Att urskilja tekniska system: didaktiska dimensioner i grundskolan

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the field of technology education research, specifically that which concerns teaching and learning about technological systems. Today’s technologically complex society is made up of a variety of systems that humans interact with. Information, energy and communication are examples of technological systems with which we are involved daily. Education in technology prepares young people for participating as active citizens in a technologyintensive society and therefore includes technological systems as part of the knowledge content in the Swedish compulsory school subject of technology. Research related to the technology subject shows that the teaching of technological systems is limited and there is uncertainty about what the learning entails.The overall questions which this thesis intends to investigate are: How do young people experience technological systems? How can young people s experiences of technological systems be used to develop the teaching of technological systems? What potential does knowledge about technological systems have in contributing to a better understanding of technology in today s society?The thesis is based on two studies presented in four articles. Two of the articles focus on young people s experiences of technological systems and the other two highlight pedagogical dimensions of technological systems for teaching and learning. The studies take the perspective of the learners , using a phenomenographic approach, and investigate young people s ways of experiencing technological systems. To start from the learners experience is an important aspect of the tradition of pedagogical research that concerns content specific knowledge. The phenomenographic approach offers empirical ways of investigating qualitative differences in the collective experience of the phenomenon and an opportunity to highlight what teaching should focus on to create learning opportunities.The main result of the studies consists of knowledge about dimensions of technological systems and critical aspects within those dimensions. Together they offer a perspective for teaching, providing possible starting points for teachers when they plan instruction. If teachers address their own and young people s awareness of dimensions of variation, it could enable more powerful ways of learning about technological systems. The pedagogical implications in terms of technological systems also point to aspects that are relevant for understanding technology on a more general level, namely skills which active citizens in today s technologically complex society must possess. Technological systems knowledge offers an understanding of technology in which key aspects of civil commitment, impact and user responsibility can be made visible and thus problematized.