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

AC 2011-1197: DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING LABORATORY PROJECTSFOR GENERAL EDUCATION ENGINEERING COURSESJohn Krupczak, Hope College Professor of Engineering, Hope College, Holland, MI 49423Lauren Aprill Page 22.493.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Development of Engineering Laboratory Projects for General Education Engineering CoursesAbstractA group of laboratory projects is being developed for use in either general education engineeringcourses to improve technological literacy or in introduction to engineering courses. The projectseach focus on the construction of a working

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

is designed to promote technological literacy byintroducing students to basic scientific principles in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, showinghow these principles are applied in areas such as biotechnology and nanotechnology, andexploring societal issues related to these technologies. An intended outcome of the course is thatstudents will be able to apply this framework to a technology not explicitly covered in the class.Assessment of this outcome is based upon student performance on a final project, where they areasked to do just that.Technological literacy has been defined as “an understanding of the nature and history oftechnology, a basic-hands-on capability related to technology, and an ability to think criticallyabout technological

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

timing of literacy requirements. Still otherwise promisingtechnologies never reach a significant substitution level, and need not be considered, after all, ina literacy criteria study. The establishment of criteria for assessing technological literacy then,now, and in the future, could significantly be better targeted and more effective if trajectories ofdiffusing technologies and their applications were available.New techniques in forecasting technology change have given fresh perspectives on acceptancecriteria and adoption rates of new technology. Quantitative technology forecasting studies haveproven reliable in projecting technological and social change using relatively simple models suchas logistic growth and substitution patterns

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

related to technology for learners in the 21st century. Sadly, thesestandards have been widely underused. In an associated study to this project, the PI’s surveyedall 50 state’s technological literacy standards. Only 30% of the states cited the STL and ITEEA’sstandards within their technology curriculum standards. Often times the ITEEA standards do notcorrelate, line-up, or relate to the specific state standards for education.6 Hence the impetus ofthis study: to enlarge technology education pre-service teacher understanding of curriculumdevelopment and content by having them develop STL centered curriculum.MethodologyIn a graduate class at Brigham Young University (BYU) in the spring of 2010, six students andtwo professors explored how the

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

participated in these sessions. All of the averageassessment scores by session or short course for all four questions exceeded the good criteria andapproached the excellent category. Since an overall average of 5 for excellent is highly unlikely,average scores of 4.56 and above along with a total average score of 4.67 is very good. It reflectsthat this project promoting technological literacy is meeting its objectives and succeeding.The evaluation tool also offered the opportunity for inputting comments on the session or shortcourse. A number of pertinent comments were received offering further insight into the way thesessions were held, material covered, and possible ways to make improvements. These included: 1. The course was widely informative

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

artifacts is alsoconsidered part of technology.Other parallel efforts have also developed educational standards and benchmarks to define whatK-12 students need to know and be able to do regarding engineering and technology. In 1993,the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) published, Project 2061:Benchmarks for Science Literacy6 and in 1996 the National Science Education Standards werepublished by the National Academies Press7, both of these documents included sections devotedto technology. In 2000 the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) publishedStandards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology8 of the goal ofwhich was to encourage educational curricula that would provide technological

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

educationalobjectives and outcomes for minors, courses or similar programs which can be used byengineering units to develop programs for technological literacy of non-engineers at thecollegiate level. Four institutions with varying approaches in this area collaborated for this workas part of a larger NSF supported project. Working definitions for Educational Objectives,Outcomes, Assessment and Evaluation are established to support the work. Available objectivesand outcomes from the literature, which would be pertinent to this audience, were used asprimary sources. The project team prioritized statements from these sources for how they wouldapply to the intended audience of non-engineering, college-level students in the context ofofferings from an engineering

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

assess learning gains1-4. Design requires synthesis and ischaracteristic of higher levels of cognitive engagement. It is possible to carry out some types ofengineering design activities that do not require extensive technical background knowledge. Inaddition a variety of hands-on design construction activities can be done with limited resourcesusing simple, low cost materials. Page 22.138.2 1Using design projects as a non-quantitative means of assessment is effective only for a limitednumber of technological literacy outcomes. These activities using simple materials are effectiveat developing an