Goldsmiths - University of London

Tony Lawler MPhil

Teaching

BA Ed Design and Technology (programme leader)

Areas of supervision

My research student supervision is located in the following broadly defined areas: designing styles, teaching and learning and the activity of designing

Research interests

My research interests are in the act of designing and the nature of the 'betterment' that it seeks to cause. I am therefore researching how designers work in order to help them get better at it quicker, but also researching ways to enable teachers to develop others' (their pupil's) designing talents better.

Published materials to date has been around incorporating the issues of sustainability into school Design and Technology work and using the construct of 'designing styles' to enhance teachers and learners Design and Technological capability. This work has also led to an interest in professional cognitions, particularly those of Engineers and Designers, who whilst engaged on similar tasks seem to view their professional activities differently.

Selected publications

• Lawler T ‘Explorations into bottom up strategies for the teaching of Computer Aided Design.’ In eds. Mottier, I. & de Vries, M. New Media in Technology Education: Proceedings PATT11 Conference  Holland. (published online)
• Lawler, T & Goggin, P. Sustainability and Design and Technology in schools Chapter in Ed Owen Jackson. Aspects of teaching Design and Technology, Routledge Farmer (2001)
•  Lawler, T  2006 ‘ I think therefore I Design’ in de Vries Ed. International Handbook of Technology Education. Reviewing the past twenty years pp 261- 272 Sense Rotterdam ISBN 9077874062
• Lawler, T  Designing and Teaching Styles A longitudinal Study of pupils’ ways of doing designing following complementary regrouping and teaching. Published in the proceedings of Why do Designers use Philosophies whilst Engineers use numbers -
  Written as a contribution to Values within Technology
  4th biennial conference Values in Technology Education Brisbane Australia (presented but not published)

Professional activities

• External examiner – BA Ed  Design and Technology programmes at Sunderland University 2002 to 2006
• External examiner Univercity of Cardiff BA Ed programme 2007 -