Research and design triads in the digital epoch: Implications for science and technology education

In this article, the authors present and discuss the technological design process through the design triad - a parallel entity to the research triad, which describes experimental research. In the pre-digital age, the design triad and research triad were described by schemes of different orders; in the current digital epoch, they are represented by a similar scheme. This theoretical finding is in line with the substantial interpenetration of science and technology that characterises the present time. From the educational viewpoint, the result serves as evidence of the need to adopt an interdisciplinary educational approach that combines science and technology and focuses on hybrid systems.