Applying the 4C/ID-Model to Help Students Structure Their Knowledge System when Learning the Concept of Force in Technology

Abstract

Learning in technology education often involves students being confronted with the learning of complex concepts. However, how teaching interventions can be designed to help them learn these concepts better and avoid compartmentalised thinking remain unclear in the literature. This paper presents results from the implementation of a whole-task approach based on a four-component instructional design (4C/ID) model. The intervention focussed on teaching the concept of force and was introduced using interactive and CAD simulations. A protocol analysis was conducted to examine the dynamics of student learning through an experimental intervention that was organised into two task classes of six activities that first aimed to help students (N = 5, grade 12) construct the knowledge elements of different kinds of force, and second to elaborate connections between these elements. We finally measured student achievement using a mechanics inventory, and a factor analysis was conducted based on students’ responses to investigate the dynamics of their knowledge system. The primary exploratory results showed that the research intervention, in line with the whole-task approach, was helpful since it offered a time-efficient learning experience to students with low-to-moderate effects on learning progression. It is therefore suggested to teachers that elaborating different meanings of a concept through a whole-task-based approach would be more beneficial to students. Nevertheless, such an intervention would need to last for a longer duration to permit students to better reinforce their learning strategies in managing misconceptions and to stabilise their knowledge system. Some implications in technology education are also discussed.