Marc J. de Vries – författare

Philosophy may not seem to be an obvious source to discover methods for successful product innovation management. However, this book shows that systematic reflection on the nature of product innovation management, supported by insights from the philosophy of technology, can illuminate the innovation process in technology and engineering.

Presenting methodological guidelines and philosophical reflections, this book guides readers through each phase of product innovation. At each step, ideas from the philosophy of technology are translated into practical guidelines for managing these processes. The book works through the philosophical perspectives on innovation, methods in innovation design and research, and the value and ethical implications of innovation.

Bridging the gap between philosophical context and practical methodologies, this book will be highly valuable for postgraduate students and academics researching and teaching innovation and philosophy of technology.

Philosophy may not seem to be an obvious source to discover methods for successful product innovation management. However, this book shows that systematic reflection on the nature of product innovation management, supported by insights from the philosophy of technology, can illuminate the innovation process in technology and engineering.

Presenting methodological guidelines and philosophical reflections, this book guides readers through each phase of product innovation. At each step, ideas from the philosophy of technology are translated into practical guidelines for managing these processes. The book works through the philosophical perspectives on innovation, methods in innovation design and research, and the value and ethical implications of innovation.

Bridging the gap between philosophical context and practical methodologies, this book will be highly valuable for postgraduate students and academics researching and teaching innovation and philosophy of technology.

Teaching about technology, at all levels of education, can only be done properly when those who teach have a clear idea about what it is that they teach. In other words: they should be able to give a decent answer to the question: what is technology? In the philosophy of technology that question is explored. Therefore the philosophy of technology is a discipline with a high relevance for those who teach about technology. Literature in this field, though, is not always easy to access for non-philosophers. This book provides an introduction to the philosophy of technology for such people. It offers a survey of the current state-of-affairs in the philosophy of technology, and also discusses the relevance of that for teaching about technology. The book can be used in introductory courses on the philosophy of technology in teacher education programs, engineering education programs, and by individual educators that are interested in the intriguing phenomenon of technology that is so important in our contemporary society.

This book provides an introduction to the philosophy of technology. It offers a survey of the current state-of-affairs in the philosophy of technology, and discusses its relevance for teaching about technology.

Teaching about technology, at all levels of education, can only be done properly when those who teach have a clear idea about what it is that they teach. In other words: they should be able to give an appropriate answer to the question: what is technology? The question of the nature of technology is explored in the philosophy of technology, making this a highly relevant discipline for those who teach about technology. Literature in this field, however, is not always easy to access for non-philosophers. By providing an introduction to the philosophy of technology, this book makes the discipline more easily accessible.

The book can be used in introductory courses on the philosophy of technology in teacher education programs, engineering education programs, and by individual educators who are interested in the intriguing phenomenon of technology that is so important in our contemporary society.

This handbook of technology education offers a state-of-the-art survey of developments in technology education worldwide. It deals with general themes like philosophical foundations, curriculum, teaching and learning, teacher education, and educational technology. It also has some technology-specific topics, such as designing, making, and assessment (portfolios). To focus on the specific learning challenges a separate section of the book is dedicated to sub-domains of technology and engineering, like food, textiles, materials and robotics. Explicit attention is given to the possible role of technology (and engineering) education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Recent developments such as technology concept learning, authentic learning, pre-university engineering education, design-based learning and design-based research for technology education, pedagogical content knowledge for technology educators, and the use of e-portfolios are included. One section deals with social and cultural issues, such as education for sustainability, gender issues in technology education, indigenous technologies, industry involvement and the relation between technology education and communication. As could be expected in a handbook on technology education, there is also a section on the use of technology for teaching about technology: the use of CAD, science fiction movies, animations, internet and social media. All chapters are written especially for this handbook by a selection of authors, some of whom have been part of the history of technology education for many years, some of whom are promising young researchers. The book can be used as a reference by technology education researchers to get a concise introduction into the field. It can also be used as a resource in technology teacher education programs. Technology teachers can use it as literature for deepening their understanding of the field and thus working ontheir continuous professionalization. Curriculum developers and policy makers will find it of interest to get an understanding for the need to have technology education in the curriculum and the way it can be realized in practice.

This book is a distinctive fusion of philosophy and technology, delineating the normative landscape that informs today’s technologies and tomorrow’s inventions. The authors examine what we deem to be the internal norms that govern our ever-expanding technical universe. Recognizing that developments in technology and engineering literally create our human future, transforming existing knowledge into tomorrow’s tools and infrastructure, they chart the normative criteria we use to evaluate novel technological artifacts: how, for example, do we judge a ‘good’ from a ‘bad’ expert system or nuclear power plant? As well as these ‘functional’ norms, and the norms that guide technological knowledge and reasoning, the book examines commonly agreed benchmarks in safety and risk reduction, which play a pivotal role in engineering practice.

Informed by the core insight that, in technology and engineering, factual knowledge relating, for example, to the properties of materials or the load-bearing characteristics of differing construction designs is not enough, this analysis follows the often unseen foundations upon which technologies rest—the norms that guide the creative forces shaping the technical landscape to come. The book, a comprehensive survey of these emerging topics in the philosophy of technology, clarifies the role these norms (epistemological, functional, and risk-assessing) play in technological innovation, and the consequences they have for our understanding of technological knowledge.