Conference Session

Improving Technical Understanding of All Americans

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Rose, Ball State University; Jim Flowers, Ball State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

skills in using tools andmachines [3]. However, Ball State University was ahead of this national initiative; preceding therelease of the STLs, technology faculty developed both undergraduate and graduate courses forpre-service and practicing teachers to address these content goals. For almost a decade,Technology: Use and Assessment, a graduate online course, has provided opportunities forpracticing technology educators from across the nation to develop skills in assessing andpredicting the possible impacts of technological decisions. The purpose of this paper is todescribe the content, pedagogical strategies, activities, and lessons-learned from 12implementations of the technology assessment portion of this course. The hope is that this

Conference Session

Technology Literacy for Engineering Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Byron Newberry, Baylor University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

appreciation of ethics, societal impact, globalissues, and current events, coupled with the current push toward preparing students for a “flatearth”, I believe we will see increasing progress in producing engineering graduates with greaterawareness of the technology’s relationship to society.Engineers’ Contributions to Technological IlliteracyThe National Academies report, Technically Speaking, notes several factors that contribute totechnological illiteracy.2 These factors include the complexity of modern technology, thespecialization of societal roles, the urbanization of the population, the automation of theworkplace, and a shift to a service economy. An additional factor is described as follows: “Mostmodern technologies are designed so users do

Conference Session

Technology Literacy for Non-Engineers

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Blake, Austin Peay State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

number of sources are available for stories of technological development;the author has included a listing, albeit incomplete, of sources consulted for this course. Takentogether, these stories can help students recognize the positive and negative outcomes fromtechnological change, and the process of society influencing technological change and oftechnological change influencing society. It should also help the students to understand theprocess of technological change, including issues in engineering practice, design, manufacture,and operation.The course should help students recognize problems facing human society that are related totechnology. The course includes material on energy, the environment, and sustainability.Material on these topics

Conference Session

Technological Literacy for K-12 and for Community College Students: Concepts, Assessment, and Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen O'Brien, The College of New Jersey

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

deals with, for example, deeper contextuallearning and open-ended design/problem-solving. With deep experiences in all four areas ofSTEM, our K-5 MST graduates have high content knowledge and high skill levels in STEM,resulting in overall higher teacher effectiveness. Perhaps more importantly, MST programgraduates have comfort (low anxiety) in a broad set of subjects and experiences.In this paper we give a detailed description of (i) the K-5 MST program, (ii) a brief overviewof a quantitative characterization of the program and (iii) unique research topics madepossible with our K-5 STEM graduates and their students.Summary:The K-5 MST program at our institution offers a unique opportunity both for increasingteacher effectiveness and K-5 student

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

and several others offered by other departments. Of the 102students in Systems Engineering graduating class of 2008, 40 of them took the emergingtechnologies course or the honors equivalent. Our exist survey asked students to pick theirfavorite elective course, and emerging technologies ranked second overall, with a total of 17.3%of the votes (first place was Mobile Robot Design at 30%). Thus, slightly less than half of thestudents who took emerging technologies considered it the best of the five elective courses thatthey took. For a non-traditional course such as this to outshine all of the other electives in themajor is a strong testament to the impact of this different way of looking at technology and the

Conference Session

Technology Literacy for Non-Engineers

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lawrence Whitman, Wichita State University; James Steck, Wichita State University; David Koert, Wichita State University; Larry Paarmann, Wichita State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

of a product. There is a strong need to exposeundergraduate students to engineering concepts to enable a stronger, more engineering literateworkforce among non-engineers. “We must do this for all students, both those who do and thosewho do not aspire to be scientists, mathematicians, and engineers”2. According to Wulf, “[Everycitizen] should also be familiar with the methods that engineers use to evaluate designalternatives in search of the one that best satisfies constraints related to cost, functionality, safety,reliability, manufacturability, ergonomics, and environmental impact” 3.In summary, we need to improve the technological literacy of our non-scientific workforce. Acourse that exposes non-engineering undergraduates to engineering

Conference Session

Technological Literacy for K-12 and for Community College Students: Concepts, Assessment, and Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Randy Libros, Community College of Philadelphia; Kathleen Harter, Community College of Philadelphia

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

. Use of nanostructured devices for tracking versus privacy issues and a hypotheticalcase study of a solar panel company (which uses nanotechnology in its manufacturing process)moving into a town provide opportunities to explore the societal impacts of nanotechnology.6PedagogyThe pedagogy employed for all the modules is active and cooperative and includes some if notall of these techniques in each module: group work, project based learning, role plays, paneldiscussions and guest speakers. The use of interactive, team-based activities in the course aredrawn from many of the “best-practices” identified in educational literature that have beenshown to increase student understanding and retention of materials as well as improve studentpersistence

Conference Session

Defining Technological Literacy

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak, Hope College; David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

. It considers objects from our daily environment and focuses on their principles ofoperation, histories, and relationships to one another. Physics 105 is concerned primarilywith mechanical and thermal objects, while Physics 106 emphasizes objects involvingelectromagnetism, light, special materials, and nuclear energy. They may be taken ineither order. The course was designed for non-scientists and built around everyday objects.The course became exceptionally popular. For more than a decade, 500 students took thecourse each semester, however enrollment is now capped at 200 students. The impact ofthe course How Things Work has been widespread. At the University of Virginia, manynon-science students who would otherwise have no exposure to

Conference Session

Technological Literacy - Courses, Educational and Accreditation Standards

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Blake, Austin Peay State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

value tothem and to society.There are (or should be) higher expectations on engineering and engineering technology majorsin regards to technological literacy. This is obvious in the area of capabilities. For example,while a citizen should have a basic understanding of the design process, the major must beprepared on graduation to become a productive part of the design team and should be prepared tolead a team later in their career. A citizen should be prepared to participate in debates abouttechnology. They should be prepared to understand and thoughtfully weigh the arguments of theexpert. A graduate should be expected to do more. They should have greater knowledge in theirarea of expertise, and they should be the experts and take a leading

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

components and subsystems, 3) that a system can fail due to failure of a very small part of the system, 4) that, despite the best efforts of all involved, the risk of failure exists. It also includes elements that demonstrate 5) an engineering team in action, including situations where major differences exist, 6) design within constraints (the CO2 filter problem) and the arbitrary nature of some design decisions (the existence of both square and round filter cartridges), and 7) dealing with uncertainty.Finally, 8) the story behind the Apollo program is used as an example of societal needs leading to the creation of technology.The decision to develop the technology and go to the moon came from a need for the

Conference Session

Teaching Technological Literacy - College Courses and Minors

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak, Hope College; Mani Mina, Iowa State University; Robert J. Gustafson, Ohio State University; James Young, Rice University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

provide little practical understanding of our complex human-built technologicalinfrastructure. Non-engineers who complete a university natural science distribution requirementare hardly prepared to lead the world’s largest economy through its present turmoil and to makeinformed decisions about topics such as supporting the automotive industry, developing fossilfuel alternatives, or appropriate regulation of nanotechnology.Minors can provide an efficient and credible way for non-engineering majors to obtain apractical and meaningful degree of technological literacy. These minors will not be intended todevelop design-level engineering knowledge, but rather are based on the general competenciesadvocated by the National Academy of Engineering in such

Conference Session

Improving Technical Understanding of All Americans

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elaine Cooney, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis; Karen Alfrey; Steve Owens, Indiana University - Purdue University-Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

be used to assess students’ abilities.These traits can serve as criteria for the development of rubrics.Bibliography1. Nelson, S. "Impact of Technology on Individuals and Society": A critical thinking and lifelong learning class for engineering students. in 31st ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference. 2001. Reno, NV.2. ACNielsen, Employer Satisfaction with Graduate Skills. 2000, ACNielsen Research Services.3. National Survey of Student Engagement 2006 results summary. 2006, IUPUI Information Management and Institutional Research.4. Dewey, J., How We Think. 1910, Lexington, Mass: Heath.5. Siller, T.J., Sustainability and critical thinking in civil engineering curriculum. Journal of

Conference Session

Teaching Technological Literacy - College Courses and Minors

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Doyle, Penn State University; Richard Devon, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

concept of open source design. Technical writing coursescould also readily embrace the practice. We are seriously considering creating both these coursesin lieu of what we have done so far. In the case of design, the course will probably be graduatelevel where we can attract even more students in nanotechnology research. In this way, we canmodel further diffusion of TL through process.We have not addressed the issue of metrics. Rather like the collaborative education movement,we are inclined to pursue it first and measure the impacts later hoping for the best. And just likethat movement the first tangible results might be a rise in our teaching evaluations, which didhappen. The students were enthusiastic participants all semester and the formal

Conference Session

Defining Technological Literacy

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Douglass Klein, Union College; Robert Balmer, Union College

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

they design and develop products, systems, and environments to solve practical problems. Close reading of TfAAP suggests that, while the authors may have had primarily in mindteaching technology to the technically illiterate, the goal cuts both ways. The goal includes theability to “manage, assess, and understand technology.” Thus it is not enough to know how itworks or how to build it, the technologically literate citizen must be able to manage and assesstechnology. Thus, TfAAP places burdens on all sectors of education – both liberal arts andengineering – to create more well-rounded graduates. The national efforts of TfAAP are directed at K-12, but shouldn’t there also be a similareffort in higher education? Sadly, in the

Conference Session

Technological Literacy - Courses, Educational and Accreditation Standards

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Blake, Austin Peay State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

, although specific expectations for majors willoften exceed expectations for non-majors. A graduate of an engineering technology orengineering degree program would have knowledge and capabilities required for practice in theirfield that would go far beyond expectations for a non-major. These aspects are directly related tothe curriculum in any degree program. Aspects related to broader questions and concerns, suchas the impact of technology on society, are not closely linked to the traditional elements of thecurriculum. These aspects of technological literacy are, however, at least as important to ourgraduates as they mature and move into positions of leadership as they are to non-majors.Accreditation Criteria – Program OutcomesThe need to prepare

Conference Session

Defining Technological Literacy

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering; David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

formal pathwayis through technology education. With only about 30,000 teachers nationwide, however,and only one-third of states requiring students to take such courses by high school 12 ,technology education cannot at this time be considered a mainstream subject in U.S.education. Aspects of technological literacy, especially the element of design thinking,can be included in efforts aimed at introducing K-12 students to engineering. ProjectLead the Way (www.pltw.org) may be the largest and best known of these initiatives, butthere are many others that are having an impact. In post-secondary education,technological literacy has been the stated or implied goal of STS (science technologysociety) programs, and programs on the history and philosophy

Conference Session

Technological Literacy and the Educated Person

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michele Dischino, Central Connecticut State University; James DeLaura, Central Connecticut State University; Patrick Foster, Central Connecticut State University; David Sianez, CCSU

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

show that in2003, 68.3% of engineering degrees were awarded to Caucasians, 14% to Asian Americans,5.1% to African Americans, 5.4% to Hispanic students and 7.2% to others. It is important to notethat since 1999 there has been a declining trend in the number of Hispanic and African Americanstudents among all engineering graduates. At the same time, the percentage of bachelor’sengineering degrees awarded to women is only 20%.Benefits of After School ProgramsWell-implemented after school programs can have a positive impact on a range of academic andother outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged children and youth. Academic outcomesassociated with participation in after school programs include12:  Better attitudes toward school and higher