Enhancing Technology Education
at Surf Science: A Collaborative,
Problem-Oriented Approach to
Learning Design, Materials and
Manufacturing of Surfboards
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Edith Cowan University, Bunbury, AUSTRALIA
Publication date: 2007-06-22
EURASIA J. Math., Sci Tech. Ed 2007;3(2):133-140
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ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of a study on the influence of blackboard assistance and
lecturer’s initiative on student’s achievements (measured via quality of individualised
surfboards). In addition it looks at student attitudes to project related issues in technology
education, derived from the pre-test and post-test experiments and surveys. The
researcher employed a 2-group design with two pre-tests and one post-test experimental
scenario. The results were analysed for homogeneity of variances and means by using
Fisher test and t-test, respectively. It was found that the students from pre-test
(blackboard-oriented) group achieved the 17% lower score and the 70% greater variations
in score variances compared to the data obtained from the post-test (supervisor guided
and video-enhanced) group. Furthermore, the students from the latter group believed
they were better prepared for solving technically oriented problems in design and
production. They also appreciated help from experienced supervisors and video-links, and
reported more satisfaction with their individually designed surfboards.