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The presentations that make up the current and archived conferences on this site have been made open access and are freely available for viewing, for the benefit of authors and interested readers.

Background and Aims of DATTA Research Conferences

Design Innovation, STEM and Technology are among the most rapidly evolving fields of knowledge and practice in human society. While research journals offer a source for information in specialist areas of design, innovation or a sub-genre of technology studies, this broad field of innovation development, teaching, learning, and practice is a multi-disciplinary challenge.

The DATTArc international research agenda invites delegates to share critical, exploratory, and/or classical empirical research within or across the following six domains of research priorities:

1.  Developmental Research in Technology Education: early years to year 12/13

• Cognitive, social and psychomotor learning development with respect to understanding various aspect of Technology Education generally and uniquely within genres of technology.

2. Pedagogy Research in Technology Education

• Effective teaching and learning strategies, including formative learning diagnosis and summative learning evaluations (assessments). This includes experiential education research, group learning, and online learning. It includes assistive teaching technology (educational technology and ICT) and the role of the learning or living-lab environment such as the Reggio Emilia qualities of the Technology and Design learning environment.

3. Epistemology Research in Technology Education

• Research on the phenomenology of technology, the form of our field of knowledge: sub-disciplines otherwise known as technacy genres such as digital technology, the technological sciences such as fields of engineering, wood technology, food technology, textiles technology or ceramics technology and so on.
• Contexts of technologies such as Indigenous Technologies, habitat and technology research, technology choice and climate science education, Technologies and society research, and so Technologies education and (any other field).

4. Comparative Research in Technology Education

• Cross-cultural Technology Education Research, Technology and culture research, gender and technology education research.

5. Historical, Theoretical, Ethical and Philosophical Research in Technology Education

• What ought we be teaching, learning and valuing? How ought we understand our history and use it to build a long evolving arch for the depth of our field of learning?

6. Institutional, Political, Policy and Economic Research in Technology Education

• Trends in technology education (teachers, students, academics), institutional perceptions, the economics of technology education. Technology education in national policies and its rhetoric (discourse analysis).

There is much to build and critique in new knowledge and understanding for this area of educational and curriculum design research. 

This International Biennial DATTA Research Conference (DATTArc) hosted in Australia, has become the premier source for education researchers and teachers of this learning area.  The DATTArc, forms part of the few International Research Conferences in the world network, along-side PATT (Pupils Attitudes Towards Technology), and TENZ (Technology Education New Zealand).