Vol 66, No. 4 - International Technology and Engineering Educators ...

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The goal is to create a car-free zone in the downtown shopping area of a city or town. facilities may already exist and could be extended to serve this design purpose. Or students might realize that slightly expanding the scope of this rail/jitney concept to areas outside of the downtown district could initiate even more benefits. Students should be free to make such suggestions and even, when feasible, include them in their designs. At this point, as the team designs are developing, students should notice how the informed design differs so much from the very preliminary ideas originally conceived. Students should also be encouraged to suggest ancillary aspects of their designs that may proffer aesthetic touches and such. Some teams might want to incorporate things like street vendors into the free space, or perhaps some environmental amenities, art exhibits, etc. This should be allowed as long as it does not deter from the main design focus or sap resources from team activities. Critical Analysis of Designs Each team should prepare an oral presentation of its design to fellow classmates and teams. After each presentation, there should be a critical analysis of the design by all in attendance, emphasizing both pro and con aspects of each design. Teams may then make revisions to their designs, work to improve their original design, and finalize a report that summarizes their design project. During this phase of activities, the teacher may invite city and town planners in to review the work of the students. This feedback would give students a practical, real-world review of their work, possibly disclosing new directions and revisions not before imagined. Years of actual experience of city planners would be an invaluable source of information for both teacher and students. Perhaps city leaders, members of council, aldermen, or supervisors may be able to attend and offer their comments. Epilogue This is the kind of open-ended design that is an invaluable adjunct to the modern classroom. It contains the multidimensional and multi-disciplinary tone that characterizes so much of the business world and is highly valued in new employees. It is important for all students to understand that there are no right or wrong answers to this type of design challenge. Each design depends upon the questions team members impose upon the challenge. The quality of one’s solution is dependent upon the quality of the questions asked. And quality is dependent upon the depth of one’s investigations. The best quality solutions result from the range of questions asked and their interconnectedness to other topics. The fertile soil for elegant design originates at the interfaces of topical areas. Harry T. Roman recently retired from his engineering job and is the author of a variety of new technology education books. He can be reached via email at htroman49@aol.com. 22 • The Technology Teacher • December/January 2007
CHEATING (Not really.) But ITEA’s new Engineering byDesign (EbD) model program provides so much standards-based curriculum for your classroom, it almost FEELS like cheating. The EbD curricular offerings coordinate with themes in the STEM and IT Clusters while also serving a program that wants to appeal to and engage a wider audience of students. By serving a wider student population, it may encourage students who have not previously considered a technological career to do so, exposing them to the wide array of possibilities. Also, EbD is indisputably standards-based; not only is the curricula based on the technological literacy standards and linked to the science and mathematics standards, it is also developed using standards-based processes. Another feature of EbD is the system of feedback and resources available through the EbD Network, which serves to continually update content and assessment. This sharing of student exemplars has an added advantage of making the curricula and associated assessments more consistent for those delivering EbD. And, of course, participating in the CATTS Consortium enables EbD users to participate in the future directions EbD takes, helping to pool the resources in CATTS states to provide for the needs of each state. So . . . relax. It’s okay to make it easier on yourself—and provide quality education for the students you serve at the same time. That’s what EbD is all about. For more information about EbD, visit us online at www.engineeringbydesign.org or contact Barry Burke at 301-482-1929 or bburke@iteaconnect.org.
Page 1: NEW FEATURE: CLASSROOM CHALLENGE
Page 4 and 5: Contents DECEMBER/JANUARY 2007 •
Page 6 and 7: In the News & Calendar Join ITEA in
Page 8 and 9: March 29-30, 2007 The 38th Annual W
Page 10 and 11: ITEA and NASA Team Up Again To Adva
Page 12 and 13: creativity towards understanding th
Page 14 and 15: Standards-based Instruction Virtual
Page 16 and 17: freedom tracker that places the vie
Page 18 and 19: Resources in Technology Climate Cha
Page 20 and 21: Figure 2. This image shows values o
Page 22 and 23: Organizations such as the World Res
Page 24 and 25: Classroom Challenge GIS Design Proj
Page 28 and 29: A Model for the Integration of Scie
Page 30 and 31: Table 1. Example of technology educ
Page 32 and 33: Jasmine is enjoying sanding her sta
Page 34: said, “No, it is a bolt.” With
Page 37 and 38: 3D Architectural, Interior & Landsc
Page 39 and 40: (Imagination 101) (Get real. SolidW

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