“Agree to disagree”: Technology teachers’ perceptions and practices of problem-based learning (PBL) in the Danish higher technical examination programme (HTX)

HTX Technology teachers are interested in developing how they facilitate project work; however, there is no shared consensus on conceptualisations of PBL, or about which methods to use. The purpose of this paper is therefore to tease out empirical findings based on the themes; teacher cooperation, degree of problem orientation, project organisation and student centeredness to identify some avenues for future pedagogical development of technology teaching. In the paper it was found that technology teachers’ cooperation is challenged as the teachers agree to disagree when it comes to conceptualisations of PBL in relation to project work, therefore finding their own solutions. On that ground, it is concluded that a generally accepted disciplinary tradition in Technology has yet to fully emerge or to be comprehensively conceptualised by its teaching profession and that there is scope, based on the empirical findings presented here, for further development of HTX Technology teaching.