In a broad sense, technology is any modification of the natural world made to fulfill human needs or desires. Although people tend to focus on the most recent technological inventions, technology includes a myriad of devices and systems that profoundly affect everyone in modern society. Technology is pervasive; an informed citizenship needs to know what technology is, how it works, how it is created, how it shapes our society, and how society influences technological development. This understanding depends in large part on an individual level of technological literacy.

Tech Tally: Approaches to Assessing Technological Literacy determines the most viable approaches to assessing technological literacy for students, teachers, and out-of-school adults. The book examines opportunities and obstacles to developing scientifically valid and broadly applicable assessment instruments for technological literacy in the three target populations. The book offers findings and 12 related recommendations that address five critical areas: instrument development; research on learning; computer-based assessment methods, framework development, and public perceptions of technology.



This book will be of special interest to individuals and groups promoting technological literacy in the United States, education and government policy makers in federal and state agencies, as well as the education research community.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1 Introduction
2 Defining Technological Literacy
3 Assessment as a Design Challenge
4 An Assessment Primer
5 Review of Instruments
6 From Theory to Practice: Five Sample Cases
7 Computer-Based Assessment Methods
8 Findings and Recommendations
APPENDIX A Committee Biographies
APPENDIX B Technology-Related Standards and Benchmarks in the National Science Education Standards, Benchmarks for Science Literacy, and Standards for Technological Literacy
APPENDIX C Challenges and Opportunities for Assessing Technological Literacy in the United States
APPENDIX D Research on Learning in Technology and Engineering: A Selected Bibliography
APPENDIX E Instrument Summaries
Index