Making connections: students using science understanding of electric circuits in design and technology

The requirements of the National Curriculum note the importance of using science (and mathematics) in design and technology activity. Although it is difficult to disagree with this requirement, the nature of the links are not clear. In particular there is little evidence from classroom research that indicates how students use and build upon their scientific understanding. Our previous work indicates that there are difficult problems for both students and teachers and, despite discussions in the design and technology education literature, there is as yet little empirical evidence of how students use science understanding in design and technology activities. We argue here for more research on this issue and analyses of the requirements of design and technology tasks.