Curricular Value and Instructional Needs for Infusing Engineering Design into K-12 Technology Education

摘要

An overarching objective of Technology Education in the U.S. is to improve technological literacy among K-12 students. Traditionally, this has been addressed by focusing on end product technology and the use and importance of various technologies in society. Current efforts at the University of Georgia propose adjusting the focus of Technology Education from the end product alone to a defined emphasis on the engineering design process by which technology is developed. The hypothesis is twofold: An engineering design focus for Technology Education in K-12 will, 1) increase interest and improve competence in mathematics and science among K-12 students by providing an arena for synthesizing mathematics and science principles; and 2) improve technological literacy based on the methodology by which technology is created. This will inherently involve a fundamental paradigm shift, thereby raising mathematics and science requirements for technology teachers and technology teacher educators. Moreover, general textbook and instructional material needs for teaching technology education with an engineering design focus will significantly change. This paper presents the University of Georgia's efforts to affect this paradigm shift. Results from a national survey of technology educators are presented, addressing three areas: 1) the current practices of technology teachers in relation to utilizing engineering design practices within their classroom; 2) the value of an engineering design focus for technology education; and 3) instructional needs related to engineering design. Results indicate that over 90% of in-service technology education teachers identify engineering design as the appropriate focus for technology education, and an equal number recognize that mathematics and science skills that exceed current requirements are needed. Moreover, two-thirds identify current technology education teaching materials as inadequate for re-focusing efforts on engineering design.