Where’s the Beef? A Systematic Literature Review of the Relationship Between Technology Education and Student Achievement

Abstract

Historically, technology education has struggled to assert and maintain its place in the general education curriculum of modern educational jurisdictions. From a Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada perspective the most recent issue has centred on a proposed restructuring of mandatory intermediate (students aged 12-15) technology education modules within the jurisdiction's K-12 curricula. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop an accurate account of any empirically supported relationships between K-12 student academic achievement and technology education to potentially assist curriculum decision makers moving forward. The study was positioned within the qualitative research paradigm using a descriptive systematic literature review methodology -in particular a scoping review method (Xiao and Watson, 2019). The study's research question was: What is the relationship between K-12 technology education curricula and student academic achievement? Preliminary analysis of the findings suggests that there are tangible benefits associated with K-12 students being enrolled in technology education curricula that cut across multiple subject areas and knowledge/skill domains. Significant research gaps and reproducibility issues have also been identified which present opportunities for further inquiry and research in this area.