Tip from the field test:-
Activities 1 and 2 can be conducted in several ways. You can engage the class as a whole in discussion as directed. Alternatively, you can divide the class into groups of three to five students each, ask each group to consider the questions you ask, and then have each group provide its responses. It is also possible to have student groups consider only a limited number of the questions and then handle the remainder with the whole class. If you choose either of the last two approaches, you should limit the time allotted for groups to consider each question to several minutes. Field-testing indicated that no approach was superior to another.
Begin by asking the class, “How do you define technology?”
Accept all answers and write student responses on the board. Do not attempt to have students refine their definitions of technology at this point. They will revisit their definitions and refine them in Step 5. Students, like older individuals, may harbor the preconception that technology relates mostly to computers. Through advertisements and media articles, they are familiar with the terms information technology and computer technology.
Teacher note: Asking this question requires students to call on their prior knowledge, and it engages their thinking. At this point, do not critique student responses. Appropriate teacher comments are short and positive, such as “good” and “what else?” Other appropriate teacher responses include, “Why do you believe that?” or “How do you know that?” Questions such as these allow the teacher to assess students’ current knowledge about the subject and to adjust lessons accordingly. They also provide a springboard to “Let’s find out” or “Let’s investigate.” In general, it is time to move forward when the teacher sees that thinking has been engaged.
Ask students, “In general, what does technology do for us?”
This question may help students understand that technology helps us solve problems, makes our lives easier, and extends our abilities to do things. Technology is used to develop skills or tools, both in our daily lives and in our occupations.
Focus discussion on technologies that are relevant to each student’s life. Ask students to look around the room. What technologies do they see? How do these technologies solve problems and make their lives easier?
Accept all responses and write them on the board. Students may mention any number of items. Some may be school-related, such as binders, backpacks, pens, pencils, paper, and paper clips. Other items may be more personal, such as water bottles, personal stereos, and hair clips. Students may neglect items such as shoelaces, zippers, buttons, fabric, eyeglasses or contact lenses, makeup, and bandages. Discussion should reinforce the notion that humans develop technology with a specific objective in mind. A related concept is that a given task requires the right tool or tools.
Pick a technology that students have mentioned. Ask them what types of knowledge were required to develop that technology.
Students may not realize that technologies are generally developed by applying knowledge from multiple disciplines. For example, producing today’s audio devices, such as a portable CD player, requires knowledge obtained from engineering, physics, mathematics, chemistry, and computer science.
On the basis of previous discussions, ask students to rethink and refine their definition of technology (from Step 1).
Students should mention that technology is a way of solving problems through the application of knowledge from multiple disciplines.
Tell students to imagine that they live in the Stone Age. Their only garment has been ripped and requires mending. How would they do it?
Students first should recognize that the ripped garment is a problem requiring a solution. They should consider what technologies they have available. The Stone Age was a period early in the development of human cultures when tools were made of stone and bone. Clothing consisted of animal skins or fabrics woven from threads derived from plant fibers. Bones and sharp reeds were used to make needles.
National Science Education Standards icon
Content Standard E:
Technological design is driven by the need to meet human needs and solve human problems.
Ask students how their approach to mending the garment would change as time advanced from the Stone Age to the present. What new knowledge would allow the development of new technology?
Student responses will vary, and some students may want to jump directly from the Stone Age to the modern sewing machine. Slow them down and have them consider incremental changes in knowledge and technologies. They may cite the use of metals to fashion repair tools, like knives and finer needles. New knowledge of metals and chemistry would help here. Later advances in engineering and mechanics would lead to the development of human-run machines for assisting with repairs. Eventually, advances in physics (electricity) and engineering led to the invention of modern sewing machines. Similarly, advances in agriculture, chemistry, and engineering produced better fabrics and threads. Students should derive an understanding that technology advances through interactions among multiple disciplines. While a problem may remain basically the same over time (for instance, the need to make or repair clothing), advances in technology change how the problem is solved.
assessment icon
Assessment:
Listening to students’ responses will help you assess their understanding of the relationship between problems and technology.
Write the words problem and technology on the board. Ask students to use arrows to draw a graphic that represents the relationship they believe exists between a problem and the technology to solve it.
They can use arrows of any kind, and they should be prepared to defend their suggestions. The graphic should illustrate that a problem does not drive technology unidirectionally, nor does technology exist solely in search of a problem to solve. Rather, these two areas exist to support and drive one another. Solving problems does require the development of new technologies, which can then be applied to other problems. A graphic to depict this indicates the cyclic relationship between the two:
Activities 1 and 2 can be conducted in several ways. You can engage the class as a whole in discussion as directed. Alternatively, you can divide the class into groups of three to five students each, ask each group to consider the questions you ask, and then have each group provide its responses. It is also possible to have student groups consider only a limited number of the questions and then handle the remainder with the whole class. If you choose either of the last two approaches, you should limit the time allotted for groups to consider each question to several minutes. Field-testing indicated that no approach was superior to another.
Begin by asking the class, “How do you define technology?”
Accept all answers and write student responses on the board. Do not attempt to have students refine their definitions of technology at this point. They will revisit their definitions and refine them in Step 5. Students, like older individuals, may harbor the preconception that technology relates mostly to computers. Through advertisements and media articles, they are familiar with the terms information technology and computer technology.
Teacher note: Asking this question requires students to call on their prior knowledge, and it engages their thinking. At this point, do not critique student responses. Appropriate teacher comments are short and positive, such as “good” and “what else?” Other appropriate teacher responses include, “Why do you believe that?” or “How do you know that?” Questions such as these allow the teacher to assess students’ current knowledge about the subject and to adjust lessons accordingly. They also provide a springboard to “Let’s find out” or “Let’s investigate.” In general, it is time to move forward when the teacher sees that thinking has been engaged.
Ask students, “In general, what does technology do for us?”
This question may help students understand that technology helps us solve problems, makes our lives easier, and extends our abilities to do things. Technology is used to develop skills or tools, both in our daily lives and in our occupations.
Focus discussion on technologies that are relevant to each student’s life. Ask students to look around the room. What technologies do they see? How do these technologies solve problems and make their lives easier?
Accept all responses and write them on the board. Students may mention any number of items. Some may be school-related, such as binders, backpacks, pens, pencils, paper, and paper clips. Other items may be more personal, such as water bottles, personal stereos, and hair clips. Students may neglect items such as shoelaces, zippers, buttons, fabric, eyeglasses or contact lenses, makeup, and bandages. Discussion should reinforce the notion that humans develop technology with a specific objective in mind. A related concept is that a given task requires the right tool or tools.
Pick a technology that students have mentioned. Ask them what types of knowledge were required to develop that technology.
Students may not realize that technologies are generally developed by applying knowledge from multiple disciplines. For example, producing today’s audio devices, such as a portable CD player, requires knowledge obtained from engineering, physics, mathematics, chemistry, and computer science.
On the basis of previous discussions, ask students to rethink and refine their definition of technology (from Step 1).
Students should mention that technology is a way of solving problems through the application of knowledge from multiple disciplines.
Tell students to imagine that they live in the Stone Age. Their only garment has been ripped and requires mending. How would they do it?
Students first should recognize that the ripped garment is a problem requiring a solution. They should consider what technologies they have available. The Stone Age was a period early in the development of human cultures when tools were made of stone and bone. Clothing consisted of animal skins or fabrics woven from threads derived from plant fibers. Bones and sharp reeds were used to make needles.
National Science Education Standards icon
Content Standard E:
Technological design is driven by the need to meet human needs and solve human problems.
Ask students how their approach to mending the garment would change as time advanced from the Stone Age to the present. What new knowledge would allow the development of new technology?
Student responses will vary, and some students may want to jump directly from the Stone Age to the modern sewing machine. Slow them down and have them consider incremental changes in knowledge and technologies. They may cite the use of metals to fashion repair tools, like knives and finer needles. New knowledge of metals and chemistry would help here. Later advances in engineering and mechanics would lead to the development of human-run machines for assisting with repairs. Eventually, advances in physics (electricity) and engineering led to the invention of modern sewing machines. Similarly, advances in agriculture, chemistry, and engineering produced better fabrics and threads. Students should derive an understanding that technology advances through interactions among multiple disciplines. While a problem may remain basically the same over time (for instance, the need to make or repair clothing), advances in technology change how the problem is solved.
assessment icon
Assessment:
Listening to students’ responses will help you assess their understanding of the relationship between problems and technology.
Write the words problem and technology on the board. Ask students to use arrows to draw a graphic that represents the relationship they believe exists between a problem and the technology to solve it.
They can use arrows of any kind, and they should be prepared to defend their suggestions. The graphic should illustrate that a problem does not drive technology unidirectionally, nor does technology exist solely in search of a problem to solve. Rather, these two areas exist to support and drive one another. Solving problems does require the development of new technologies, which can then be applied to other problems. A graphic to depict this indicates the cyclic relationship between the two:
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