Conference Session

Technological Literacy for Undergraduate Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Randy Libros, Community College of Philadelphia

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

development.”1 Providing an explanation and developing an understandingof the basic science and scientific techniques employed in the application of these technologiestouches upon the first part of this definition. Using that background to make and support apersonal decision regarding the use of these technologies would address the third part and whatis probably the most critical part of the definition. It is essential that “ordinary citizens [are able]to make thoughtful decisions on issues that affect, or are affected by, technology.”2 “Science andtechnology are so pervasive in modern society that students increasingly need a sound educationin the core concepts, applications and implications of science” 3 in order to function as citizens ina

Conference Session

Objectives, Assessment, and Methods for Teaching Technological Literacy

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven R. Walk, Old Dominion University

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

States such as Lenz9, Martino10, and Bright11,and others around the world, e.g., the very prolific Marchetti (see, for example, Marchetti12),refined forecasting methods and showed that the logistic model was an excellent construct forforecasting technological change with virtually universal application for technology adoption andmany other individual and social human behaviors. Figure 1 illustrates the idealized logisticcurve of technology adoption or diffusion. Figure 2 shows the logistic growth of the supertankerof maritime fleets presented in a popular format developed by Fisher and Pry that renders thelogistic curve linear13. Page 22.840.5

Conference Session

Technological Literacy

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak, Hope College; Lauren Aprill; Mani Mina, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

exist between a set of facts,data, or ideas. An emphasis in concept mapping is on the depiction or illustration of connectionsand associations. Concept maps are particularly helpful in situations in which relationshipsbetween ideas are not in a simple linear progression. Concept maps rely on the use of the naturaltendency to associate position in space with organizational hierarchy. Figure 1 is an example ofa simple concept map. Concept maps are well-suited to describing technical systems. Concept maps are useful forcreating organization in situations in which a large number of pieces of information initiallyappear at the same level of significance. These are situations where an underlying order is likelyto exist but is not apparent on surface

Conference Session

Technological Literacy for Undergraduate Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak, Hope College; Kate A. Disney, Mission College

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

ask questions about risks and benefits when introducedto a new technology, and to participate in discussions and debates about the uses of thattechnology. In addition to these three cognitive dimensions, four content areas were defined: (1)technology and society, (2) design, (3) products and systems, and (4) characteristics, concepts,and connections. Finally, an assessment matrix was proposed that combined the four contentareas (the rows of the matrix) with the three cognitive dimensions (the columns of the matrix),and it is this matrix that spurred the development of the proposed framework.Simultaneously, the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) also developed aset of standards (ITEA 2000) for technological literacy, which

Conference Session

Technological Literacy for Undergraduate Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak, Hope College; Lauren Aprill

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

technology.The key general themes or characteristics desired for the projects are listed in Table 1. Theprojects should focus on technologies that are important to daily life. The term core technologieswas adopted to describe technological devices and systems that are common because they areparticularly influential in some way. This was seen as important for both the non-engineeringstudents and the engineering students. For the non-engineers it is important to promote anunderstanding of foundational technologies to establish a knowledge base for life long learning.For students who may be continuing on in engineering, establishing a familiarity with influentialtechnologies helps to establish prior knowledge and a context for more detailed advanced

Conference Session

Objectives, Assessment, and Methods for Teaching Technological Literacy

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert J. Gustafson, Ohio State University; John Krupczak, Hope College; James F. Young, Rice University, Electrical & Computer Engineering; Mani Mina, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

unit’s perspective, strengths and resources. By multiple iterations, highest priority items were combined as appropriate andcategorized as Educational Objectives and related Outcomes. This resulted in a set of fourEducational Objectives and seventeen Outcomes. The four Educational Objectives includedemonstrating: 1) knowledge of the technological nature of the physical and natural world, 2)ability to meaningfully engage with big questions of a technological nature, both contemporaryand enduring, 3) characteristics of personal and social responsibility in using and creatingtechnology, and 4) capability to synthesize and advance technological accomplishments acrossgeneral and specialized domains. Three to six Outcomes were related to each

Conference Session

Technological Literacy for Undergraduate Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert M. Brooks, Temple University; Jyothsna K. S., St.Joseph's College, Bangalore, Department of English; Amithraj Amavasai

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

dealingwith real world technological issues.For the past 20 years the principal author has taught a course, ―The Environment,‖ to non-engineering and non-science majors as a science core requirement. In Fall 2007 a section of thiscourse was taught using the traditional lecture method. In the other sections of the course,methods for improving the technological literacy of these students were developed. Four bestpractices were selected from these methods and taught to an experimental group in summer2010. The best practices are: (1) learning from three hands on and minds on labs, (2) use ofcharts and equations, (3) making students familiar with the top 20 bench mark numbers used inthe industry, and (4) acquiring knowledge about the commercial

Conference Session

Technological Literacy

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William R. Loendorf, Eastern Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

and function effectivelyin the future, people must first understand the past and its technologies.This reawakening and understanding of past technologies is directly related to enhancing thestudent's technological literacy level. "Technological literacy can be thought of a comprisingthree interrelated dimensions that help describe the characteristics of a technologically literateperson... (1) knowledge; (2) ways of thinking and acting; and (3) capabilities" (NationalAcademy of Engineering9, 2008). "Technological literacy is the ability to use, manage, assess,and understand technology" (International Technology Educational Association5, 2007). All ofthese definitions point to the knowledge and understanding of technologies."Common elements of

Conference Session

Objectives, Assessment, and Methods for Teaching Technological Literacy

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steve Macho, Buffalo State College; Su Wang, China National Institute for Educational Research

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

of thedesign process with an emphasis on the “creative act” and “hands-on” participatory learning. The objectives of the workshop were to: Objective 1 – Determine if teachers understood how to use design as method of instruction, Page 22.427.3 Objective 2 - Determine if teachers needed more education to use this method of instruction, Objective 3 – Determine if teachers had the resources needed to use design as a method of instruction, Objective 4 - Determine if teachers believed the design method could be used to teach creativity

Conference Session

Objectives, Assessment, and Methods for Teaching Technological Literacy

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Scott Bartholomew; Geoff Wright, Brigham Young University; Ron Terry, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

increasingly popular in recentyears; backward design is a method of design that begins with the end in mind.2 The  main  principles  of  this  process  call  for  curriculum  developers  to  first  determine  what  students  should  know  and  be  able  to  do  at  the  completion  of  a  unit.    Great success has been found inthe backward design movement, and teachers are finding opportunities for implementation ofbackward design in their classrooms.3-5In 2002, the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) updatedtheir earlier published book: Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study ofTechnology (STL).1 This document helped to set forth the expectations, benchmarks, standards,and learning outcomes