Technology Assessment Study in The Netherlands

The Technology Assessment Study was aimed at describing the achievement of 14/15-year-old pupils who either did or did not take technology, with reference to the objectives for the subject technology, as stated in the (revised) Curriculum Guideline for Technology of the Foundation for Curriculum Development (SLO). The pupils' achievement has been, among other things, assessed by means of a written test (the Technology Achievement Test) developed by the project team. This test was administered to 1805 pupils in 86 schools covering various types of secondary education. For the condition 'technology' the highest mean total score belongs to pupils of schools for junior technical training, immediately followed by pupils of schools for junior agricultural training and middle schools. This study shows that the boys' mean total score is significantly higher than that of the girls. Furthermore, it becomes evident that no relationship exists between either father's level of education or profession and the children's test scores.