Tech Tally Approaches to Assessing Technological Literacy (2006) / Chapter Skim
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5 Review of Instruments
5 Review of Instruments
Pages 93-126
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were used to collect assessment instruments. The committee believes most of the relevant assessment instruments were evaluated, but, because the identification process was imperfect, the portfolio of instruments should not be considered comprehensive.
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The reviews provided an overview of current No single approaches to assessing technological understanding and capability and instrument struck stimulated a discussion about the best way to conduct assessments in the committee this area. as completely Although a number of the instruments reviewed were thought adequate to the fully designed, no single instrument struck the committee as completely task of assessing adequate to the task of assessing technological literacy.
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Assessments for University knowledge, performance, Engineering Students and evaluation of the design process; evaluate student teamwork and communication skills. Future City Competition National Engineers Week To help rate and rank Annually since 1992.
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Intermediate Assessment Department/State and student evaluation. in Technologyb University of New York Provincial Learning Saskatchewan Education Analyze students' Once in 1999.
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Genetically Modified Technology Forum involvement in decision Foods Project Team making on science and technology issues. Eurobarometer: European Union Monitor changes in public Surveys on various topics Europeans, Science and Directorate General for views of science and conducted regularly since Technology Press and technology to assist 1973; this poll was Communication decision making by policy conducted in May/June makers.
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knowledge. The knowledge dimension is evident in the handful of state developed assessments, which are designed to measure content standards or curriculum frameworks that spell out what students should know and be able to do at various points in their school careers.
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Open-ended questions can also probe higher-order thinking skills. Although these kinds of questions are more time consuming to respond to and more challenging to score, they can provide opportunities for test takers to demonstrate deeper conceptual understanding.
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The Illinois State Board of Education has devised a Productive Thinking Scale (PTS) by which test developers can rate prospective test items according to the degree of conceptual skill required to answer them (Box 5-1)
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. The Canadian Provincial Learning Assessment in Technological Literacy, an instrument administered in 1999 in Saskatchewan, includes a number of items intended to test 5th-, 8th-, and 11th-graders' conceptions of technology and the effect of that understanding on responsible citizenship, among other issues (Saskatchewan Education, 2001)
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. A great many of the knowledge-focused assessments reviewed by the committee relied heavily on items that required test takers to recall facts or define terms.
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A group of engineering schools, the Transferable Integrated Design Engineering Education Consortium, has developed an instrument for testing knowledge of the design process (TIDEE, 2002)
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; the remaining items test familiarity with pedagogical concepts. The focus on specific technologies reflects the historical roots of technology education in industrial arts.
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sponsored the work of Jon Miller in the development of a time series of national surveys to measure the public understanding of and attitudes toward science and technology. The summary results of these surveys were published in a series of reports called Science and Engineering Indicators (NSB, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000)
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Sample items on the ACT website (http://www.act.org/workkeys/assess/tech/) require test takers to 1A similar argument has been made about the role of inquiry in science.
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To test students' computer-based design skills, the Assessment of Performance in Design and Technology simulation may project developed a 90-minute paper-and-pencil assessment based on play a useful role. carefully tested design tasks intended to measure design capabilities, communication skills, and conceptual understanding of materials, energy, and aesthetics.
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Lego model, (c) detail sketch, component of final steering mechanism, (d)
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The ideas that design always involves some degree of uncertainty and that no human designed product is without shortcomings are more likely to be under stood at a deeper level by someone who has engaged in an authentic design challenge than by someone who has not. The Saskatchewan Education 1999 Provincial Learning Assess ment in Technological Literacy required that students demonstrate capa bility in two areas: (1)
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But these assessments are beyond the scope of this project. Critical-Thinking and Decision-Making Dimension The critical thinking and decision-making dimension of technological literacy suggests a process that includes asking questions, seeking and weighing information, and making decisions based on that R E V I E W O F I N S T R U M E N T S 111
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The Saskatchewan Education 1999 Provincial Learning Assess ment in Technological Literacy also addressed critical thinking by requir ing that students make and defend decisions concerning the uses and management of technology. Eighth- and 11th-grade students, for in stance, watched a videotaped drama involving a union leader, Ed, who was forced to decide between retaining jobs for his fellow employees and supporting an expensive solution to his company's waste-disposal prob lem.
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Assessments conducted periodically over an extended period of time can track changes in public views on specific issues, such as the use of nuclear power or the development of genetically modified foods. This is one purpose of the data available in Science and Engineering Indicators published by NSB, which address attitudes toward federal funding of scientific research, as well as specific topics, such as biotechnology and genetic engineering, space exploration, and global warming.
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. The Boston Museum of Science, home to the National Center for Technological Literacy (http://www.mos.org/doc/1505/)
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The decision to use a new technology depends on whether the advantages to society outweigh the disadvantages to society. Your position, basically: (Please read from A to G, and then choose one.)
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Neverthe less, this exercise demonstrates the potential usefulness of a matrix and gives the reader a sense of the scope of the cognitive and content dimen sions of an assessment of technological literacy.
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Table 5-2 begins on next page.
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TABLE 5-2 Assessment Matrix for Technological Literacy with Items from Selected Assessment Instruments Technology and Society Design Knowledge In the late 1800s the railroad was built Marcus designed a television stand like across Canada. What effects did this the one shown below for his family.
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Sometimes technical developments give scientists something to explain and sometimes scientific discoveries lead to technical development.
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Your position basically: Why would tightly closed windows be a A The decision to use a new technology depends good design choice in cold climates but mainly on the benefits to society, because if not a good design choice in hot climates?
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Give two reasons for this.x Your position basically: There are always trade-offs between benefits and negative effects: A because every new development has at least one negative result.
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j1999 Provincial Learning Assessment in Technological Literacy, Saskatchewan Education. Student test booklet day 1, Sample A, Part A, question 1.
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K None of these choices fits my basic viewpoint.z p1999 Provincial Learning Assessment in Technological Literacy, Saskatchewan Education.
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. ITEA (International Technology Education Association)
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2003. ASVAB -- The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.
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2001. 1999 Provincial Learning Assessment in Technologi cal Literacy.
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