Do Hands-On, Technology-Based Activities Enhance Learning by Reinforcing Cognitive Knowledge and Retention?

INTRODUCTION Technology education has passed through explicit phases from manual training through manual arts through industrial arts, to contemporary programs in industry and technology. These phases have been based on different psychologies and therefore, have produced varied rationales. Since the 1900's, one common link has been that the field is purported to be an important part of general education and therefore, can provide a meaningful educational experience. In St. Louis around 1870, Calvin Woodward decided that the most effective method to "...illustrate certain mechanical principles..." was to have his students construct models out of wood (Barlow, 1967, p.34). Woodward felt that this particular hands-on experience demonstrated a practical use for various engineering precepts. It was this reliance on objects, tools, and materials to teach mathematical and engineering theory that produced manual training and eventually, industrial arts ideology. Industrial arts, though, evolved more into a discipline oriented toward developing skills for the skills themselves rather than developing a knowledge of industry. Hands-on activities included building projects that incorporated the learning of "...technical processes without conscious concern of the socio-cultural context in which they exist..." (Lauda & McCrory, 1986, p.28). In recent years, technology education has fo-cused on the use of tools and materials to help students understand concepts in technology and its relationships to various areas of education. In the transformation of curricula, the common denominator has remained hands-on experimental activities. Industrial arts has always used various projects to stimulate interest , develop skills, and increase learning. Technology education has continued to focus on hands-on activities and modified them, helping students become technologically literate by developing problem solving adaptation skills and a positive attitude toward technology (Martin, 1985). However, one might question the hands-on activity approach as an appropriate and effective basis for learning in industrial arts and technology education. The purpose of this study was to determine if hands-on technology-based activities enhance learning among eighth grade students by reinforcing cognitive knowledge and improving retention. Generally, it was designed to find out if increases in knowledge and subject interest were greater for those students given the opportunity to reinforce learning through laboratory activities. Specifically , the study addressed the following questions: 1. Is there a significant, measurable, knowledge increase when technology-based hands-on activities are used to supplement regular classroom presentations? RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS #1: Students participating in a hands-on group assignment would have higher scores the day after instruction than students receiving …