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Beyond procedural approaches to designing: a framework for supporting students' hierarchical thinking through their representational journeys.

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Title: Beyond procedural approaches to designing: a framework for supporting students' hierarchical thinking through their representational journeys.
Authors: Blom, Nicolaas1 (AUTHOR) nicolaas.blom@ul.ie, O'Connor, Sean1 (AUTHOR), Lane, Diarmaid1 (AUTHOR), Canty, Donal1 (AUTHOR)
Source: International Journal of Technology & Design Education. Mar2026, Vol. 36 Issue 1, p153-177. 25p.
Subjects: Design thinking, Metacognition, Technology education, Authentic assessment, Critical thinking, Teaching methods, Design education
Abstract: This paper examines how designerly thinking, can be facilitated through the creation of design representations such as sketches, drawings, and 3D models. Doing this, we move beyond procedural accounts of designing to focus on how students use design representations to navigate their design journeys. Instead of only engaging in iterative steps, phases or stages of designing, we argue that designing fundamentally requires hierarchical thinking—the ability to move between different levels of abstraction and specificity which is evident in students' design representations. Drawing on frameworks from professional design education, we adapt an existing taxonomy of design representations to align with the Irish technology education curriculum, by highlighting its relations to properties of design representations, different levels of hierarchical thinking and iterative designing. The proposed framework guides teachers and teacher educators in supporting students to strategically select representations that realise design ideas, while also enhancing design reasoning, metacognition, and the ability to move fluidly between different levels of thinking. Finally, we consider its implications for assessment, curriculum alignment, and pedagogical strategies, while also identifying potential limitations related to assessment-driven curricula and transferability beyond the Irish context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of International Journal of Technology & Design Education is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: This paper examines how designerly thinking, can be facilitated through the creation of design representations such as sketches, drawings, and 3D models. Doing this, we move beyond procedural accounts of designing to focus on how students use design representations to navigate their design journeys. Instead of only engaging in iterative steps, phases or stages of designing, we argue that designing fundamentally requires hierarchical thinking—the ability to move between different levels of abstraction and specificity which is evident in students' design representations. Drawing on frameworks from professional design education, we adapt an existing taxonomy of design representations to align with the Irish technology education curriculum, by highlighting its relations to properties of design representations, different levels of hierarchical thinking and iterative designing. The proposed framework guides teachers and teacher educators in supporting students to strategically select representations that realise design ideas, while also enhancing design reasoning, metacognition, and the ability to move fluidly between different levels of thinking. Finally, we consider its implications for assessment, curriculum alignment, and pedagogical strategies, while also identifying potential limitations related to assessment-driven curricula and transferability beyond the Irish context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of International Journal of Technology & Design Education is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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              Text: Mar2026
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