Output details

Thinking and Learning Through Drawing: in Primary Classrooms

This book reflects the insights into the nature of design and technology that resulted from the author’s research. The focus of the research was young children’s use of drawing for designing technological artefacts and this required the analysis of a wide range of contexts in which children learn to design and make functional products. The centrality of modelling of ideas, whether through drawing, discussion or mock-ups, was a central tenet of the author’s thesis, which is reflected throughout the book. This research involved an examination of design drawings made by over 300 children aged 4-9 years, leading to a 2-year longitudinal comparative study of two Year 2 classes in a primary school in Kent, to ascertain improvements in designing through introducing a pedagogy based on the findings of the large-scale survey. Further details of the research process are discussed in the author’s output 3, ‘Taking ideas on a journey: researching designing in a Kent primary school.’