technology department is a team operation; you and your colleagues support one another. Senior management will have recruited a team with complementary skills who can work together. Throw yourself into your new professional role and...
Since the early 90s Loughborough University has included sustainability in its teaching, but in 2... more Since the early 90s Loughborough University has included sustainability in its teaching, but in 2000 an education for sustainability programme was developed by Eddie Norman to further engage second year students with the sustainable design agenda. Sustainable design thinking is now integrated into other parts of degree level teaching within all years. Sustainable design also plays an important role in postgraduate studies within the department. The Department of Design and Technology has been involved in a number of research projects related to sustainable design which include the development of a number of tools, and the dissemination of new understanding for professional designers to get to grips with sustainability. Loughborough University has also been strongly involved with the development of sustainable design resources for schools. These initiatives are presented and the similarities and differences between these approaches are discussed. A view of the importance of developin...
The Department of Design and Technology at Loughborough University has been a centre for training... more The Department of Design and Technology at Loughborough University has been a centre for training teachers in technological subjects from 1930. During that time it has developed a reputation as the premier institution in the field within the United Kingdom, a position it retains today according to inspection reports from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). The paper briefly describes the routes for training teachers of Design and Technology at Loughborough: a. the three-year programme in Industrial Design and Technology with Education leading to the one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course (total 4 years). b. direct entry to the PGCE course with appropriate degree qualifications and experience from other degree programmes or, for mature graduate entrants, from industry. This paper focuses on the PGCE year and sets down the principles which underpin training at Loughborough. Recruitment and selection procedures are described. The training process at b...
Design and technology education : an international journal, 2012
For those studying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), the teaching practice p... more For those studying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), the teaching practice placement can be a daunting experience. Trainee teachers have to adjust into a new workplace and a complicated professional role which can be stressful; this can result in teachers leaving the profession in their early years if they do not equip themselves with coping strategies and display resilient behaviour. The aims of this study were to gain a deeper understanding of how a cohort of science and design and technology PGCE students settled into schools on their teaching placement and to investigate any differences between mature trainees (those who had taken at least one gap year after their undergraduate degree) and those who have continued straight through their education. Two questionnaires (pre n= 42; post n=48) and a voluntary interview (n=7) were used. Many trainees described their experience as rewarding, yet exhausting and challenging. However, the interviews highlighted there ...
This paper summarises initiatives taken by a partnership of Loughborough University and the Desig... more This paper summarises initiatives taken by a partnership of Loughborough University and the Design and Technology Association in order to support action research by teachers in England. The theoretical and international contexts surrounding these initiatives as well as the initiatives themselves are described. These included an open access online journal, conference, archive and hub (www.dater.org.uk), specialist publications, a poster and conferences/workshops for tutors in Initial Teacher Education. Data is presented from Google Analytics monitoring of the online resources from July 2008 to July 2009, from a pilot questionnaire (N=33) and follow-up interviews. Research into this infrastructure continues, but the initial findings reported suggest the need for improved marketing and internet linking and the redesign of the IDATER Online home page. The online journal in particular has found much international use, having been accessed from 112 countries during the year. The on-going ...
The teaching of information technology (IT) in primary and secondary education has been frequentl... more The teaching of information technology (IT) in primary and secondary education has been frequently reported, for example through HMI commentaries on Inspection Findings and Ofsted inspection reports, as one the weakest subjects in schools. One of the principal weaknesses being the dominance of the handling and communicating information strands over the modelling, measuring and controlling strands; the latter being particularly pertinent to information and communication technology (ICT) within the teaching of design and technology. The main pedagogic problems facing teachers may be that IT capability has been repeatedly defined as a single capability which is described through multiple strands. This paper discusses the pedagogic problems that have arisen through a poorly articulated definition of a single capability. A multiple capability model is proposed as a redefinition of ICT capability to assist subject teachers in improving entitlement.
Recent surveys have consistently reported that over fifty percent of secondary school pupils eith... more Recent surveys have consistently reported that over fifty percent of secondary school pupils either own, or have access to, computers at home and that more boys than girls are home computer users. It has also been suggested that there is a link between the use of computers at home and school because there is a similarity between the types of computer found in the two environments. From Government statistics and data from a survey of over two thousand Year 9 and 10 pupils, attending seven schools, this paper questions the validity and reliability of these findings. The confusion between the concepts of ownership and access is discussed, through a consideration of the different cases, arising from the possible owner/user combinations. The use of sequences of questions to obtain accurate responses, for determining ownership and access to different categories of computers, used by pupils at home, is explored. A model is proposed for categorising home computers in relation to their fitne...
The Effective Teaching Skills series addresses those traditional skills which remain essential to... more The Effective Teaching Skills series addresses those traditional skills which remain essential to today’s teachers, skills which need adapting to today’s schools, and new skills which need to be adopted in schools for the future. Effective Information and Communication Technology presents an area of immediate concern to teachers, and sets out to provide confidence-inducing practical help. This book is a response to the emphasis on ICT skills for teachers and covers classroom ideas for individual teachers as well as whole-school policies. It will also be an invaluable help to trainee teachers, for whom ICT is a statutory part of their initial teacher training courses.
Evaluation report of the Design and Technology Association summer school, 11 and 12 July 2014, Lo... more Evaluation report of the Design and Technology Association summer school, 11 and 12 July 2014, Loughborough Design School at Loughborough University
Professional Development in Education, 2012
Design & Technology Teaching, 1992
The introduction of National Curriculum Technology has provided schools with a framework for Info... more The introduction of National Curriculum Technology has provided schools with a framework for Information Technology experience across the whole curriculum. Teachers of each core and foundation subject are encouraged to identify and make an appropriate provision towards the strands of Profile Component 2 (Attainment Target 5) of the Technology Order. The relationship between Design and Technology (Profile Component 1) and Profile Component 2 is of particular interest to many, not only because of its shared existence in ...
Supplementary information files for 'The effect of teacher's confidence on technology and... more Supplementary information files for 'The effect of teacher's confidence on technology and engineering curriculum provision'<br>Abstract:Secondary school, age range 11 – 14, technology and engineering education in England has been delivered mainly within Design and Technology (D&T). This inadvertently makes D&T teachers responsible for pupils' engineering education and motivation. This paper analyses D&T teachers' (N = 33) technology subject knowledge through self-assessment competency questionnaires, before and after developing a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-focused project of their choice for their classroom. Participants were least confident in teaching the areas of technology that required mathematics and scientific knowledge. The results analyse a suggested misalignment between teachers' Creative Arts background subject knowledge compared to the technology subject knowledge required for engineering education. Suggested cau...
For those studying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), the teaching practice p... more For those studying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), the teaching practice placement can be a daunting experience. Trainee teachers have to adjust into a new workplace and a complicated professional role which can be stressful; this can result in teachers leaving the profession in their early years if they do not equip themselves with coping strategies and display resilient behaviour. The aims of this study were to gain a deeper understanding of how a cohort of science and design and technology PGCE students settled into schools on their teaching placement and to investigate any differences between mature trainees (those who had taken at least one gap year after their undergraduate degree) and those who have continued straight through their education. Two questionnaires (pre n= 42; post n=48) and a voluntary interview (n=7) were used. Many trainees described their experience as rewarding, yet exhausting and challenging. However, the interviews highlighted there ...
This paper explores the pedagogy underpinning the use of laser manufacturing methods for the teac... more This paper explores the pedagogy underpinning the use of laser manufacturing methods for the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at key stage 3 design and technology. Clock making (horology) has been a popular project in design and technology (D&T) found in many schools, typically it focuses on aesthetical design elements. This paper describes a new project, which has been developed to enhance the STEM content of a horology project through advanced utilisation of laser cutting machinery. It allows pupils to produce their own products from self-made mechanical timing mechanisms. The central aim is to strengthen the application of the underlying technology of mechanisms and the manufacturing capability of laser cutting technology in D&T. Trials with schools have shown success in gaining pupils’ interest in STEM and provided feedback to improve the project. It has highlighted limits when delivering the engineering and maths content with teachers from non...
This item was submitted to Loughborough’s Institutional Repository by the
Design and technology education : an international journal, 2016
69 REVIEWS Design and Technology Education: An International Journal 21.2 This book is one in the... more 69 REVIEWS Design and Technology Education: An International Journal 21.2 This book is one in the series Contemporary Issues in Technology Education published by Springer. The aim of the series is to draw on the latest research by focussing on contemporary issues, to create debate and to push the boundaries in order to expand the field of technology education and to explore new paradigms. This book offers a platform from which to continue discussions about how technology education might progress into the future. It is timely in light of the D&T Association’s ‘Designed and Made in Britain..?’ initiative to highlight to policy makers that Design and Technology in schools is critical to the UK’s future success. The book is organized into 15 chapters.
London Schools Excellence Fund: Final Report: Enhancing the teaching of STEM through Design and T... more London Schools Excellence Fund: Final Report: Enhancing the teaching of STEM through Design and Technology
Materials technology is also known as 'resistant materials'; it covers the designing and ... more Materials technology is also known as 'resistant materials'; it covers the designing and making of products primarily in metals, timbers and plastics, and modelling in card and foams. It may also, in some schools, include ceramics, electro-mechanical systems and compliant materials such as textiles. As the subject has developed, in some schools it has become 'product design' or 'core design'. If teaching in all these areas sounds daunting, don't panic! Your training will cover materials technology, core design and at least one additional area. If you are a post-graduate student, your first degree is unlikely to have covered the breadth of knowledge and skills required for materials technology. However, teaching in a design and technology department is a team operation; you and your colleagues support one another. Senior management will have recruited a team with complementary skills who can work together. Throw yourself into your new professional role and...
Since the early 90s Loughborough University has included sustainability in its teaching, but in 2... more Since the early 90s Loughborough University has included sustainability in its teaching, but in 2000 an education for sustainability programme was developed by Eddie Norman to further engage second year students with the sustainable design agenda. Sustainable design thinking is now integrated into other parts of degree level teaching within all years. Sustainable design also plays an important role in postgraduate studies within the department. The Department of Design and Technology has been involved in a number of research projects related to sustainable design which include the development of a number of tools, and the dissemination of new understanding for professional designers to get to grips with sustainability. Loughborough University has also been strongly involved with the development of sustainable design resources for schools. These initiatives are presented and the similarities and differences between these approaches are discussed. A view of the importance of developin...
The Department of Design and Technology at Loughborough University has been a centre for training... more The Department of Design and Technology at Loughborough University has been a centre for training teachers in technological subjects from 1930. During that time it has developed a reputation as the premier institution in the field within the United Kingdom, a position it retains today according to inspection reports from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). The paper briefly describes the routes for training teachers of Design and Technology at Loughborough: a. the three-year programme in Industrial Design and Technology with Education leading to the one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course (total 4 years). b. direct entry to the PGCE course with appropriate degree qualifications and experience from other degree programmes or, for mature graduate entrants, from industry. This paper focuses on the PGCE year and sets down the principles which underpin training at Loughborough. Recruitment and selection procedures are described. The training process at b...
Design and technology education : an international journal, 2012
For those studying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), the teaching practice p... more For those studying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), the teaching practice placement can be a daunting experience. Trainee teachers have to adjust into a new workplace and a complicated professional role which can be stressful; this can result in teachers leaving the profession in their early years if they do not equip themselves with coping strategies and display resilient behaviour. The aims of this study were to gain a deeper understanding of how a cohort of science and design and technology PGCE students settled into schools on their teaching placement and to investigate any differences between mature trainees (those who had taken at least one gap year after their undergraduate degree) and those who have continued straight through their education. Two questionnaires (pre n= 42; post n=48) and a voluntary interview (n=7) were used. Many trainees described their experience as rewarding, yet exhausting and challenging. However, the interviews highlighted there ...
This paper summarises initiatives taken by a partnership of Loughborough University and the Desig... more This paper summarises initiatives taken by a partnership of Loughborough University and the Design and Technology Association in order to support action research by teachers in England. The theoretical and international contexts surrounding these initiatives as well as the initiatives themselves are described. These included an open access online journal, conference, archive and hub (www.dater.org.uk), specialist publications, a poster and conferences/workshops for tutors in Initial Teacher Education. Data is presented from Google Analytics monitoring of the online resources from July 2008 to July 2009, from a pilot questionnaire (N=33) and follow-up interviews. Research into this infrastructure continues, but the initial findings reported suggest the need for improved marketing and internet linking and the redesign of the IDATER Online home page. The online journal in particular has found much international use, having been accessed from 112 countries during the year. The on-going ...
The teaching of information technology (IT) in primary and secondary education has been frequentl... more The teaching of information technology (IT) in primary and secondary education has been frequently reported, for example through HMI commentaries on Inspection Findings and Ofsted inspection reports, as one the weakest subjects in schools. One of the principal weaknesses being the dominance of the handling and communicating information strands over the modelling, measuring and controlling strands; the latter being particularly pertinent to information and communication technology (ICT) within the teaching of design and technology. The main pedagogic problems facing teachers may be that IT capability has been repeatedly defined as a single capability which is described through multiple strands. This paper discusses the pedagogic problems that have arisen through a poorly articulated definition of a single capability. A multiple capability model is proposed as a redefinition of ICT capability to assist subject teachers in improving entitlement.
Recent surveys have consistently reported that over fifty percent of secondary school pupils eith... more Recent surveys have consistently reported that over fifty percent of secondary school pupils either own, or have access to, computers at home and that more boys than girls are home computer users. It has also been suggested that there is a link between the use of computers at home and school because there is a similarity between the types of computer found in the two environments. From Government statistics and data from a survey of over two thousand Year 9 and 10 pupils, attending seven schools, this paper questions the validity and reliability of these findings. The confusion between the concepts of ownership and access is discussed, through a consideration of the different cases, arising from the possible owner/user combinations. The use of sequences of questions to obtain accurate responses, for determining ownership and access to different categories of computers, used by pupils at home, is explored. A model is proposed for categorising home computers in relation to their fitne...
The Effective Teaching Skills series addresses those traditional skills which remain essential to... more The Effective Teaching Skills series addresses those traditional skills which remain essential to today’s teachers, skills which need adapting to today’s schools, and new skills which need to be adopted in schools for the future. Effective Information and Communication Technology presents an area of immediate concern to teachers, and sets out to provide confidence-inducing practical help. This book is a response to the emphasis on ICT skills for teachers and covers classroom ideas for individual teachers as well as whole-school policies. It will also be an invaluable help to trainee teachers, for whom ICT is a statutory part of their initial teacher training courses.
Evaluation report of the Design and Technology Association summer school, 11 and 12 July 2014, Lo... more Evaluation report of the Design and Technology Association summer school, 11 and 12 July 2014, Loughborough Design School at Loughborough University
Professional Development in Education, 2012
Design & Technology Teaching, 1992
The introduction of National Curriculum Technology has provided schools with a framework for Info... more The introduction of National Curriculum Technology has provided schools with a framework for Information Technology experience across the whole curriculum. Teachers of each core and foundation subject are encouraged to identify and make an appropriate provision towards the strands of Profile Component 2 (Attainment Target 5) of the Technology Order. The relationship between Design and Technology (Profile Component 1) and Profile Component 2 is of particular interest to many, not only because of its shared existence in ...