Are concepts of technical & engineering literacy included in state curriculum standards? A regional overview of the nexus between technical & engineering literacy and state science frameworks

Abstract

The use of technology in the classroom has been a driving force behind developing a technically literate society. Reform documents such as Science for All Americans: Project 2061 [1], Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy [2] and the National Science Education Standards [NSES] [3] include sections titled, Science and Technology and The Nature of Technology, as a means to foster technical literacy for students in grades K-12. In NSES, the goal of the Science and Technology content standard is for all students to develop "abilities of technological design and understanding about science and technology." These reform documents have been the framework to foster science, technical and engineering literacy for students in grades K-12 across the United States as guided by their state science frameworks, however are states achieving this goal? Although these documents promote the need for understanding technology as it applies to science, how have states incorporated these principles into their own science curriculum standards? This investigation is part 2 of a multi-series project to understanding how public schools are training students to become technically literate. In part 1 presented at the 2005 ASEE Conference, we defined technical literacy to be "the ability of an individual to make informed decisions based upon an evolving understanding of the fundamentals of modern technologies." To accomplish this goal, we proposed the Engineering Education Frameworks[5] (EEF), which defined a pathway toward technical literacy for high school students. It was our intent to develop this set of guidelines to address technical literacy for secondary public schools. These Frameworks were designed to facilitate and promote the simultaneous teaching of multiple science disciplines in concert with mathematics while incorporating engineering concepts and designs. In part 2 of this project, we explore how various states in the United States include aspects of EEF in their science state frameworks as a means to foster technical and engineering literacy as suggested by science reform documents. This regional overview of 49 state science frameworks, including the District of Columbia and the ITEA standards[4], tackles the question: how do state science frameworks incorporate engineering concepts into their secondary science curriculums? Our findings indicate that many states include various aspects of EEF content standards and widely use the term technology but fail to identify the context of engineering concepts as it relates to the disciplines in science. It is important to assess how states are incorporating technology and engineering concepts into their state science curriculum frameworks as promoting technical and engineering literacy in secondary schools may result in fostering interest in careers in engineering. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2006.