Abstract
Apart from constituting an indispensable part of the process of developing technical creativity, technical drawing and graphic communication are also an important component of general technology education. Computer-aided design (CAD), which has been used in the industry for almost six decades, is still developing. During the past thirty years, CAD has gradually entered not only secondary and higher education, but also general technology (technical) education in some parts of the world. As a result, a number of various studies that problematize the use of CAD programs in teaching have been conducted. However, the former practices adopted in the Croatian system of general and compulsory education did not include the application of these contents in teaching. The compulsory education system in Croatia is currently undergoing some changes which could result in making the acquisition of students’ digital competences compulsory and introducing CAD in general education. This paper analyses the relations between technical designing (drawing), spatial intelligence and computer aided design and is aimed at exploring the justification, as well as the possibilities and challenges of incorporating such content into the teaching of Technical Culture. Based on the analysis of results emerging from this study, the significance of these contents for students’ developments is discussed and the possibilities of applying CAD in the teaching of Technical Culture are presented. In its concluding part, the paper provides guidance that could be useful in conducting future studies on the use of CAD in Technical Culture teaching.
