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

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

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