Abstract
Competencies people need to be well educated will vary in response to societal waves of change. As STEM education grows in popularity worldwide, interest is increasing in using this paradigm to break down the traditional conception of the four component subjects as individual “silos” of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Vest, Putting the “E” in STEM Education. The Bridge, 39(3). Washington, DC: National Academy of Engineering, 2009). In the United States, Engineering and Technology education (ETE) is seen as a route through which the four disciplines can be integrated (NGA, Innovation America: Building a science, technology, engineering and math agenda. Washington, DC: National Governors Association. http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0702INNOVATIONStem.pdf, 2007). In Europe, 30 countries promote and support STEM collaboration (Kearney, Efforts to increase students’ interest in pursuing mathematics, science and technology studies and careers. National Measures taken by 30 Countries – 2015 Report, European Schoolnet, Brussels; January, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2016, from http://files.eun.org/scientix/Observatory/ComparativeAnalysis2015/Kearney-2016-NationalMeasures-30-countries-2015-Executive-Summary.pdf, 2015).
The evolution of ETE from its craft-oriented and industrial roots (Industrial Arts in the U.S.; Craft, Design, and Technology in the U.K.; Handicrafts in Finland; the “Industrial Projects Method” in France) (Jones and de Vries, Int J Technol Des Educ 7:1–2, 2009) has resulted in a demand for new curriculum – driven not only by contemporary workforce and employability demands but by other values-driven aspirations that educators, parents, and policy makers hold for students.
Since the 1980s, conceptual learning has been defined by curricular learning standards and associated performance expectations (often quite numerous) that, when attained, are presumed to provide disciplinary competence. In this chapter, the author suggests that revisiting a small set of transferable ETE thematic ideas in different contexts can complement learning of standards-based domain-specific concepts and skills. Doing so would make instruction more manageable and enable students to assimilate a more holistic understanding of engineering and technology.
The chapter draws upon research studies (Rossouw et al., Int J Technol Des Educ 21(4):409–423, 2010; Hacker, Key engineering and technology concepts and skills for the general education of all high school students in the United States: A comparison of perceptions of academic engineering educators and high school classroom technology teachers. Doctoral Dissertation. Beersheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 2014; Hacker and Barak, Important engineering and technology concepts and skills for all high school students in the United States: Comparing perceptions of engineering educators and high school teachers. Journal of Technology Education. In Press, 2017) that established a consensus of expert opinion about the most important ETE competencies high school students should attain within five thematic categories that consistently appear in the literature: (a) design, (b) modeling, (c) systems, (d) resources, and (e) human values.
Two case studies are offered as examples. The first exemplifies how a cutting-edge technology company looks to hire new employees with a broad mix of skills. The second describes a new ETE curriculum model that integrates important concepts within authentic social contexts and supports the fundamental purposes of education.
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Hacker, M. (2017). Engineering and Technology Concepts: Key Ideas That Students Should Understand. In: de Vries, M. (eds) Handbook of Technology Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38889-2_15-1
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