Aligning Technology Education Teaching with Brain Development

This exploratory study was designed to determine if there is a level of alignment between technology education curriculum and theories of intellectual development. The researcher compared Epstein’s Brain Growth Theory and Piaget’s Status of Intellectual Development with technology education curriculum from Australia, England, and the United States. The researcher hypothesized that there would be alignment between technology education curriculum, brain growth, and intellectual development theories. The results indicate that students could become more technologically literate citizens if technology education was presented to them earlier in their school careers. School systems and students may be missing an opportunity since technology education is not offered in most elementary schools. Introduction Little research exists on how cognitive learning occurs in the subject of t e c h n o l o g y education. Researchers face several persistent problems when attempting to develop clear interpretations or generalizations of the relationship between cognition, intellectual development, and technology education curriculum (Zuga, 2004). Reviews of industrial arts and technology education research conducted during the last half of the twentieth century have cited numerous studies involving cognition (Streichler, 1966; Householder & Dyrenfurth, 1 9 7 9 ; McCrory, 1987; McCormick; Zuga, 1994). Cognitive research about technology education for the general educational purpose of technological literacy has suffered from a lack of coherent focus (Zuga, 2 0 0 4 ) . An exploratory study was conducted to identify whether technology education curriculum aligns w i t h theories of intellectual development and brain growth. For this study, the following was the primary research question: Is there significant evidence that shows direct alignment between technology education curriculum and theories of intellectual development and brain growth? The following hypotheses will be analyzed in an attempt to find a solution to the research question: H0: There is no significant evidence of direct alignment between technology education curriculum and theories of intellectual development and brain growth. HA: There is significant evidence of direct alignment between technology education c u r r i c u l u m and theories of intellectual development and brain growth.