Technology Literacy for Non-technical Majors

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

Engineering - Engineering Technology (58) This A&I project seeks to create a technology literacy lecture course and a hands-on laboratory for non-technical undergraduate majors in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS), the College of Education, and the College of Management at North Carolina State University (NCSU). The course structure is based on key elements from a successful education venture developed and offered since 1995 at Hope College, Michigan, by Professor John Krupczak. Krupczak's course materials including: (1) lectures on modern technology; (2) a device laboratory; and (3) writing assignments on the impact that a technological device has on the social, the economic, and the cultural of the United States society. The project is to adapt Krupczak's Hope College model to an earlier laboratory created by the PI. The laboratory is for first year engineering students who work in teams of two or three. They READ a technical description of a device or system and then play the role of: (1) the USER of the system; (2) the ASSEMBLER (dissect the system and study it); (3) the ANALYST ( analyze and solve particular problems dealing with the system operation); and (4) TEACHER ( tell others about their system, its purpose, its principles of operation, and present an illustrative problem representative of the system's functions) Specifically, the Hope College component consist of the format of fourteen lectures and a six week laboratory consisting of six hands-on roles (read, use, dissect, calculate, design, and present/teach/explain), and two papers on the impact of the particular system on society. Evaluations include pre/post student attitude surveys, a standard NCSU student course evaluation, and a new course assessment developed by the College of Engineering staff. Student outcomes are measured using the Nan Byar's definition of technology literacy.