Work in progress - a class called “How things work?” and its role in technological literacy programs

摘要

A considerable number of academic institutions are teaching technological literacy classes to non-technical and non-engineering students. In particular, a class based upon ¿How things work?¿ seems to be attracting many technological literacy educators. The purpose of such a class is to address the ¿how-to¿ of everyday technology and gadgets of interest to the students. In addition to receiving course credit on their transcripts for technological literacy (in some cases earning a minor), which will make them more competitive in the job market, the students achieve a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, the technology that affects their lives. This paper addresses the fundamental aims of these classes: What should they achieve and is it sufficient for a university or college class to only focus on the how-to? While there are many popular websites, journals, and books that address the idea of how-things-work reasonably well, our aim is to address the pedagogical aspects of such classes. We discuss our teaching experiences by noting some interesting cases of students' needs, reactions, concerns, interests, and learning. Finally, we make suggestions for possible approaches to such classes in order to fulfill our objectives as educators to offer a perspective not often found on websites or in books.