Research

Staff research interests

Untitled Document

Susan McLaren

Programme Director: BEd Design & Technology / Senior Lecturer in Design & Technology

Education, Teaching and Leadership (ETL)

Email: susan.v.mclaren@ed.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0)131 651 6615

Location:

Charteris Land

Background

Research interests are related to the development of principles, practice and values in Design and Technology Education. They include the development of pedagogies to embed principles of design for sustainability; issues of transformational change and altered consciousness; perceptions of personal technological capability of student and practicing teachers, discriminators of creativity and progression; and useful, real time multi modal assessment is for learning approaches.

Susan's key teaching areas are PGDE (Secondary) Design and Technology, BEd (Hons) Design and Technology and Continuing Professional Development for primary and secondary teachers. She has supervised DT teacher Chartered teacher thesis and MSc students on topics such as gender issues in DT Education; Developing Enterprise through DT. Her curriculum development, support materials and professional development sessions include those devised to suit specific requests for schools (primary & secondary), groups of teachers and the local authorities. She designed and presented the first Modular Masters PGC in Design and Technology Education in Scotland. She has been involved in national initiatives for curriculum development for Learning Teaching Scotland and the Scottish Qualification Authority. Susan has been involved as consultant for school design and technology TV programmes and authoring supporting web notes and content editor for school texts.

Principal interests

Education for sustainability through designerly thinking
Development of professional practice: international dimensions of technology education;
Creativity and thinking skills though everyday products;
Design centred pedagogy;
Integrated and synchronised learning, interaction between subject area;
Assessment;
Policy, philosophical and pedagogical issues of designing and values education

Current and recent research

I am currently involved in the following research:

(2011--) Ellen MacArthur Foundation: Educating for the cicrcular economy- the contribution of Desin and Technology

Research Reports to Funders (e-scape scotland : 2008-2010)

Mclaren,S.V. (2010). A Research and Development Report to Becta, Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS), Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) Assessment is for Learning through digital technologies [e-scape scotland] – on GLOW SQA website http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/Summary%20Research%20and%20Development%20Report.pdf

Publications

Publications list for Susan McLaren

Teaching

B.Ed ( Hons) Design and Technology

PGDE (secondary) Design and Technology

PGDE (primary) Technologies

Global Citizenship and Sustainability

B.Ed ( Hons) Primary Technologies