The effects of standards-based communication technology education units on the achievement of selected standards for technological literacy by middle and high school students in technology education

At a national level, new instructional units for the middle and high school Technology Education classroom were disseminated and field-tested by the TECH-know Project, the National Science Foundation funded program (NSF). North Carolina State University, the Technology Student Association (TSA), and the Departments of Public Instruction of North Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, and Virginia were partnered to create, pilot, revise, and distribute student-centered instructional materials that are based on TSA activities. These activities and curriculum materials were correlated with the Standards for Technological Literacy as identified by the Technology for All Americans Project (ITEA, 2000). Core science, mathematic, and technology education concepts and principles were identified and embedded into these instructional units. An assessment was developed to determine the effects of standards based education on a purposeful sample of Technology Education classrooms. For the purpose of this study, research focused on the four TECH-know Project's communication technology education units of instruction. (1) Cyberspace Pursuit is a middle school unit that explores technologies related to the Internet and webpage developments. (2) Digital Photography is a middle school unit that explores the technologies and concepts behind electronic imaging. (3) Desktop Publishing is a high school unit that explores technologies related to digital printing. (4) Film Technology is a high school unit that explores the technology behind digital video and concepts for video production. These four instruments were measured by means of student pretest and posttest content knowledge. Criterion-referenced tests (CRT) were developed within the course of the TECH-know Project's expert content development and pilot testing. Conclusions on inferential statistical methods on the administered CRT data provided positive results in regards to students' scores in science, mathematics, and technology content. An analysis of data ascertained the variables that influenced on student's scores. Conclusions found that the TECH-know instructional materials, gender, and grade level had significant influence on student gains in knowledge of technology, mathematics, and science content. Descriptive statistical methods summarized data collected on student's access to communication technologies outside the classroom. An analysis of data ascertained the variables that influenced on student's scores. Conclusions based on analysis of variance for control pretest group in this study found that access to certain communication technologies had significant influence on specific student scores at the control pretest treatment stage and at posttest treatment stage based on grade level, gender, and material content.