Conference Session

Engineering Courses for Non-engineers

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Loendorf, Eastern Washington University; Terence Geyer, Eastern Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

has shifted and technologicalliteracy depends on what they learn in the classroom and from the media.Technological literacy has been defined in many ways. "Technological literacy requires theability of an individual to code and encode technological messages.... It means being able to Page 14.759.3understand and use words and their meaning" (Waetjen13, 1993). "Technological literacy can bethought of a comprising three interrelated dimensions that help describe the characteristics of atechnologically literate person... (1) knowledge; (2) ways of thinking and acting; and (3)capabilities" (National Academy of Engineering9, 2008). "Technological

Conference Session

Engineering Courses for Non-engineers

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bradley Bishop, United States Naval Academy

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

aforementioned three fundamentalquestions: Page 14.1132.2Question 1: What is possible, based on our current understanding of the laws of the universe?This is projection, and is important in that it prevents the students from discussing their favoriteFaster-Than-Light travel methods and techniques for perpetual motion as part of the class, andalso makes them question closely the science behind current projects aimed at extremely esotericobjectives. Projection is rarely a negative, in that it is very difficult to say with certainty thatsomething is not possible. Rather, projection typically results in either a positive (a thing ispossible) or a neutral (it

Conference Session

Technological Literacy and K-12 Engineering

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nataliia Perova, Tufts University; Chris Rogers, Tufts University; David Henry Feldman, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

Engineering Curriculum Framework and its inclusion in Massachusetts’scurriculum standards.IntroductionIn a world where technology plays a very important role, technological literacy becomes one ofthe important goals in our education. In 2002, the Technological Literacy Committee of theNational Academy of Engineering issued a report stating that “technological literacy is essentialfor people living in a modern nation like United States” and defined technological literacy as “anunderstanding of the nature and history of technology, a basic hands-on capability related totechnology, and the ability to think critically about technological developments”.1 One of therecommendations followed from the Committee’s report was to strengthen the presence

Conference Session

Engineering and Technology for Everyone

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patricia Carlson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

educators to try out web-basedresources to which they might not otherwise have convenient access. Moving toward 6,000registered members, the user community has grown dramatically since its inception in September2003. On peak days, the site receives close to 1,200 unique visits. Assessment of PRISM’seffectiveness has been reported elsewhere.1,2At its core, PRISM’s mission is to help teachers embrace digital learning tools as extensions oftheir own dynamic presence in the classroom. The objective is to move beyond mere surfaceappeal in order to integrate computer-mediated resources into traditional STEM curricula. Tothis end, we provide two complementary services: (1) A library of over 2,300 online teaching resources (e.g. simulations, scientific

Conference Session

Engineering Courses for Non-engineers

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert J. Gustafson; Bruce Trott, Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

14.1286.2in Autumn Quarter of 2009. Page 1 of 9Working Definition for Technological LiteracyA review of literature and existing programs showed that there is no universally accepteddefinition of technological literacy. However the college chose to work from the basicdescription and general learning objectives developed by a recent Technological Literacy TaskForce in the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences1. “In the broadest sense, technology is the process by which we modify nature and society using knowledge of science and engineering to create new ways to meet our needs and wants2. Technology comprises the entire system of people and

Conference Session

Engineering Courses for Non-engineers

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Blake, Austin Peay State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

literacygives people the knowledge necessary to understand, think critically about, and make informeddecisions about technology.1 The report describes this as having three dimensions: “knowledge, Page 14.1328.2ways of thinking and acting, and capabilities,” and specifics for each of these dimensions (quoteddirectly from the report as follows).2 Knowledge - Recognizes the pervasiveness of technology in everyday life. - Understands basic engineering concepts and terms, such as systems, constraints, and trade-offs. - Is familiar with the nature and limitations of the engineering design process. - Knows some of the ways

Conference Session

Engineering and Technology for Everyone

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mani Mina, Iowa State University; Ryan M. Gerdes, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

programs at alllevels are responsible for educating nonengineers about technology,1–10 we, as engineers, have aduty to provide effective technological literacy for the other 99.5% of U.S. citizens. Most of thecountry’s leadership usually comes from this larger group of citizens and generally has only avague understanding of engineering and the use of technology for the national interest.Engineering concepts are pervasive in decision making within industry, government, education,and health care, and yet people make most decisions in these sectors with little or no formalengineering education. It is thus apparent that there is a national need for programs that trainnonengineers to understand technological issues and possibilities and to be ready to

Conference Session

Engineering and Technology for Everyone

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

individuals with experience relevant to improving thetechnological literacy of undergraduates 6,7. Participants included individuals who successfullyimplemented courses on technological literacy for undergraduates, representatives of otherdisciplines such as Science Technology and Society (STS), History of Technology, Education,and the humanities, and representatives of the National Science Foundation and the NationalAcademy of Engineering. The participants are listed in Tables 1 and 2.Table 1: Developing Standard Models Workshop: Participants from Academic Institutions.Vince Bertsch, Santa Rosa Junior CollegeCathy Brawner, Research Triangle Edu. ConsultantsTaft Broome, Howard UniversityBernie Carlson, University of VirginiaStephen Cutcliffe, Lehigh

Conference Session

Potpourri

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak, Hope College

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

engineered or human-builtproducts.Outline of Functional Analysis PrinciplesFunctional analysis uses block-diagram type of structure to represent a technical system. Infunctional analysis or functional decomposition a product is represented as a functionalsystem26,34.The “black box” function transforms input into outputs. Figure 1 illustrates the basicfunctional analysis representation. Energy Energy Device Represented Materials as a Functional Materials SystemInformation InformationFigure 1: Basic Functional Analysis Representation.The overall function of a