Technology, science and society
Dr P L Gardner
Second semester * Clayton
There has been a growing international trend during the past two decades for school science curricula to emphasise the relationships of science to technology and to the wider social setting. More recently, technology educators have sought to broaden the content of technology studies from a narrow concern with vocational skills training. Modern technology studies curricula seek to develop design and problem-solving skills and to emphasise the links between technology and other fields. The subject has two major goals: to develop teachers' understanding of the complex interrelationships among these three areas, and to enhance their ability to develop curricula and instructional approaches suitable for schools science and technology students. The subject will explore the nature of science and technology and their historical development; the characteristics of contemporary science and technology; the influence of technology and science on modern society, and the reverse influence of modern society on technology and science.
Assessment
Three assignments: essay on negotiated topic together with oral presentation * Historical case study of technological artefact, process or system * Development of instructional procedure for implementing science/technology society ideas
Prescribed texts
McGinn R E Science, technology and society Prentice-Hall, 1991