Work in Progress - Case Study of a Technological Literacy and Non-majors Engineering Course

Abstract

Since 1995 engineering faculty at Hope College have taught a course for non-engineering students called: "Science and Technology of Everyday Life" The course examines the science and engineering underlying modern consumer technological devices. Distinguishing features are study of a broad sample of familiar technological devices, construction by students of working devices, and writing assignments on technological topics. Over nine years, the total enrollment of more than 1000 students has averaged 60% women and 26% pre-service teachers. To evaluate student outcomes, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was applied. Statistically significant increases were found in intrinsic motivation, task value, and self-efficacy. A decrease in test anxiety was also found. The results are consistent across all semesters analyzed. The case study shows that non-engineering students can have increased motivation for learning science and technology, increased perceived value for science and technology, increased self-confidence about learning science and technology.

Work in progress - the role of engineering colleges in providing technological literacy

“…However, it is interesting that, considering large universities with considerable engineering programs, there seem to be only few degree programs or minor degrees in related studies [3]- [6]. The author has been the director of a program called Minor in Engineering Studies (MES) that is offered to non engineering students (first graduates in spring 2008).…”

“…The typical professors can feel these classes are neither challenging nor necessarily the best way of utilizing their time. This is one of the most interesting challenges of the technological literacy programs across the nation [4]- [6].…”

Self-Efficacy as a Long-Term Outcome of a General Education Course on Digital Technologies

“…Kuc [4] found that students felt empowered by having learned the content of a digital technologies course. In other studies of outcomes of engineering courses for non-majors [5], [6], researchers found that students became more confident in their abilities to perform basic engineering tasks, and improved their understanding of engineering in the real world [4], [6].…”

Teaching embedded system concepts for technological literacy

“…To teach a basic understanding about science and technology, courses in technological literacy are proposed [1][2] and different courses are described in [3]. This paper shows, how concepts of embedded systems can be taught in such a course.…”