Framework for the Study of Cognitive and Curricular Issues of Technological Problem Solving

Technology education has undergone extraordinary changes in the last decade. Educators and educational policy makers have become aware of the importance of technology in the basic formation of today's educated person. At the same time rapid and continuous change in technology itself poses serious challenges in regards education and training in this field. Thus technology related contents, skills and teaching strategies for all specialization levels are being reconsidered and redefined for educating both the technologically literate person and the expert practitioner. In an attempt to examine the learning process of technological problem solving (TPS), we suggest and define an appropriate conceptual framework, encompassing all components of the process, i.e., knowledge, skills, and cognitive models. First the background to our proposal is presented, followed by the description of the two main components of the model: the Learning Space and the Technological Primitives repertoire.