2004 Volume 27 Issue 1 Pages 11-17
With regard to the 'manufacturing class' in technology education, which comprised pragmatic learning activities involving product design and manufacturing, teachers' educational guidance before the manufacturing stage played an important role in supporting students' learning activity. The purpose of the present paper is an attempt to develop a basic model of educational guidance for the classroom by analyzing students' thinking before they begin to make a product. A questionnaire on this topic was administered to 234 junior high school students and the data were examined using covariance structure analysis. As a result, an intercausal relationship model was found between the following elements: (1) students' thought when using tools for processing; (2) consideration of the finished product; (3) the efficiency of their own working process; (4) thought about materials' thickness and forms. This model fitted well with the data collected in the study. This intercausal relationship model of students' thinking would be useful reference material for developing good educational guidance and structured teaching materials.
