Conclusions
The new Proposals for Technology for England and Wales (DFE December 1992) suggest Design and Make Tasks (DMTs) ie. project work as being the major method of Design and Technology learning. This article has been primarily concerned with questions of motivation within project work but has touched on other-fundamental aspects. As a teaching/learning technique group project work has limitations as indicated above. However it would appear that many teachers do not recognise these limitations and produce poor practice. An example would be the frequent failure to use end of lesson debriefs to share individual's experience and to reflect. It is important that we now begin to develop a clearer understanding of project work as a learning experience. The DFE document offers little guidance; more research and debate is necessary to identify the assumptions and put forward practical advice on how to maximise the potential benefits of project work in Design and Technology.
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Denton, H. Motivation levels in pupils project work: observations from an action research programme with particular reference to groupwork. Int J Technol Des Educ 3, 53–61 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00418996
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00418996