Technology Education in the Classroom: Understanding the Designed World (Jossey-Bass Education)

Many groups, including the AAAS Project 2061, the National Science Teachers Association, and the National Academy of Sciences are calling for improved technology education. In this book, the authors provide a vision of what a coherent K-12 technology education program for America's schools might look like and what it might achieve. They explain how to construct a series of multiyear courses or course sequences that give students direct experience in designing products, structures, and systems to meet individual and social needs. Their goal is to help students develop an understanding of the two-way interactions between society and technology that have influenced our civilization from earliest times, but especially over the last two or three centuries, and to familiarize students with the technologies they encounter at home and at work. When students engage in sophisticated problem solving and analysis, when they work with real materials and objects and learn their properties by using them, they are actively engaged in their education, whether they head for productive jobs in industry or decide to go on to college.The authors use classroom vignettes throughout the book to give specific examples of the ideas being discussed and make the materials approachable to a wide audience, from classroom teachers to federal policymakers.Peter Sellwood is the author of 'Technology Education in the Classroom: Understanding the Designed World (Jossey-Bass Education)', published 1995 under ISBN 9780787901783 and ISBN 0787901784.