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

concept of teaching technological literacythroughout the curriculum. Page 15.1193.2IntroductionFirst year courses are an integral part of many engineering and engineering technology degreeprograms. These courses serve to introduce newly declared majors to careers in engineering andtechnology. A student taking such a course should come away with a foundation of knowledgeabout engineering and technology, about the different engineering disciplines, the work involved,and career prospects to be able to make an informed decision on whether they should pursuesuch a degree or not and what discipline would be the best match to their talents and

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

, third and fourth modules were each themed on a current technology not only to befound in the news but tied to curricula offered by the College. Linking the modules to currentCollege offerings was recognized as an opportunity to expose and attract students to thesescientifically–based careers. In addition, the modular structure of the course allows the contentto be swiftly altered should another scientific technology offering become more of a focus withinthe institution.Each of these subsequent modules followed the same methodology. First, the basic scientificconcepts of biology, physics or chemistry (including important terms and math concepts)underlying the technology are presented. Building upon that base, one or more

Conference Session

Teaching Technological Literacy - Engaging Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven Walk, Old Dominion University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

quantitative technology forecasting techniques, and the author providesseveral examples of his experiences researching and applying the methodologies. The authorshares his experience introducing the concepts and sample studies in discussions of career andpersonal technology choices with undergraduate students in introduction to engineering andengineering technology courses.IntroductionLiteracy in technology, including knowledge of technological and social change, has been citedin various organization and research publications1,2,3 as cornerstone to maintaining social,cultural, and economic progress in the United States and around the world. The means to modeland project technological and social change has been improving over the years

Conference Session

Teaching Technological Literacy - Engaging Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Krupczak, Hope College; Kate Disney, Mission College

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

. Page 15.957.2Efforts to attract students to an engineering career must acknowledge that two-year institutionsor community colleges represent the fastest growing segment of higher education.15 Recent datashows that 40% of individuals earning bachelor or master’s engineering degrees started highereducation in a community college. The trend is higher in some states such as California forwhich more than 48% of graduates with science or engineering degrees started at a communitycollege.16Despite this contribution to the nation’s engineering workforce, engineering education in acommunity college environment presents formidable challenges for both students andinstructors. Most community colleges have small engineering programs with only a few faculty

Conference Session

Teaching Technological Literacy - College Courses and Minors

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kelli Huser, Iowa State University; Thomas Kelly, Iowa State University; Mani Mina, Iowa State University; Seth Ballou, Iowa State University; Joseph Crispin, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

the class and reviews the impacts of engineering andtechnological developments through focusing on one of the topics. In order to help futuredevelopers, this paper defines the topic and discusses how focusing on each topic enables theclass to show the impacts throughout the human developments and eras.IntroductionTechnological literacy serves many purposes in enhancing a non-engineering student’seducation. Many students are interested in learning how various technologies work that they mayencounter in their future careers. Other students intend to work with engineers and pursue agreater appreciation and practical understanding of the responsibilities of their future co-workers.A significant purpose of technological literacy is to enhance the

Conference Session

Technological Literacy - Courses, Educational and Accreditation Standards

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yung-Hsiang Lu, Purdue University; Guangwei Zhu, Purdue; Cheng-Kok Koh, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

AC 2010-1563: USING THE TETRIS GAME TO TEACH COMPUTINGYung-Hsiang Lu, Purdue University Yung-Hsiang Lu is an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. In 2008, he was one of the three recipients of Purdue "Class of 1922 Helping Student Learn Award." In 2004, he obtained the National Science Foundation Career Award. He obtained the Ph.D. degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. This study is supported in part by NSF CNS 0722212 "CPATH EAE: Extending a Bottom-Up Education Model to Support Concurrency from the First Year." Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily

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

increase at nearlydouble the overall growth rate for all occupations by 2014, growing by 26% from 2004 to 2014,while employment in all occupations is projected to grow 13% over the same period 7. Yet inspite of such promising job prospects, the National Science Foundation recently reported that theUnited States is experiencing a chronic decline in homegrown science, technology, engineeringand math (STEM) talent and is increasingly dependent upon foreign scholars to fill workforceand leadership voids.8 Results from a recent survey by the American Society for Quality (ASQ)revealed that more than 85% of students today are not considering technical careers and thatmore parents encourage their daughters to become actresses than engineers.9 This is one

Conference Session

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

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steve Macho, Buffalo State College

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

. Page 15.30.7Evaluation Overview The evaluation plan for the Buffalo State College 2007 Engineers of the Futureprogram was based upon four evaluation questions. All four of these evaluationquestions implied that a measurable change would occur. The four evaluation questionswere: 1. Did partnering schools implement rigorous pre-engineering curricula? 2. Did partnering schools teach mathematics, science, and technology through hands-on experiences in engineering-related content? 3. Did participating teachers gain subject matter expertise? 4. Did partnering schools offer engineering-related career paths awareness? Evaluation of the program was performed in a fashion similar to a classic pre/postdesign. Data was

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

to continue to learn throughout their careers. With experience, graduates should grow Page 15.1195.2professionally from the level of a junior team member to that of a leader with responsibility forthe broad scope of a technological project. Their job duties should progress from dealing withspecific problems as part of a broader project to managing the entire project where the personmust deal with social and economic as well as purely technical issues.While the initial job function may have the graduate performing basic tasks such as calculationsand analyses where someone else makes critical judgments based on these calculations, or

Conference Session

Teaching Technological Literacy - College Courses and Minors

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Austin Talley, University of Texas, Austin; Christina White, Columbia University; Kristin Wood, University of Texas, Austin; Richard Crawford, University of Texas at Austin

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

innovation process to non-engineers. While there is always room for improvement and evolution, the structure ofthe course provides a starting point for others to use in implementing similar courses. Inparticular, the course rubric in Appendix A lists the major concepts in the class and howthey were evaluated. The signature courses at UT-Austin have allowed students todevelop a closer relationship with faculty early in their academic careers, have exposedthem to topics outside their majors, and have encouraged them to become scholars fromthe day they step foot on campus, fostering a community of self-learners. This courseprovides a framework for integrating instruction in writing and communication skillswith teaching engineering and innovation

Conference Session

Technological Literacy and the Educated Person

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Heywood, Trinity College Dublin

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

core of the university selection process. In the twentyyears following this debate it could be asserted with considerable confidence that an‘A’ level in engineering science was the equivalent of 1st and sometimes 2nd yearcourses in four-year university programmes in other countries. This was achieved atthe expense of breadth of study. From the age of sixteen a student, in that period,pursued three perhaps four subjects for two years either in the sciences or the arts(humanities).For the most part, however, attention was focused on the schools and to argue thatteachers should do much more to encourage students pursue careers in science andtechnology. Some schools experimented with engineering subjects. One outcome oftheir efforts was the

Conference Session

Technological Literacy and the Educated Person

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

R. William Graff, LeTourneau University; Paul Leiffer, LeTouneau University; Martin Batts, Le Tourneau University; Maria J. Leiffer, LeTouneau University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

publication/career, political correctness, continuedfunding, or one’s pet theory.5. The general public rather than the scientific community votes on what is worthstudying and funding.6. The public loses trust in scientific research.7. The scientific method is abandoned because the results are “obvious.”8. No one cares how things really work.9. We move to an age of magic and mysticism.Lewis wrote:“Men became scientific because they expected Law in Nature, and they expected Law inNature because they believed in a Legislator. In most modern scientists this belief hasdied: it will be interesting to see how long their confidence in uniformity survives it.Two significant developments have already appeared—the hypothesis of a lawless sub-nature, and the