Simulating Design in the World of Industry and Commerce: Observations from a Series of Case Studies in the United Kingdom

Introduction A requirement of the United Kingdom's National Curriculum is that all children gain economic and industrial understanding through aspects of the subject Design and technology (DES, 1990). To some extent, visits to industry, visiting speakers, work placements and simulations answer this requirement, but each has limitations. While a good teacher will use a variety of teaching techniques, the costs of visits and placements are high, so simulation offers an apparent cost effective technique. The author's experience visiting many schools in the UK indicates that few teachers appear to use simulation or realize the potential of the technique. This observation formed the start point for this inquiry which focused on a type of simulation in which small teams of children simulate companies designing and making products for the market place. An illuminative paradigm (Parlett & Hamilton, 1983) was considered appropriate initially, using unfocused observation, informal interviews with pupils and teachers and, in some cases, Nominal Group Technique (Lomax & McLeman, 1984; O'Neil & Jackson, 1983). These techniques allow categories of factors to emerge as the study proceeds rather than having observers report on the frequency of factors which the researchers have decided to focus upon. On the negative side, such techniques do not allow accurate quantification of data and reliability can only be established when a category or factor emerges repeatedly over many different cases and via different observers. However, signposts for further, more focused research can be established. There were two broad goals of this study: 1) a fuller understanding of these simulations, (allowing more focused subsequent enquiry); and 2) the subsequent dissemination of this understanding to teachers. The inquiry has illuminated some of the advantages and limitations of this approach to simulation. It has also shown that there is a place for unfocused observation as