New Perspectives: Technology Teacher Education and Engineering Design

Initiatives to integrate engineering design within the field of technology education are increasingly evident (Lewis, 2005; Wicklein, 2006). Alliances between technology education and engineering were prominent in the development of the Standards for Technological Literacy (International Technology Education Association, 2000), and leaders from both disciplines have expressed support for the outcomes described in the Standards (Bybee, 2000; Council of the National Academy of Engineering, 2000; Dugger, Meade, Delany, and Nichols, 2003; Gorham, Newberry, and Bickart, 2003). The National Science Foundation (NSF) has also encouraged and funded opportunities for technology educators and engineers to work collaboratively. The Bridges for Engineering Education projects and more recently the $10 million, 5-year funding for the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education exemplify the commitment of the NSF to support these activities. The history of technology education is replete with trends and changes in curriculum, technical content, instructional materials and equipment, instructional strategies, and even identity (Lewis, 2004, 1999; Sanders, 2001). The profession has revised its name and made substantial efforts to affect public perceptions of the field. The historical benchmarks in technology education bear labels such as Industrial Arts Curriculum Project, Maryland Plan, Jackson’s Mill, or Technology for All Americans. A movement to embrace engineering design as a focal element in technology education would be another significant event in the ongoing history of technology education and could become another benchmark in shaping the profession. Perspectives regarding the role engineering should play within the discipline of technology education vary considerably. These positions range from advocating that technology education take on the role of pre-engineering for high school students to arguments in favor of retaining a broad focus for technology education in which it treats engineering design as simply one of many forms of creative activity. The perspective underlying the position presented here is that technology education should retain a general education role, providing hands-on learning activities for all students and encompassing approaches to design and problem-solving that extend beyond engineering to embrace aesthetics and artistic creativity. Engineering design, however, can provide a focus for the field of technology education that is applicable for students in all grade levels and career pathways. Implementing an engineering design focus within technology education has significant ramifications. Classroom teachers, teacher educators, and support staff will need additional knowledge and skills to successfully shift the focus of the field toward engineering design. Changes will especially affect the preparation of technology teachers. Curriculum, educational philosophy, instructional strategies, and collaborative relationships are among the facets that will be influenced by this initiative. In each of these areas there are perhaps more questions than answers, and thoughtful discussion and research are needed to guide decision-making. It is essential that the field recognize the key issues so that steps are taken to provide and facilitate necessary professional development

Impact of an Engineering Mentorship Program on African-American Male High School Students\u27 Perceptions and Self-Efficacy

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an engineering mentorship program on African-American male high school students’ perceptions of engineering as a viable career choice. In this study, indicators included students’ perceptions of engineering, their self-efficacy in the area of mathematics, and their self-efficacy in the area of science. Using an independent t-test to determine a difference of statistical significance, inferential statistics were provided to answer the following research questions: (a) Is there a significant difference in perceptions of engineering for students who participated in the NCETE/NSBE mentorship program when compared with non-mentored students?, (b) Is there a significant difference in self-efficacy in the area of mathematics for students who participated in the NCETE/NSBE mentorship when compared with non-mentored students?, and (c) Is there a significant difference in self-efficacy in the area of science for students who participated in the NCETE/NSBE mentorship when compared wit

Fabric Parameters and Pesticide Characteristics That Impact on Dermal Exposure of Applicators

Fabric functional finish and formulation of pesticides are factors that contribute to pesticide wicking, wetting, and penetration. Fluorocarbon soil-repellent finishes inhibit contamination of the fabric and of sentinel pads. An undergarment layer offers better protection than does a single layer. Spun-bonded olefin offers protection of the same magnitude as soil-repellent finishes. Methyl parathion residues after laundering were similar for the unfinished fabric, the durable-press finished fabric, and the soil-repellent finished fabric, but the initial contamination of the soil-repellent finished fabric was only 20~ of that of the other two fabrics

The Status of Ethics in Technology Education

Ethics is not a new concept within technology education. The inclusion of ethics evolved naturally from the progression of technological activity in the latter part of the twentieth century. During this shift to a postindustrial society, people started to look at technology from a more humanistic view than they previously had. To keep pace with these changes, a new ethic was suggested to help advance technological literacy by highlighting the relationship between humans, the environment, and technology (DeVore, 1980, 1991). How far have we come? This chapter reviews the current state of ethics within technology education. In the first two sections, materials for classroom instruction, including textbooks and modular materials, are examined. The third section discusses and recommends resources and practices that appear in professional literature. A survey of international technology education and ethics constitutes the fourth section. The chapter concludes with a look at professional ethics as they relate to technology teachers, teacher educators, and administrators

Teaching Elementary Mathematics with Educational Robotics

Current education reforms call for engaging students in learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in an integrative way. This critical case study of one fourth grade teacher investigated the use of educational robots (ER) not only for teaching coding, but as an instructional support in teaching mathematical concepts. To support teachers in teaching coding in an integrative and logical manner, our team developed the Collective Argumentation Learning and Coding (CALC) approach. The CALC approach consists of three elements: choice of task, coding content, and teacher support for argumentation. After a cohort of elementary teachers completed a professional development course, we followed them into their classrooms to support and document implementation of the CALC approach. Data for this case consisted of video recordings of two lessons, a Pre-interview, and Post-interview after each lesson. Research questions included: How does an elementary teacher use the CALC approach (integrative STEM approach) to teach mathematics concepts with ER? What are the teacher’s perspectives towards teaching mathematics with ER using an integrative STEM approach? Results from this critical case provide evidence that teachers can successfully integrate ER into the mathematics curriculum without losing coherence of mathematics topics and while remaining sensitive to students’ needs

White Dwarfs in Globular Clusters: HST Observations of M4

Using WFPC2 on the Hubble Space Telescope, we have isolated a sample of 258 white dwarfs (WDs) in the Galactic globular cluster M4. Fields at three radial distances from the cluster center were observed and sizeable WD populations were found in all three. The location of these WDs in the color-magnitude diagram, their mean mass of 0.51($\pm 0.03$)M$_{\odot}$, and their luminosity function confirm basic tenets of stellar evolution theory and support the results from current WD cooling theory. The WDs are used to extend the cluster main-sequence mass function upward to stars that have already completed their nuclear evolution. The WD/red dwarf binary frequency in M4 is investigated and found to be at most a few percent of all the main-sequence stars. The most ancient WDs found are about 9 Gyr old, a level which is set solely by the photometric limits of our data. Even though this is less than the age of M4, we discuss how these cooling WDs can eventually be used to check the turnoff ages of globular clusters and hence constrain the age of the Universe.Comment: 46 pages, latex, no figures included, figures available at ftp://ftp.astro.ubc.ca/pub/richer/wdfig.uu size 2.7Mb. To be published in the Astrophysical Journa

Dielectric Screening in a Spherical Cavity

In this work we examine the electrostatic screening potential due to a point charge located off-centre in a spherical dielectric cavity. This potential is expanded for the case in which the dielectric constant $\epsilon$ is large, several methods of finding the terms in the expansion are investigated, and closed-form expressions are found through third order in $\epsilon$ along with error bounds. Finally, possible uses of these expressions in molecular dynamics simulations of isolated charged molecules is discussed.Comment: 15 Pages, 5 Figures, To be submitted to J. Phys. A. Uses iopart.cl