Original Research
Die verband tussen wetenskap en tegnologie: ‘n Tegnologie-onderwysperspektief
Submitted: 04 April 2011 | Published: 22 February 2012
About the author(s)
Willem J. Rauscher, University of Pretoria, South AfricaAbstract
The relationship between science and technology: A technology education perspective. The South African Minister of Basic Education’s announcement that Natural Sciences and Technology should be combined in the Intermediate Phase can pose various challenges when it comes to the execution stage. The question as to who will be responsible for teaching this new combined subject, called Natural Sciences and Technology, is problematic. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS, Department of Basic Education 2011) seems to suggest that Science teachers will be responsible for the teaching of Natural Sciences and Technology in the Intermediate Phase. Most science teachers in South Africa however, have had inadequate training in Technology education and, therefore, do not have a sound understanding of the nature of Technology or its inter-connectedness with Science. This can have disastrous consequences for Technology education. It can, for example, determine how this subject will be taught and how content is prioritised. This in turn, can perpetuate the perception that Technology is a form of applied science and therefore, inferior to Science, which will lead to Technology losing its status as a school subject in relation to Science as a school subject. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the literature on the relationship between science and technology and to debunk the myth that technology is applied science. It is hoped that this article will draw attention to the danger of Technology education being diluted to a lesser subject if the persons responsible for the teaching of this combined subject do not at least have a proper understanding of the relationship that exists between science and technology.
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Crossref Citations
1. ’n Teoretiese besinning oor die implikasies van die filosofie van tegnologie vir kriteria vir vakkurrikulumontwikkeling en -evaluering
Piet Ankiewicz
Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Natuurwetenskap en Tegnologie vol: 34 issue: 1 year: 2015
doi: 10.4102/satnt.v34i1.1170