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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 309 058 SE 050 711 AUTHOR Johnson, James R. TITLE Technology: Report of the Project 2061 Phase I mcIrtnnlogy Pan411. INSTITUTION American Association for the Tdvancement of Science, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York, N.Y.; Carnegie Corp. of New York, N.Y. REPORT NO AAAS-89-06S; ISBN-0-87168-347-4 PUB DATE 89 NOTE 44p.; For other Project 2061 panel reports, see SE 050 707-711; for overview and summary, see SE 050 712-713. AVAILABLE FROM AAAS Books, Dept. 2061, P.O. Box 753, Waldorf, MD 20604 (for price, contact AAAS offices; quantity prices available). PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141) LDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Elementary School Science; Elementary Secondary Education; *Fundamental Concepts; Futures (of Society); Science Activities; *Science and Society; *Science Course Improvement Projects; Scientific and Technical Information; Secondary School Science; *Technological Literacy; *Technology IDENTIFIERS Project 2061 (AAAS); *Science Policy ABSTRACT This Is one of five panel reports that have been prepared as part of the first phase of Project 2061, a long-term, multipurpose undertaking of the American Association for the Advancement of Science designed to help reform science, mathematics, and technology education in the United States. Major sections included are: (1) "Introduction" (describing the nature of technology); (2) "Technology and Education" (discussing a framework for technology, course of technology education, integrated programs, aspects of technology education, conceptual learning and experience, and interface of technology and society); and (3) "The Technologies" (covering fields such as materials, energy, manufacturing, agriculture and food, biotechnology and medical technology, the environment, communications, electronics, computer technology, transportation, and space) The members of the panel and consultants are listed. (YP) *********1c*A**************************************************).******** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. **********A************************************************************
Transcript
Page 1: ED 309 058

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 309 058 SE 050 711

AUTHOR Johnson, James R.TITLE Technology: Report of the Project 2061 Phase I

mcIrtnnlogy Pan411.

INSTITUTION American Association for the Tdvancement of Science,Washington, D.C.

SPONS AGENCY Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, New York, N.Y.; CarnegieCorp. of New York, N.Y.

REPORT NO AAAS-89-06S; ISBN-0-87168-347-4PUB DATE 89NOTE 44p.; For other Project 2061 panel reports, see SE

050 707-711; for overview and summary, see SE 050712-713.

AVAILABLE FROM AAAS Books, Dept. 2061, P.O. Box 753, Waldorf, MD20604 (for price, contact AAAS offices; quantityprices available).

PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141)

LDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS.DESCRIPTORS Elementary School Science; Elementary Secondary

Education; *Fundamental Concepts; Futures (ofSociety); Science Activities; *Science and Society;*Science Course Improvement Projects; Scientific andTechnical Information; Secondary School Science;*Technological Literacy; *Technology

IDENTIFIERS Project 2061 (AAAS); *Science Policy

ABSTRACTThis Is one of five panel reports that have been

prepared as part of the first phase of Project 2061, a long-term,multipurpose undertaking of the American Association for theAdvancement of Science designed to help reform science, mathematics,and technology education in the United States. Major sectionsincluded are: (1) "Introduction" (describing the nature oftechnology); (2) "Technology and Education" (discussing a frameworkfor technology, course of technology education, integrated programs,aspects of technology education, conceptual learning and experience,and interface of technology and society); and (3) "The Technologies"(covering fields such as materials, energy, manufacturing,agriculture and food, biotechnology and medical technology, theenvironment, communications, electronics, computer technology,transportation, and space) The members of the panel and consultantsare listed. (YP)

*********1c*A**************************************************).********* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made* from the original document.**********A************************************************************

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TECHNOLOGY

REPORT OF THEPROJECT 2061 PHASE ITECHNOLOGY PANEL

by James H. Johnson

AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONFOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

1989

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Founded in 1848, the American Association for the Advance-ment of Science is the world's leading general scientific society,with more than 132,000 individual members and nearly 300 affili-ated scientific and engineering societies and academies of sci-ence. The AAAS engagJs in a variety of activities to advancescience and human progress. To help meet these goals, theAAAS has a diversified agenda of programs bearing on scienceand technology policy; the responsibilities and human rights ofscientists, intergovernmental relations in science, the public'sunderstanding of science, science education, international co-operation in science and engineering, and opportunities inscience and engineering for women, minorities, and people withdisabilities. The AAAS also publishes Science, a weekly journalfor professionals, and Science Books & Films, a review magazinefor schools and libraries.

ISBN 0-87163-347-4

AAAS Publication 89-06S

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 89-77

t 1989 by the American Association for the Advancement ofScience, Inc., 1333 H Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20005

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopying or recording, or by any information storageand retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

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CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....... . iii

PHASE I TECHNOLOGY PANEL . . .. .. v

FOREWORD by F. James Rutherford, Project Director, Project 2061 vii

PREFACE by James R. Johnson, Chair, Technology Panel .. xi

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION 1

SECTION 2: TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION .... 3

A Framework for Technology 3

The Course of Technology Education 4

Integrated Technology Programs 5

New Technology Invites New Uses in Education 6

The Importance of the Use of science and Mathematicsin Technology Education 6

Some Aspects of Technology Education 7

Conceptual Learning and Experience 8

The Interface: Technology and Society 9

SECTION 3: THE TECHNOLOGIES 13

Materials . ....... 13

Energy .. . 14

Manufacturing ... 16

Agriculture and Food ..... .. .. .. ... 17

Biotechnology and Medical Technology .. 19

Environment (Atmosphere) . .. . . .. 20Communications . ... 21

Electronics 23Computer Technology . 25Transportation 27Space . 28

APPENDIX: TECHNOLOGY PANEL CONSULTANTS 31

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the American Associationfor the Advancement of Science, I wish to acknowledge withgratitude the many useful contributions made by the membersof the Phase I Technology Panel to the first stage of Project 2061.

The nine punel members were most generous with their timeana efforts over a two-year period in developing their responseas presented .n this reportto the complex question of whatyoung people should know about technology by the time theycomplete their high school education The board is also verygrateful to James R Johnson, who chaired the panel and wrotethe panel's report.

During this essential first stage of Project 2061, the Technolog,Panel was one of five scientific panels charged by the AAASwith developing independent reports on five basic subject-matterareas. At the same time, the Project 2061 staff in conjunction withthe National Council on Science and Technology Education waspreparing a separate overview reportScience for All Am eri-ca n st ha t was able to draw on the conclusions reached by theindividual panels.

We also want to add our thanks to those of Jim Johnson to themany people who assisted the Technology Panel in the courseof the panel's deliberations the consultants, the national councilmembers and other reviewers, and the Project 2061 staff.

Finally, it is hppropriate to note that Project 2111 is indebtedto the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Andrew W.Mellon Foundation for their overall and ongoing support of ourvarious Phase I efforts.

Sheila E. WidnallChair, Board of Directors, American Association for the

Advancement of Science

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PHASE I TECHNOLOGY PANEL

James R. Johnson (Panel Chair) Former Executive Scientist,3M Company

Sister Marquita Barnard Former Professor of Chemistry,The College of St. Catherine

Don Boyd Director of Systems Technology and Engineering,Honeywell, Inc.

William Hamer Vice President of Engineering, ADCTelecommunications

Robert T. Holt Dean of the Graduate School, University ofMinnesota at Minneapolis

Harvey Keynes Professor of Mathematics, University ofMinnesota at Minneapolis

John W. Pearson Former Vice President of Development,3M Company

Phillip Regal Professor of Ecology, University of Minnesotaat Minneapolis

Matthew Tirrell Professor of Chemical Engineering andMaterials Science, University of Minnesota at Minneapolis

Panel Staff Karen Olson, Science Education Consultant(St Paul, Minnesota)

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FOREWORD

This report is one of five prepared by scientific panels as partof Phase I vof Project 2061 Each of the panel reports stands aloneas an independent statement of learning curls in a particulardomain. In addition, the reports contribute:I to Science for AllAmericans, a Phase I report that cuts across all of science,mathematics, and technology

The work of the Technology Panel was to refle-t on all aspectsof technologyits nature, principles, history, future directions,social dimensions, and relation to science and to produce a setof recommendations on what Imowledge and skills are neededfor technological literacy (as part of general scientific literacy)The other panels focused in a similar way on the biological andhealth sciences, mathematics, the physical and information sci-ences and engineering, and the social and behavioral sciences

In considering this report, it is helpful to see it in the context ofProject 2061 and to be aware of the manner in which it wasgenerated.

The American Association for the Advancement of Scienceinitiated Project 2061 in 1985, a year when Comet Halley happenedto be in the earth's icinity. That coincidence prompted theproject's name, for it was realized that the children who wouldlive to see the return of the comet in 2061 would soon be starttnatheir school years The project was motivated by a concern thatmany share for the inadequate education those young Americanswill receive unless there are major reforms in science, math@matics, and technology education.

Scientific literacywhich embraces science, mathematics, andtechnologyhas emerged as a central goal of education. Yet thefact is that general scientific literacy eludes us in the UnitedStates. A cascade of recent studies has made it abundantly clearthat by national standards and world norms, U S education isfailing too many studentsand hence the nation The nation hasyet to act decisively enough in preparing young peopleespe-cially the minority children on whom the nation's future is comingto dependfor a world that continues to change radicalli inresponse to the rapid growth of scientific knowledge and trchnological power.

Believing that Amer'ca has no more urgent priority than therefoim of education in science, rnatheinatics, and technology,the AAAS has committed itself, through Project 2061 and otheractivities, to helping the nation achieve significant and lastingeducational change necause the work of Project 2061 is expectedto last a decaae or longer, it has been organized into threephases.

Phase i of the project has estribkuhed a conceptual base forreform by defining the knowledge, skills, and attitudes all studentsshould acquire as a consequence of their total school experiencefrom kindergarten through high school. That conceptual baseconsists of recommendations presented in Science fo All Arndtscans and the five panel reports.

vii

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In Phase II of Protect 2061, n ivy under way, teams of educatorsand scientists are transforming these reports into blueprints foraction. The main purpose of the second phase of the project isto produce a variety of alternative curriculum models that schooldistricts and states can use as they undertake to reform theteaching of science, mathematics, and technology Phase II willalso specify the characteristics of reforms needed in other areasro make it possible for the new curricula to work. teachereducation, testing policies and practices, new materials andmodern technologies, the organization of schooling, state andlocal policies, and research.

In Phase III, the project will collaborate with scientific societies,educational associations and institutions and other groups in-volved in the reform of science, mathematics, and technologyeducation, in a nationwide effort to turn the Phase II blueprintsinto educational practice.

Each of the five panels was cormir-,s,:d of 8 to 10 scientists,mathematicians, engineers, plzysiciar, and others known to beaccomplished in their fields and diticiplines and to be fullyconversant with the role of science, mathematics, and technologyin the lives of people. The panelists were different from oneanother in many respects, inclueing their areas of specialization,institutional affiliations, views of science and education, andpersonal characteristics. What made it possible to capitalize onthe rich diversity among the panelists was what they had incommonopen minds and a willingness to explore deeply thequestions put to them.

The basic question put to the Technology Panel was: What isthe technology component of scientific literacy? Answering thisquestiondifficult enough in itselfwas made more difficult bythe conditions, or ground rules, set by Project 2061. Abbreviatedhere, these were:

0 Focus on technological significance Identify only thoseconcepts and skills that are of surpassing technological impor-tance--those that can serve as a foundation for a lifetime ofindividual growth

o Apply considerations of human significance Of the knowl-edge and skills that meet the criterion of technological signifi-cance, select those that are most likely to prepare students to liveinteresting and responsible lives. Individual growth and satisfac-tion need to be considered, as well as the needs of a democraticsociety in a competitive world.

e Begin with a clean slate Justify all recommendations vTithoutregard to the content of today's curricula, textbooks, state andschool district requirements, achievement tests, or college en-trance examinations

Ignore the limitations of present-day education Assumethat it will be possible to do whatever it may takedesign newcurricula and learning materials, prepare teachers, reorganizethe schools, set policies, or locatc resourcesto achieve desiredlearning outcomes.

0 Identify only a small core of essential knowledge and skillsDo not call on the schools to cover more and more material, but

viii / Foreword9

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instead recommend rx set of learning goals that will allow themto concentrate on teaching less and on doing it better

0 Keep in mind the target population--all students Proposea common core of learning in technology that can serve eb partof the educational foundation of all students, regardless of sex,race, academic talent, or life goals.

Taking these ground rules into account, the members of theTechnology Panel met frequently over a period of nearly twoyears to present and debate ideas and to consider the suggestionsof consultants. The panel members prepared working papersand revised them in response to the criticisms of reviewers. Thisprocesswhich also included meetings with the chairs of otherpanelsled to the preparation of this report.

The task aht .a for the United States is to build a new systemof education that will ensure that all of our young people becomeliterate in science, mathematics, and technology The job willnot be achieved easily or quickly, and no report or set of reportscan alter that. I believe, however, that this report on technologyliteracy, along with the other panel reports and Science for AllAmericans, can help clarify the goals of elementary and second-ary education and in that way contribute significantly to thereform movement

F. James RutherfordProject Director, Project 2061

Foreword / ix

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PREFACE

er1 he Technology Panel is responsible for suggesting appropriate.

concepts for programs from kindergarten through high schoolthat will help students develop an understanding of technologyand its relationship to the world around them.

For this report, technology is viewed as the workings and worksof humankind, from flint tools to moon hindersactivities moreoften known by their embodiments Subject to the governingprinciples of the sciencesphysical, economic, and socialandpatterned after the designs of engineering, technology in the endis used by society for its benefit or peril.

The panel members were chosen for their expertise in certainfields of technology and for their ability to find consultants whocould help the panel examine those fields Further, they wereselected because they were known to have an interest in edu-cation and considerable sensitivity to human needs and values.Each panel member was responsible for a one-day meeting inwhich his or her field was presented and then discussed by thepanelists in depth.

While we the panel members, cannot pretend to hat coveredall of technology in this manner, we hope we have examinedenough of it to help us find the content elements we seek forProject 2061

We have found the process of examining specific fields helpfulin identifying common themes. Further, we have accumulatedconsiderable specific material about the fields of technologychosen that may be useful to the participants in the next phasesof Project 2061.

The suggestions in this report are meant to go beyond addingbits of technology to the present school curriculum Rather, theyare the basis for a major revision of U.S. education, reflectingthroughout the learning process the pervasn, -;ness of technologyin our lives, and using a wide range of methods ranging fromsimple laboratory experiences to studying socioeconomic effects.

The report was written by the undersigned on the basis of thediscussions and findings of tine Technology Panel, and it wassubsequently reviewed by the individual panel members, t'leconsultants to the Technology Panel, and other reviewers (seeAppendix), and by the Project ?061 staff.

The Technology Panel wishes to express its appreciation to themany people who took time to review and criticize this documentThe richness and diversity of their comments have added im-measurably to the fi..ished work. We are indebted to PatriciaPowell of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences for her earlyeditorial review. Our work was made easier by the guidanceand assistance received from Project Manager Patricia Warrenand from Janice Merz, Gwen McCutcheon and Carol Holmes J nthe Project 2061 staff.

Finally, we acknowledge with great appreciation the seminalideas for Project 2061 that we first heard from Project Director F.

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James Rutherford and Associate Project Directoi A A. Ahlgrenand that were the basis for our charge.

James R JohnsonChair, Technology Panel

xii / Preface ; 2

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SECTION 1

INTRODUCTION

Throughout the history of civilization, the social fabric of humansand their enterprises has been interwoven with the thread oftechnology. Accordingly, young adults need to be familiar withtechnology and its dynamics, pervasiveness, and relationship tothe society in which they will 'we and work.

Technology is the application of knowledge, tools, and skills tosolve practical problems and extend human capabilities. Tech-nology is best described as process, but it is more commonlyknown by its products and their effects on society. It is enhancedby the discoveries of science and shaped by the designs ofengineering. It is conceived by inventors cind planners, raisedto fruition by the work of entrepreneurs, anc implemented andused by society. Sometimes, though, it enters the social systemimperceptibly and brings about many changes, otten in unfore-seen ways.

Technology is in part a social process. Technology is supportedto serve the society that generates and controls it through society'sprivate and public institutions and people. Society affects and isaffected by its technology. Thus, people need to understand theinteractions of technology and its various fields with human socialsystems and the values that society may apply The results anddynamics of these interactions are key to the ways in whichtechnology affects people's lives.

Technology is also a technical process. It is different fromscience, whose role is understanding. Technology's role is doing,making, and implementing things. The principles of science,whether discovered or not, underlie technology The results andactions of technology are subject to the laws of nature, eventhough technology has often preceded or even spawned thediscovery of the science on which it is based. Most moderntechnology, particularly that embodied in systems, is fabricatedthrough the technical designs of engineering, and it enters societyaccording to the perceived needs of the socioeconomic system.Therefore, young adults should know some of the underlyingbasic science, mathematics, and engineering concepts and theirrelationship to technology. They should be familiar with the useof the basic tools involved, from applied mathematics to design,to computers, to hardware. They should understand that tech-nology does not stand apart from the society it serves.

Technology can be illustrated by general concepts such ,_iswork, flow, design, innovation, and nsk'benefit. It may be re-garded as benevolent, making modern life possible It may alsobe seen as evil or as not always to be trusted. Technology'sembodiments and processes are often described as wonderssuch as the wonder of antibiotics and the wonder of transmittingpictures of distant planets from space probes. Or technology maybe a source of public concern and consternationfor example,there is the problem of what to do with =boric:nye wastes.

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Through technology, the public is drenched in information,much of it technical itself Radio, television, and newspapers allspew out undigested and sometimes conflicting informationYoung adults must have a framework from which to respondThis framework should include a clear understanding that tech-nology is inherently neither good nor evil. It is the use made oftechnology, relative to a culture s social customs and beliefs, thatdetermines whether that technology is ultimately to be viewedas good or evil

Technology is chiefly responsible for the ever-increasing lateof change in the world Such chances are vital to growth, andperhaps they are inevitable, since the world must support aburgeoning population. Modern production demands an ad-vancing yield of technology and change Young adults shouldnot believe they must passively accept or cope with whatevertechnology brings, rather, they should be part of its evolution.

Technology is revealed by its contributions to humankind, bothcurrent and historical, and by technical advances foreseen forthe near future And yet, its uncertainty and ambiguity, and thealways possible unexpected consequences for good or evil,cannot be neglected or minimized Technological solutions tohuman problems are not unique There are no right answers,and choices must be made. It is vital that these choices beinformed and value-based.

General education should describe technoloay in a holisticway, showing it as part and parcel of our history, our everydayexistence, and our future It should provide opportunities toexperience technology as well as learn about it in the abstract.It should connect the technics with the ethics. By the time theyfinish high school, young adults should be fully aware that theywill encounter technology on an ever-changing basis throughouttheir lives But it is not enough that they accumulate knowledgealong the way, they should also know what it means and how it:s and can be applied. Ultimately, each such person will becometo some extent a technologist, prepared to participate in a highlytechnical world

A major question about this technical world is, Who willdevelop and control the technologies so that they can best serveall citizens?" In the broadest sense, the answer has to befor ademocratic societya technically literate citizenry. This report(following the introduction) consists of two major sections. Thefirst, Section 2, describes some general themes and suggests aframework for the consideration of technology in the context ofsociety, including ways in which the framework might be learned.The second, Section 3, describes a number of technology fieldsand suggests the kinds of things that young adults should knowabout then. The specific technologies embraced by these fieldswill be swept away by the onrushing future, and updating mustbe continuous. What must remain is a lifelong interest in learningabout this changing scene Carefully integrated conceptual andexperiential learning is key to providing the necessary frameworkfor young adults to understand and benefit from rapidly changingtechnology.

2 / Section 1Introduchon

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SECTION 2

TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

though the primary charge to the Technology Panel was toconsider content in future curricula, the panel concluded (Nallyin its deliberations that technology, unlike science and mathe-matics, currently has little or no place in elementary and sec-ondary school programs Thus, the panel believed it should startby suggesting how technology should be integrated into futureelementary and secondary school programs It does so, however,without making any pretense of expertise in curriculum designor theories of education

Technology education should reveal the process of technologyas it evolves from ideas to fruition This can best be learned usinglaboratory experiences to augment classroom instruction. Like-wise, such education should show how technology affects indi-viduals and society.

Technology education should be appropriate to the students'age and experience. It should begin with descriptive materialand then involve principles and concepts, incorporating directexperience at all levels.

Technology education that includes social impacts as well asthe technics provides the opportunity to integrate the two innewly formulated curricula, possibly making increased use ofteam teaching.

The sciences and mathematics are important to the understand-ing of the processes and meaning of technology. Their integrationwith the technology education curricula is vital

A FRAMEWORK FOR TECHNOLOGY

The people who generate new technology or control its useoften do so by first considering a framework of intenonnectedquestions designed to lead to a full understanding of the likelyeffects and implications of the technology These questionsaspresented belowshould also be familiar to the technologicallyliterate citizen:

What is the goal? What is to be done, to be made?

What can be conceived or invented to achieve the goal?Born of need, how does technology evolve thiough ideas,designs, or plans to practice?

What knowledge and know-how are needed'?

What materials will be used to construct the artifacts of thetechnology?

What tools or machines can be used to help do it of makeit?

What energy source will Wive it, form it?

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Does it function alone or should it be incorporated into asystem or network?

Flow is its manufacture or use to be operated, controlled,and managed for optimum efficiency and quality?

Does the technology serve the original goal or purpose?

Does it compete in the local and global economic systems?

Whut are the mechanisms by which the technology enterssocial systems?

Is it safe according to accepted risk benefit standards?

Does the technology put at risk the users, or other peoplewho are not beneficiaries?

What are the technology's effects on the environment andhu mai well-being?

As it becomes obsolete or worn out, how is its manufactureor use terminated? What is done to safely dispose of its usedmatena Is?

Will the technclogy have long-range effects on the course ofhuman history?

The technologically literate citizen should not only understandthe questions but also be famili.ir with the ways in which answersare developed. There are no simple or easy answers. Rather,the responses to the questions in the framework are likely tocome from thought processes ranging from intuition to systematicanalysis Furthermore, these responses may be shaped by anyof a range of human values, traditions, emotions, and societalnorms, which tend to vary considerably from society to societyand from one era to another. Ultimately, though, all such answersleador should leadto something that is essential to the well-being of the world sound human responses to technology

THE COURSE OF TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

The introduction of technology should begin with description,accompanied by experimentation arid experience, all at increas-ing depth and involvement as students proceed from kindergartenthrough the twelfth grade. Embodiments of technology known tothe students at the kindergarten level may include houses madeof brick or the household telephone. At the twelfth-grade level,the telephone system, its networks, switching, and 01:.or featurescan be learned. Similarly, at the kindergarten level, use can bemade of simple experiments such as forming plastic clay intoshapes, which reveal plasticity and hardening by drying. At thetwelfth-grade level, the extraordinary compressive strength ofclay bricks can be measured with instruments. For students atall levels, field trips coupled with laboratory work can providestimulating experiences with technology

As learning progresses, concepts associated with technologyshould be introduced These may bo, technical, economic, orsocial ideas that elucidate what is going onhow the technologyprocess functions At the fourth-grade level, lot example, the

4 / Section 2Technology and P, ucanon

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idea of storage in various ways or forms can be learned on thebasis of, say, the commonality of nuts stored by a squirrel, waterstored behind a dam, and electricity stored in a battery. At thetenth-grade level, the chemistry of the process can be added towhat students learn about the storage of electricity in a battery

Principles govern the processes of technology These principles,which are derived from the physical sciences, biological sciences,social sciences, and humanities, provide students with a basisfor understanding the science associated with the technologyThe principles may include scientific laws, principles of econom-ics, and the human values to be considered, and they should beintroduced at all levels.

As learning progresses, use of the tools of technology shouldbe introduced. Such tools include the library, laboratory, shop,equipment, computers, and the use of mathematics, and theyshould be made part of the learning process at all levels.

Concluding the process should be the analysis of results, whichincludes observing the physical responses or the effects of theactions taken and the consequences for people of implementingthe technology. At the kindergarten level, focusing the sun's raysto warm an object may be an appropriate example. At the twelfth-grade level, an experimental solar collector and a discussion of"sun rights" as a human issue could serve that purpose.

INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS

Traditionally, technology has been taught in diverse ways atvarious levelsprimarily in the curricula of industrial arts, vo-cational education, and manual training, and in some sciencecourses. Students learn how to draft rind design, use tools, type,cook, sew, and make minor repairs to electrical or plumbingequipment. Advanced versions of technology education alsoinclude the use of calculators and computers, the design ofelementary communications systems, and the building of robots.Technological and social issues are often included in thesecourses. Although many of the specific skills learned may beoutmoded by advancing technology, the process of learning skillsremains a valuable asset to students. A common theme of theseactivities is "hands-on/minds-on" educationthe purposeful, in-telligent honing of knowledge, talents, and skills. The TechnologyPanel continually emphasized the importance of this experientiallearning process, and nearly every consultant advocated theneed for more. A key question is how to expand tne techniqueto serve a much broader pedagogical role.

Expanded technology education can be integrated with history,social science, and many other subjects For example, a majorevent in history was the telegraph, which was not just a newtechnology but the root of modern long-distance communicationstechnology. Students can learn about the advent and importanceof telegraphy in the traditional lecture/ext way, and at the sametime they can design and build a simple telegraph system--inthe laboratory or shopin a sense re-creating the invention.Coordinating these activities provides an additional and veryinteractive role for faculty engaged in technology education.

Section 2Techrnlogy and Education / 5

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NEW TECHNOLOGY INVITES NEW USES INEDUCATION

The use of technology in new ways through application oftape, disk, and interactive computer programs can augment thisexperiential learning, not only as a means of imparting facts butalso as a way to link the classroom experimental activities withthe world outside the classroom. This can provide a means foroffsetting some current education system constraints, such as lackof teachers and equipment. The combination of these teachingand learning mechanisms makes it possible for teachers to tailoitheir activities to individual needs, including those of rapidlearners and slow learners, and to have more time for laboratoryand problem-solving activities.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE USE OF SCI-1 E ANDMATHEMATICS IN TECHNOLOGY EDUC: :ION

Modern technology and its artifacts embrace virtually the wholeof science and are indebted to the powerful ideas and tools ofmathematics. In turn, science and mathematics depend heavilyon advances in technology such as electron microscopy andelectronic computing. These close relationships should be madeexplicit in the examples chosen in the classroom and the labo-ratory Some typical examples below illustrate this theme.

Modern biotechnology is a direct outgrowth of mid-twentieth-century discoveries of biosciencethe structure of the DNAmolecule, the mechanisms of protein synthesis, and the eluci-dations of microbiology, among others Bioscience is the basisfor the technologies involved in genetic engineeringrecombi-nant DNA, the deliberate modification and synthesis of proteinsthrough intelligent manipulation of segments of DNA Studentscan study the history of this science and technology, acquiretheir concepts, and link them by means of insights, translations,and derived processes so as to understand tlry_., connectionsbetween them.

The calculation and projection of the po.las of space vehicleshave made possible the remarkable flybys of the outer planets.At the ninth- through twelfth grade levels, students could developthe concept of escape velocity and proceed to calculate ageosynchronous orbit, in which a satellite rotates so it is alwaysabove the same spot on the earth and its velocity is just sufficientto keep it from either falling or rising (escaping). This can thenlead students to the planning of a space communications network,illustratin,j the use of mathematics, science, engineering, andimagination in the development of a technology.

Logic derived from the three basic ideas of "and, "or," and"not" is the basis for computer operation An analysis of this logicspeaks to the possibility or impossil-ility of machines being ableto "think" as humans do. Students can follow the reasoning ofthis logic and match it with the proposals of those who believethey can move around the constraints of thc, logic to developartificial intelligence.

Thus, a sound base in mathematics and the biological, physical,and social sciences is vital to an understanding of modern

6 / Section 2-- Technology and Education

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technology. They should be part of technology education curri-cula, just as technology should serve to bring additional meaningto the curricula of the sciences

SOME ASPECTS OF TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

Technology education should emphasize problem solving Theposing and solving of problems, increasingly complex as stadenismove from kindergarten through the twelfth grade, will enablestudents to develop techniques that are vital to livina in a technicalworld of diverse cultures and technical status. The problems andtheir solutions may be technical, experimental, mathematical,technical-social, or value-laden. Designing alternatives to cir-cumvent problems and learning to deal with options are alsoimportant techniques.

Observation, measurement, and analysis are universal toolsof technology They are key to research and development, toprocesses ongoing in industrial production, and to the impactsof technology on society. These techniques should be usedthroughout elementary and secondary education in both technicaland social contexts

Intelligent observation is crucial to invention The elements ofcreative thinking and work and what to do about them areimportant for young adults to know. This process should includenot only creative activities and implementation but also knowl-edge of the social system that encourages innovators to developnew enterprises that provide jobsfor example, the patent andcopyright system, public and private research laboratories, and -various institutions that foster entrepreneurial activities.

Imagination is a powerful human trait that needs early andcontinuing stimulation. Connections to technology can be made-as, for example, by envisioning times when the telephone, lights,plow, wheel, etc., did not exist as well as times in the futurewhen cancer will have been conquered or planets will havebeen settled. These considerations should prompt questions aboutwhat such connections meant or will mean in terms of life, values,and expectations.

Still another important technique is learning to question basicassumptions, purported facts issues, results, and the like whileseeking solutions to problems

Learning to visualize the whole but at the same time also tosee the components of systems and organisms and how theyinteract should be developed at various levels of understandingFor most students, it will suffice if they can grasp the idea of anorganized entity made up of interacting parts de:,ignod to fit andwork for the benefit of the entity (living) or of the user (machineor network). Other students may want to know how such entitieswork and to explore their symbiosis They may re,-ognize that insome cases the wholo is greater than the sum its parts andthat often synergy plays a large role in thy; et ectivencss ofprocesses.

Students should learn to differentiate between possibilities(whereby something can happen) and probabilities (wherebysomething is either likely or unlikely to happen). They also need

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to know that many technological decisions must be made withoutcomplete information, or sometimes with wrong information.

Developing the ability to collaborate or cooperate is importantand can be part of teL ri activities throughout the school years.Although invention is usually traced to a single mind, it is moreoften many people working together who develop an idea tofruition More important, the sharing of talents, skills, and knowl-edge is vital training for the interactive roles most citizens willplay in their lives

It is important to know how to obtain and organize reliableinformation by way of the literature, human interactions, andobservation Communication skills are vital in a technical world.They range from knowing how to use the tools of communicationfrom languages to the telephone and computersto learninghow to derive true understanding from what is communicated.

It is important to develop a strategy for learning, to be able todiscern what is and what is not relevant. For example, in tryingto learn to speak a new language quickly, it is relevant to knowsome nouns and a few verbs, but less =mai to learn all aboutsentence structure.

Students need to master at least a few skills for learning ontheir own to build confidence. Farther, each student should haveone capahility or more in which he or she has developed excel-lence or has mastered some task.

CONCEPTUAL LEARNING AND EXPERIENCE

General concepts are essential to the learning process in thatthey underlie the ultimate understanding that enables people toadapt and apply their knowledge in diverse situations. Laboratoryor other experiential activities are vital to this learning process,for they serve to bring about and preserve understanding.

The general concepts of technology may be technical or socialin nature, with some concepts being both. One social expressionof a law of thermodynamics is "There is no free lunch

Many general concerts are aporopriate to technology, withideas ranging from technical to social in nature (such as flow,conversion, storage, and riskibenefit). For example, the word"flow" is conceived in many ways relating to the movement ofthings in timethe flow of water, electricitr, sunlight, traffic,ideas, etc In a technical sense, flow is a pi ocess common tomoving water, moving air (wind), arid radiation. The studentmay learn about the windmill, the water wheel, and solar cellsas enerov producers at different levels in elementary and sec-ondary - hool, but the concept of flow is common to all of them.Simple laboratory experiments can reveal what is occurring ineach case, helping to speed the desired "Aha!" or conceptbuilding. The student learns that flow is a general concept usefulin many technologies. The science underlying each kind of flowcan be more easily comprehended as the connections are de-veloped The mathematical equations describing the phenomenamay have different symbols, but their form and fundamentalmeanings have much in common

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Generating concepts in the mind should start very early in thelearning process, and they should be related where possible tofamiliar experiences. Experience is the application of understand-ing. It builds familiarity and helps fix what has been learned sothat it can be applied in future, perhaps unfamiliar situations. Itis the indispensable servant of technology education.

THE INTERFACE: TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

One of the most important purposes of technology educationis to equip children and young adults to understand and be ableto participate in and cope with the world in which they live.Modern technology is a crucial aspect of the world, from house-hold appliances to the machines of the workplace to the complextechnical systems of communication, transportation, and manu-facturing. An understanding of the technology of the day hasprobably been important since the dawn of civilization, but thereis a special urgency today The fast pace of technological changecan cause some people to lc ..1 loss of control. Many can expectto have several occupations, and all will find that technologicalchange will affect both the marketability °I their skills and theirsocial relationships.

The relationship between technologies and the social ordershould be taught as an integral part of history and the othersocial sciences andin some casesas part of literature and artThere are many examples of how this can be done. for instance,the printing press as it affected the expansion of learning inRenaissance Europe, and the impact of mass-production tech-nology on social organization

Two principles must be developed, articulated, and illustrated:(1) technology affects society, and (2) society affects technologyThe first is relatively easy to illustrate. The first cities emerges'only with the development of technologies ic,r bringing in food,water, and raw materials and sending out finished products andwaste. (Cities today are still involved in such activities.) Thetechnique of large-scale water control was crucial to the form ofgovernment and administration of what has been called thehydraulic civilization of China and parts of the Middle East Newtechnologies for weapons and manufacturing were essential inthe transformation of medieval society. The kind of society welive in in twentieth-century America :3, to a significant degree,a product of our modern technologies, also derived from humanneeds, and military or defense requirements, and occasionallyhorn of pure imagination.

The general principle must be developed in social studies fromthe early years, both at a personal level and in social contextThe particular examples will probably be determined by theconcerns of social studies and other curricula, but no period inhistory should be taught without explicit attention to the prevalenttechnologies of the time and place

It may be more difficult to demonstrate the influence societyhas on the course of technological development, and yet thereare compelling relationships among epochs cultural conditions,and the emergence of new technologie6 In recent times, for

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example, one multibillion-dollar nuclear power plant was aban-doned Just prior to its opening ceremonies

Another example is that society aenerates the need Necessityis the mother of invention" (but not every need generctt s atechnological response). The technologies for using coal in for :our;metal refining followed the depletion of forests and rapidlyincreasing costs of charcoal production. The moldboard plow,the harvester, the mechanical planter, and eventually the tractorcame to Western agricultural nations where growth was con-strained by limited labor resources, whereas in Japan newvarieties of rice and techniques of fertilizer use .ind pest controlwere invented to increase production when labor was plentifulbut land was limited.

If society influences technology, then people should be able toinfluence or control the course and direction of innovationHistorical examples of this control and elucidation of the mech-anisms of induced innovation should help give students somesense of mastery and reduce their feelings of helplessness beforea seemingly mindless technological juggernaut But it should bemade clear to them that not every problem will yield to a technicalsolutionand further, that even when a new technology iseffective and appropriate for coping with a problem, it may takedecades or even generations for its impact to be significant TheU S approach to the energy issue furnishes an excellent exampleThus, the pace of technc Dg 'cal change, which appears to be sorapid from one point of view, can seem frustratingly slow whendirected at alleviating a problem that arises as a result of a large-scale sociotechnical system, for example, the development ofcoal-conversion plants to produce synthetic oil and gas.

Of great importance is the idea of the sociotechnical system,which should be introduced in the early grades when specifictechnology is presented. This concept can later be used to helpilluminate the relationships between technology and society. Thedevelopment of the automobile and its social impact cannot beunderstood try simply : ;king at the automobile alone as atechnological innovation. The automobile needed highways, buthighways could be built only when a means of financing themwas invented The surtax on gasoline dedicated to highwayconstruction created a positive feedback loop The more gasolinesold, the more money for highways, the more money for high-ways, the more demanu for cars, the more cars, the more gasoline,and the more money for highways Other social innovations,such as installment 1,ayrnents and the assembly line, all fittogether in a system in which technology affects society andsociety affects technology.

The specific example is not what is significant, though. Alltransportation, communication, and manufacturing are bestunderstood as a social-technical system, and features such asthe pace of change can be understood at least partially byviewing the relationship between technology and society in termsof systems The reasons for the rapid pace of technologicalchange in the twentieth century should be elaborated, as shouldthe conditions under which the pace could decline or deceleratein the twenty -first century

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Complexity is on of the dimensions in which sociotechnicalsystems should be compared and assessed Contemporc.i y socio-technical systems tend to be more complex than their predeces-sors They have more components and there are more relation-ships among components. The greater the number of componentsand their connections, the more pertinent the issue of reliability,because a breakdown in one component can ramify throughouta system The breakdown of an electric power station, forexample, can shut down a large city, and the failure of an airtraffic controller's station in Chicago can affect transportationnati iwide.

Technology can serve as a great multiplier of social change,sometimes in new or unexpected ways The development of theoffice copier, for instance, did not rust replace the use of carbonpaper but eventually revolutionized the modern office and wasa pioneer event in the information age. Bu, there are also neaativeexamples Terrorists, for instance, have been with us for centuries,but worldwide television has increased their potential impartdramatically.

One significant aspect of a high-technology world is that thegreat benefits brought about by modern sociotechnical systemsalso carry risks. An early pioneer in nuclear energy suggestedthat it might be a Faustian bargain. The industrial age of the lastcentury not only transformed society, it choked some of its citizensto death in smoke. It led to both machine tools and the machinegun. One great hope for a technologically literate society is thatit can consider at least some of the outcomes and develop waysto increase the benefits and reduce the risks of new technologiesas they are introduced. Regulation and control might then bebased more on knowledge than on emotion or political expe-diency Studying the risks versus the benefits of technology inhistory courses can provide the context for considering importantcontemporary issues. Current examples include nuclear energyand genetic engineering. Between now a id the year 2061, therewill undoubtedly be many others

Control of technology extends beyond its regulation Commercial success or failure will depend on whether or not people willbuy the products Control at the point of origin may depend onpolitical or corporate decisions about sponsorship of technology

The economic relations between technology and society deserve particular attention. New technologic-, create employment,make some robs obsolete, affect work conditions, and give somefirms a competitive edge. Increasingly, it is becoming important to view these issues in a global perspective. C,ir rently themicroelectronics industry provides an example, from the inven-tion of integrated circuits to the development of multibillion -dotlar domestic business to the movement of enterprises overseas,all in less than two decades. The market for microelectronicsevolved from needs and inventions in electronic equipment(military, commercial, and consumer). The advantage lay firstwith the innovators, but it later moved to those whose productscost the least for given value

The well-being of the nation depends upon its ability to competeand the inventiveness, creativity, motivation, and pride in ac

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complishment that ccme with success in competitive markets.Competition can serve to rai.'e the quality and performance ofthe competing technologies ana a sir products, thereby benefitingsociety There is also a cooperative aspect Management andlabor must work together The contracts between labor andmanagement in the United States, the Soviet Union, WesternEurope, and Japan provide interesting comparative and contrast-ing patterns At a tii.ie when labor/management relations in theUnited States are changing so rapidly, it is important to providesome cross-cultural perspective. Firms cooperate as well ascompete (the patent agreement among U.S. automobile producersin the 1920s is a good example of cooperation involving techno-logical innovation) Even nations can cooperate in sharing tech-nologies, particularly those that affect the protection of theenvironment worldwide and the safety of humans. It would, forexample, be in everyone's interest to disseminate as rapidly aspossible any technology to improve safety in the managementof wastek from nuclear reactors.

To live a fruitful and rewarding life in the twentieth-first centurywill requite a knowledge of technology and society learned fromhistorical examples, contemporary illustrations, and informedprognostication. It will be necessary to understand some of thebasic precepts of the social sciences and their application to whatoccurs at the interface of technology and society.

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SECTION 3

THE TECHNOLOGIES

Technology includes many fields. Learning about technologyshould include the history of these fields and something of theircurrent state. Since the fields are advancing rapidly, what istaught about them must be frequently updated. Nevertheless, assuggested in Section 2, an examination of these fields as theynow are provides a rich source of common themes and conceptsthat students should learn.

The following brief essays on selected technology fields arebased on the deliberations of the panel and its consultants. Theypresent some of the ideas the technology panel believed to beimportant for the graduating high school senior to knov . Eachessay is intended to illustrate one or more general technical orsocial concepts, as well as to provide examples of experientiallearning. Different concepts have been selected for each of thevarious fields so as to maximize the number of concepts coveredin this brief report. Accordingly, this limited survey Jf somecurrent technologies and appropriate concepts should be viewedonly as a guide to future technology education; in the developmentof a full curriculum, this process would have to be greatlyextended.

MATERIALS

The material world is dependent on resources, both rawmaterials and the energy to convert them into products. Aconvenient way to represent this process is as a materials cycle.The earth is the source of raw materials in the form of ores,organic materials or biomaterials, air, and water. This is thecycle for a typical metal: Iron ore is made into metal and thenupgraded to intermediate workinri fabncable materialssay,steel I-beams. The beams are then used in products, such asbuildings and bridges. After use and eventual degradation, theproducts are returned to the earth as waste or are recycled.Descriptions of how various materials move through such cyclesare a rich source of information about technologies cf processesand products, and those descriptions can be elaborated to includethe economics and politics et production of raw and convertedmaterials, since these often critically affer-t decisions about theavailability and use of resources.

Materials Tc chnology

The use and processing of materials are very dynamic andare intimately tied to technology. Changes are rapid and greatlyaffect the econotilic system. There is evidence, for example, thatthe use of traditional materials such as steel, aluminum, cement,and paper is declining in the United States (cis measured peicapita and per dollar of gross national product). In some cdses,other materials have been substituted, such as plastic for siee'

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in automobiles As the overall national output of products becomesincreasingly advanced technologically, fewer traditional mate-rials are used, for example, little steel is now used in makingtelevision sets Further, production of basic materials from theearly stages of processing is moving overseas, while S. ma-terials producers are moving more toward the manufacture ofspecialty goods and the production of new advanced materials(for instance, some producers of bulk chemicals are now turningto the manufacture of advanced ceramics). Materials conversionprocesses and further upgrading to value-addeU products areclosely tied to the markets for these products and the competitiveposition of the industries producing them.

Materials respond according to how they are used, and eachone can be thought of as having a "personality" with character-istics in part intrinsic and in part deriving from how it is made.Knowledge of materials processing is therefore important tounderstanding both the properties and uses of materials.

The properties of materials are fundamental to their uses.Properties are related to the elements and compounds that makeup the materials, to their physical structures (atomic, micro,macro), and to how the materials are made and used. Foreveryday life us well as for scientific application, it is importantthat people have knowledge of certain properties of materialsand we concepts associated with them Examples include duc-tility, brittleness, transparency, degradation caused by corrosionor by mechanical fatigue, and conduction of and insulationaaainst heat and electricity.

In the future, materials will be lighter, stronger, and moredurable, resulting from control of composition and microstructure,and from the invention of composites made of several materialsSpecial demands on properties may include "smart surfaces"(electronically or biologically active), survival in extreme condi-tions (for instance, in space stations), and use in the human body(biornriterials for organ replacement).

Suggested Experiences for Students

Traditional industrial arts proc-- ns are named alter materials(such as wood or metals) or their rzocessing (such as foundry orwelding) Students should have ,ome ongoing experience withmaking artifacts of wood and metal during their school years, aswell as with other traditional hands-on activities such as typing(currently, keyboarding or data entry), cooking, and sewing. Buthands-on practice with regard to materials should be extendedto include some of the advanced materials used in electronics,composite materials, and biomatencls. A central focus for theseexperiences should be determining properties, first qualitatively(in the fifth grade, for example, making structures of soda strawsor toothpicks to show compressive or tensile strength) and laterquantitatively (in high school, for example, using testing equip-ment to make numerical measurements of the strength of variousmaterials).

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ENERGY

A simple but profound tluism is that "the energy available topeople limits what they can do and influences what they willdo The growth of human enterprises and their associatedtechnologies is closely tied to the amount and kind of energyavailable The industrial ago required the opening and exploi-tation of enormous coal resources The modern motor vehicletransportation system is dependent on the availability of liquidfuel that has a very high energy-tc-volume ratio, hence the needfor oil. The information age is possible not only because ofadvanced electronics but also because of a reliable supply ofelectric current.

The student's awareness of energy as being fundamental tolife and work is basic to technology education. The need forfoodbe it that of a microbe, a plant, or a personis the needfor the energy to actwhich is no less than a working dieselengine's need for fuel oil or a computer chip's need for flowirgelectrons.

Energy Sources

For the world's people, the major source of energy at presentis a finite resource of economically recoverable fossil fuels thateffectively will be depleted in the foreseeable future. Differencesof opinion exist as to the appropriate and ethical uses of thisresource, but the actual uses are governed by the need to fuelour modern technological world.

The development and use of alternative energy sources poseproblems Nuclear power has unresolved waste-disposal diffi-culties, public fear of anything radioactive, and still uncertaintechnology and economics. Solar energy has a fundamentalproblem of low net energy yield, which is a consequence of therelatively weak energy flux of available sunlight. Such problemsas these need to be understood by all citizens so that reasonableapproaches can be taken toward managing the long-term energysituation. For example, the so-called energy crisis of the early1970s was substantially moderated by the application of conseivation measures Nevertheless, more efficient use of energyproduced in existing systems and the search for alternativesremain as major sociotechnical problems

Suggested Experiences for Students

The principles of energy and its use should be taught in sciencecourses, but their application must be thoroughly experiences ordemonstrated in technology activities in elementary and secondary school Concepts of work, kinetic and potential energy,storage of energy, and thermodynamics and entropy, amongothers, should be accompanied by purposeful experiences. Forexample, in the early grades, water wheels, w dmills, andsimple solar heaters can be built or demonstrated. Conservationof heat can be shown with insulation experimentsheat flow) and with reduction of convection (use of barriers or avacuum). Combustion of fossil fuels can be studied in chemistry

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courses, andwith the aid of video and computer simulationsthe use of such fuels to produce electric power or heat can bedemon: -ated.

MANUFACTURING

Technology is viewed not only as the enabling ingredient ofmanufacturing but as a catalyst or promoter of change in theproduction of goods and services. The life spans of products,jobs, and even industries are shortened by the rapid evolutionof technology, requiring continuing education or training of bothworkers and consumers. This puts a premium on human flexibil-itythat is, on people who can quickly learn new skills, adaptto new programs, and interact with new coworkers. Similarly,businesses must be able to respond to rapidly changing markets.

The Role of Technology

Manufacturing is a primary wealth-generating activity. Nationsneed a balanced overall production of goods and services,coupled with trade across regional and national boundaries.Manufacturing is a field in great ferment. Technology is vital tothe United States' being able to remain competitive both intra-and internationally. Much business and many jobs are movingoverseas. The nature of work is changing. Thus, it is essentialthat a framework as described in Section 1 be used to guidemanufacturing strategy as a subset of industrial strategies andnational actions. There are many limits to those actions includingthe inertia and the long time horizons that must be consideredin the making of changes in large systems.

Advanced manufacturing can be expected to incorporate so-phisticated electronic and computer technologies. Technologiesnow under development include robotics, automation, sensingwith feedback and feedforward for process control, andulti-matelyfull computer-integrated manufacturing. Although thetechnologists must know the details of these advances to maintainU.S. industry in the mainstream of the advanced world oftomorrow, all citizens should )- 'ye a general understanding ofthe process so that they can provide the necessary societalsupport for the nation's industrial base.

In most cases, direct labor in advanced manufacturing will bereduced as much as 50 to 90 percent as computer-integratedproduction is implemented. However, indirect manufacturingemployment such as process engineering, general office work,information processing, quality control, and maintenance willincrease in proportion to direct labor and will open up manynew opportunities.

The service sector of the economy is growing at a faster ratethan manufacturing. Here, too, there is increasing use of ad-vanced technology in the form of electronic instruments, com-puters and other kinds of information-processing equipment, andcommunication networks. The skills required for such future jobswill have much in common with those in manufacturing.

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In both the manufacturing and service sectors, technology is alever that can increase the economic value of people and maintainthe viability of their continued employment. Because productsand services will evolve rapidly, people will be expected to havethe positive attitude, interest, and flexibility necessary to learnskills for many new jobs over a lifetime.

A general understanding of how reliability relates to complexityis important as the working details of systems develop beyondthe comprehension of a single mind. Nowhere is this fact moresignificant than in the manufacturing and distribution of goodsWhether this situation obtains for a single workstation or for anentire plant, people with a holistic understanding of the processare essential in such activities.

Suggested Experiences for Students

Education has a unique opportunity to develop a variety ofexperiences for students in this field, ranging from the use ofsimple tools to building and programming robots to developingmanufacturing systems that make simple products. Elementarystudy of manufacturing furnishes students with the opportunityto learn the basic concepts of processing, systems, and industrialorganization.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD

Agriculture, food production, and food distribution are funda-mental to human life in that food is the principal biological sourceof energy for the human species. Before the impact of modemtechnology began to be felt in the nineteenth century, more than75 percent of the U.S. labor force was engaged in farming orfarm-related jobs. Now, less than 3 percent of the labor forcefeeds the nation, and even that percentage is decreasing. For-merly, increases in agricultural production resulted from openingup new lands; now, increased production derives from technologyin the form of improved machines, chemicals, and biotechnology.

Technology, Agriculture, and Economics

Agriculture provides an excellent historical example of the linkbetween economics and technology. In the labor-short UnitedStates that existed between 1880 and 1980, tractors and machinesrepresented the dominant agricultural technologywhereas inland-short Japan, crop yields were increased by means of bio-logical and chemical technologies and new crop varieties Ag-riculture is sensitive to market demand and conditioned bypolitics. The use of new technology is thus subject to socialconstraints. Government supports or restrictions have had amajor influence on the use of technology in agriculture.

Continuing improvements in agriculture will come with larger,more efficient machinery, safer herbicides and insecticides (con-trol), and fertilizers. The development of new strains and hybridsof plants has revolutionized agriculture, but genetic engineeringadds a new dimension. It may become possible to accelerate the

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development of new strains of improved plants and animals orto develop plants that produce their own nitrogen for self-fertilization or develop their own protection against insects.

Likewise, aquiculture and commercial fishing have felt theimpact of modern technologies. Biotechnology, radar, satelliteimaging, and modern fishing vessels, for example, have allincreased the production of food from the sea.

Food production and distribution in forms suitable for con-sumers involve still other technologies Purity, cleanliness, andsafety are of paramount importance. Additives, for example,keep foods fresh and make them more attractive. Many processingtechniques are used to make foods in different forms (for example,corn slurry is toasted to make cornflakes), and many differentfoods are canned or frozen.

Packaging has been a rapidly growing technology of greatimportance to the food industry. Although packages serve to keepfood free of damage and safe to use, they also provide contrenientand attractive containers. The package must not contaminate thefood with chemicals that may be in the plastic films, metals, orpaper of which it is made; nor should the package present adisposal problem.

Nutrition also has technology components. For example, atone time the processing of food to preserve it destroyed or reducedsome of the food's vitamin content, as well as other qualities andthe food's visual appeal Technology has since been developedto maintain the nutritional value of foods through appropriatecooking, processing, packaging, and use of additives.

The consumption of food from local sources has decreased asthe development of transportation, refrigeration, and chemicalpreservation technologies has led to national and internationaldistribution.

The use of chemicals in the production, packaging, and distri-bution of food has considerable benefit, but it may also presentsome risk. Traces of elements or compounds in food, for example,increase in significance as biomedical evidence accumulates onthe risk that such substances will cause illnesses such as cancer.It becomes important to develop instruments and techniques foifinding and measuring minute quantities of these substances andtheir effects. Usually, to draw reasonable and useful conclusions,many experiments must be run and statistical analysis must beused to find or develop the desired information from large amountsof data.

Suggested Experiences for Students

Curricula should emphasize the techniques of aanculturaltecl. including advanced biotechnology as it becomesavailable at the elementary and secondary school level. Studentsshould be involved in experiments with plants, animals, insects,fungi, molds, and other life forms They should also have directexperience with the effects of fertilizers, animal nutrition, plantphysiology, and ecology The implications of the laboratory resultsshould be discussed in concurrent social studies classes to

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continue the learning process Many schools have laboratoryfacilities for food preparation. Those activities should be encour-aged, and extended to include experiments related to nutritionand to home, industrial, and commercial food pr000ssing andpackaging.

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Biotechnology is one of the oldest technologies practiced byhumans. For example, the fermentation of fruits and j rains tomake alcoholic beverages and the use of natural enzymes formaking cheese are believed to be of prehistoric origin. Modernbiotechnology has its roots in the work of nineteenth-centuryscientists, including Darwin and Mendel, and is growing out ofthe remarkable advances of bioscience in this century. Theevolution of medicine has followed a similar path over the sameperiods of time. Knowledge of medicinal plants and their use,an ancient art, is still common in most contemporary societies,but modern health care includes the use of so-called miracledrugs and complex diagnostic machines.

Modern medical technology developed alongside discoveriesin physics and chemistry, especially from the time of Leonardoda Vinci and Vesalius in 1543. Vaccination was invented byEdward Jenner in 1795. Life processes came to be understood aschemical processes with the synthesis of urea in 1828 It was withsuch findings that molecular biology was born. Starting in 1859,Charles Darwin outlined the main mechanisms of biologicalchange. Modern genetics is rooted in the rediscovery, in 1900, ofGregor Mendel's laws of segregation. Molecular biology madea major stride forward with the discovery that heredity is codedin the DNA molecule, and with the breaking of that code in theearly 1960s. The ability to splice genes came in the early 1970sWith such very recent techniques, enormous advances in med-icine and biotechnology lie ahead. Developments in public healthand agriculture had already started to have profound effects onhuman population growth by the nineteenth century, and sub-sequent progress has continued to alter the face of the planet,human life-styles, and geopolitics

In addition to knowing this background, the high school grad-uate should have at least a conceptual knowledge of the moleculesof life and how the proteins of which living matter is made areconstructed of amino acids according to a transferable codepreserved on molecules of DNA. Such knowledge is needed tounderstand the modern technologies used to build products andprocesses based on molecular biology.

One of these technologies, that of recombinant DNA, wasdeveloped by using means for tampering with the code. By theinsertion of a spec ic gene into the DNA of certain bacteria, thebacteria can be made to produce enzymes or drugs of commercialvalue (such as insulin) Another technology is the cloning ofantibodies useful in making vaccines (monoclonal antibodies) byusing living cells (certain cancer cells) to cause their production.An initial step has already been taken to alter genes in humansomatic cells, potentially a treatment for those who have certaingenetic disorders. New and safer vaccines are being developed,

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and a synthetic growth hormone is under test. These develop-ments extend beyond such immediate biological or medicalapplications, for exc mple, uses of biotechnology are now occur-ring in agriculture, the production of chemicals, the synthesizingof fuels, mining, food processing, and pollution control. The listof applications is already long, and -ome of them are contro-versial. And yet the possibilities loom more exciting than theproblems.

New materials can be used in making durable replacementsfor body parts and durable implanted devices for cardiac controland for physiological monitoring and control. New equipmentand procedures are opening frontiers in research diagnosticsand treatment. Such advances may extend human life, make itpossible for parents to choose their baby's sex (thereby possiblyskewing sex ratios in the population), detectgenetic diseases andmalformation in utero, and improve the general quality of life.

New technologies often raise ethical and economic issues.Advances involving organ replacements and other costly treat-ments, for example, have led to the need to make difficult andsometimes contra rersial choices about who should be selectedto benefit and who should pay. There is also ongoing publicdebate over such issues as the use of drugs to perform abortionand the use of various advanced medical techniques to keepbrain-dead people alive. Further, there are many questions thatat this time have no certain answers, not even controversial ones;these include the consequences of tampering with the humangene line or the release of genetically engineered organisms intothe environment to benefit agriculture.

Biotechnology has a direct al.- personal impact on human lifeand health. It is particularly important that young adults beaware of the activities in this field, which is now more than everalive with new works and discoveries and is very likely poisedto revolutionize their lives.

Suggested Experiences for Students

Experiential learning should be associated with biology pro-grams, including experiments with plants and animals and evenwith mutating genes. After learning simple concepts, a studentcan now actually do these kinds of experiments. Mutating a genein a high school laboratory serves t) demystify the process. Inaddition, building and working with biological molecular models(physical and on the computer) can help students develop asound understanding of the concepts of molecular templates,bonding, and energy transfer, which are essential aspects ofbiochemistry and technology. In addition, taking students onvisits to health care facilities, as well as bringing outside expertsinto the classroom, can help familiarize students with equipmentand techniques and with the latest technologies and the relatedsocial issues

ENVIRONMENT (ATMOSPHERE)

The atmosphere oi the planet is vital to lite It is in chemicalequilibrium with the lithosphere and the biosphere, depen(Lng

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on oceans, winds, rocks, and plants but modified by the activitiesof humans. The oxygen in the atmosphere is required for com-bustion of hydrocarbon fuels. The atmosphere is a sink for thecombusted fuels, dumped as smoke and emissions. Control ofthe emissions involves technologies and includes the use of bothsocial and technical fixes.

One example of a social fix is the limitation placed on the totalnoxious emissions allowable for a geographical area. This limi-tation may take the form of forbidding additional manufacturingplants to be built in that area. Another example of a social fix isthe passing of laws to prevent the use of chlorofluorocarbonswhere they might subsequently contaminate the atmosphere. Itis believed that in the stratosphere, these chemicals deplete theozone that shields us from the sun's ultraviolet radiation.

An example of a technical fix is the use of catalytic converteison automobile exhaust systems to oxidize hydrocarbons andcarbon monoxide and thereby minimize smog. Another is theuse of scrubbers on coal-burning electric power plants to removeoxides of sulfur that are in the smoke and that may later produceacid rain in the atmosphere. For some atmosphere-related en-vironmental problems, there may not be a technical solution, oreven an interim fix. For instance, there is no such solution forthe release of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Althoughthis gas is not harmful (in fact, it is vital to life), the huge amountsreleasedfrom burning the bulk of the earth's fossil fuel storesover a few hundred yearsmay overwhelm the earth's longer-term processes to absorb it and the excess gas may prevent theradiation of heat from the earth into space. This, likened to agreenhouse effect, may adversely warm the earth.

Suggested Experiences for Students

Experiments with the use of paper and fiber filters to removeparticulates from various kinds of smoke can demonstrate thephysical removal of undesired emissions. Students can designand construct devices and systems to do this. The collectedn aerial can be characterized microscopically. Chemical meansof removal can be demonstrated by using lime to react withsulfur oxide gases, again in student-made systems. Field trips tolocal incinerators or power plants can add much to such exper-iential learning.

COMMUNICATIONS

Communications involves the representation of information, ameans of transmitting and receiving it, and some assurance offidelity between what is sent and what is received. Innovationsin communications technology have transformed almost all tech-nical and social systems, and inevitably they have come undersome social control.

The electron has been the basic workhorse of communicationstechnology. Interestingly, in the 1990s, we will be commemoratingthe first century of the electron, discovered by Ernest Rutherfordin 1897. Back then, the telegraph and the telephone, inventeddecades before the electron was known, were already pioneering

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an age of real-time long-distance communications with infor-mation sent over wires Since that time, communications hasbeen revolutionized by the development of many kinds of equip-ment, systems, and networks. Continuous technological changeis a special attribute of communications technology. Commercialradio, for example, evolved from the use of crystal diodes in the1920s to vacuum ti_i}-,es through the 1950s to transistors and thento integrated circuits in the 1960s and 1970s. During the same sixdecades, signals have been transmitted by wire, radio wave,microwave. (surface and satellite), and now light waves (usingfiber optics), with the capacity of the transmission systems forinformation flow (bandwidth) being increased more than a mil-lionfold. Communications has been extended from local to globalto the outer reaches of the solar system. It is the basis for theoften-cited world move to an information economy.

Information flows on a carrier, and so communicationsinanother sense can be thought of as transportation of informationLike other flowing entities, it can be among other conditioningactionsconnected, switched, modulated, or processed. Infor-mation can be cooed in either analog or digital form. Speechand writing involve continuously variable modulation of themedium. At first, both wired and wireless electric communicationwas only in on-and-off bursts, requiring a special (binary) code.It was the invention of electronicsdevices to transform soundand light signals into electrical signals, and vice versaand ofdevices to amplify electrical signals that made possible thetransmission of analog signals that represented subtle variationsin sound or light and the transcribing of those signals as contin-uous variations in disk grooves or magnetization of tape.

The ability to transcribe information microscopically and totransmit information at very high rates has made it possible toreturn to the reliability of on-and-off digital signals. Analog signalscan now be sampled and represented as numbers, stored ortransmitted in that form, and conveniently processed by com-puters. Telecommunications networks are moving toward use ofthe binary format, encoding and transmitting information indigital form for more expedient and preciseuse of communicationstechnology. There is a converting step at both sending andreceiving ends that makes it possible to have the information inhuman-comprehendible form

The market demand or need in telecommunications is rapidlychanging from voice to data transmission, including hybrid voice/data transmissions. This shift is being accompanied by a changein the business definition of communicationsfrom the current"information movement and management" to a mode that reflectsthe ongoing processes. For example, telecommunications signalsfrom space probes are processed by computers for managementand control by other computers. In addition, images of planetsmay be viewed directly, but "management" (enhancement) re-veals much more informationand even more when still furtherprocessed in the brain of the beholder

Internal communication networks or systems may link onlyoffices in private organizations In such office systems, the linksmay go to computers, facsimile (or "fax") machines, file stores,data banks, electronic mail units, and the usual telephones.

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These units, of course, may also be linked to external networksor systems. A new field of expertise is developing around theflow and management of information, independent of the elec-tronic technologies that enable them to work. New ideas havearisen as a result of people's looking at communications thiswayfor example, efficiency of flow and processing Ways toeliminate "telephone tag," such as electronic "store and forward"and portable communications equipment, make telephoningmore efficient. Meanwhile, the unit cost of communicating onebit of information continues to drop.

The effects on society of the rapid changes in communicationsare likely to be profound. Certainly, there is already an increasein jobs related to handling information. In a negative sense,privacy problems will also arise, as will other problems associatedwith misuse Unfounded credibility or confidence may be givento machine-generated-and-transmitted information, just as unduevalue has been associated with anything that is printed. Butthere is a much more positive outcome. Telecommunications linksamong people around the world can lead to attitude changesand better understanding through personal and firsthand con-tacts. Education itself has an enormous opportunity to use thebenefits of advanced communications. Networks can bring in thebest of people and materials from across the nation and can linkclassrooms with all kinds of data banks, supercomputers, andinformation-gathering equipment

Communications media are often subject to government con-trol. In the United States, only broadcast transmission media arelicensed and supervised by government. Although there is vir-tually no limit to the number of printed newspapers, magazines,books, and pamphlets that people can use to communicate, thereis a limit to the number of stations that can operate in one areawithout interfering with one another. For both of these reasons,radio and television transmission power, frequency, and directionare assigned by the federal government. There is much com-petition for use of the broadcast spectrum by public and com-mercial stations, emergency agencies, the military, and privatecompanies and citizens.

To participate fully in the information age, young adults shouldunderstand--at least conceptuallythe technologies that arebehind modern communications Furthei, they should be awareof the ideas, risks, and benefits of information management thatare made possible by advancing communications technology.

Suggested Experiences for Students

Students can make simple devices that are used in communications, from historical gadgets (such as a carbon microphoneor a .,ample telegraph) to modern electronic circuits, and theycan then use them in elementary networks of their own design.Students should be encouraged to undertake imaginative proj-ects, such as inventing ways of communicating with people inremote lands or searching for information from outer spaco thatmight reveal life there

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ELECTRONICS

The late nineteenth century was a fertile period for the use ofthe electronas electricity. Electricity brought to society lights,motors and generators, the production of aluminum, and manyother developments. Modern electronics, however, can do thingsthat were not possible in those times. For instance electronicsmakes possible such equipment as television sets, high-fidelityphonographs, radar equipment, and computers.

Electronics Technology

The history of electronics began less than 100 years ago. Thegas discharge tube, the first electronic device, was invented inthe late nineteenth century. Experiments with the gas dischargetube led to the discovery of the vacuum tube for radios. Sincethat time, electronics has gone through three major stages ofdevelopment. In the first stage, vacuum tubes ruled the world ofelectronics. The second stage, which began in the 1950s, sawthe first commercial use of transistors and other solid-state drives,and by the 1960s solid-state devices had largely replaced vacuumtubes. Electronics had already entered its third stage in the early1960s with the invention of integrated circuits. With the integratedcircuitcommonly called a microchip or chipcame microelec-tronics, a set of new technologies that made it possible to produceeven smaller active and passive circuit elements. Today, moreand more electronic products use integrated circuits to performvarious electronic functions.

An integrated circuit with a million functional elements on achip is now pr Djected,, tl-is expanding still further the applicationsin information processing. The elements per chip and the speedof computation have increased by several orders of magnitudesince chips were invented, but both now approach physicallimits, thereby providing an incentive to develop new approaches

Design of microelectronic circuits has become extremely com-plex, requiring computers to lay out the most efficient use ofcircuit pathways or interconnections. As a result of this designtechnology, the power of these devices is multiplied manyfoldover what had been thought possible using earlier circuitrytechnology.

Even so, complex microelectronic products will be producedat a lower cost. Many of the advanced new products will not bepurely electronic Rather, they will involve diverse technologiesfrom other fields for example, functions will be served by themanipulation of light (photonics) or by biological units (calledbiochips). It is possible that the calculator will be the last "pure"electronic device we will see.

Suggested Experiences for Students

Students in the elementary grades should have an opportunityto build simple circuits that do something, such as controllingmotion or amplifying sound. Later, students can learn more ofthe act iial electronics, such as what the transistor does. Designing

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new circuits and learning how to process semiconductor devicesare potential experiments for students at the senior high schoollevels. Such activities should be coordinated with learning aboutthe physics and chemistry of electronic materials and about thelogic, interface design, and systems that are a vital part ofelectronics.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

The modern general-purpose computer system is one of themost versatile and complex creations of humankind Its versatilityfollows from its applicability to a very wide range of problems,limited only by human ability to give definite directions for solv-ing a problem. In only a few hours, a modern large computercan do more data processing than was done previously by allhumankind before the electronic age (that is, before the mid-1940s). It is little wonder that this tremendous amplification ofhuman information-processing capability is precipitating a rev-olution in information handling.

Working in the mid-nineteenth century, Charles Babbage wasthe first person to conceive of the essence of the general-purposecomputer. He became convinced that error-free tables could beproduced only by a machine that would accept a description ofthe computation by a human being, and that once set up, themachine would compute the tables and print the,mall withouthuman intervention.

The first third of the twentieth century saw the gradual devel-opment and use of many calculating devices. A highly significantcontribution was made by the mathematician Alan Turing in1937, when he published a clear and profound theory of thenature of a general-purposo computing scheme. The stimulus ofWorld War II led to the development of many prototype computersin the 1940s, followed in 1951 by the UNIVAC I, the first of t'-,e,mass-produced computers.

Five Generations of Computers

The term "first-generation equipment" is associated with theuse of vacuum tubes as the major component of logic circuitry,but such equipment included a large variety of memory devicessuch as mercury delay lines, storage tubes, magnetic surfacedrums, and magnetic cores In second-generation equipment,transistors replaced vacuum tubes, making possible the wide-spread installation and use of general-purpose computers Thethird and fourth generations of computer technology (from about1964 to 1970) saw increasing use of integrated fabrication tech-niques, from discrete components to highly integrated circuits.The 1980s ushered in the research for the fifth-generation com-puters designed to optimize artificial-intelligence processing thatwill appear in the 1990s. The advancement of computer technol-ogy has been achieved on two fronts. development of computersas tools to help humans do things, and development of computersas complex artifacts for hamans to master and understand (asituation analogous to the dual development of applied and puremathematics).

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Modern computers are indeed powerful, and are growingexplosivelywith ever faster machines, advanced architecture,improved processing, and new languages and software. Theycan aid in designing molecules by using empirical quantummechanical methods and chemical data, in analyzing complexpatterns, in synthesizing moving graphics, and in doing otherjobs requiring enormous calculating capability and memory.

Extensive use of computers as the "intelligence" in systems willrequire that users be able, at a minimum, to maintain andunderstand computing machines. Users will need to learn toexternalize their knowledge and activities as algorithms, or piecesof knowledge that can be coded and represented in computerprograms Mathematics and experimentation are vital compo-nents of this process.

Some degree of computer literacy thus will be required of alladults as computers become a part of daily life. At a minimum,this literacy will include the ability to use the computer for wordprocessing and as a tool for problem solving. Additionally, adultsshould have the ability to write simple programs as a basis fororganizing their thoughts in interacting and experimenting withcomputers. They should develop drawing skillsboth freehandand on the computerthat will aid them in thinking in two andthree dimensions. Such skills can add to people's ability tounderstand things through graphic displays and can expandtheir access to information through the use of interactive networks.

In many instances, solutions to problems will be so complexthat problem solving will require people to work cooperativelyand interactively in tear..s, and that such people also will haveto have good verbal and written communication skills. In thedecades to come, computers will be used by nearly everyone. Itis possible that they could become one of the most powerfulmeans of creative expression and communication ever known

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (Al) is generally considered to be theability of a computer system to perform tasks that simulate tosome degree such human intelligence-based capabilities asreasoning, learning, and decision making.

Early in the evolution of artificial intelligence, the two mostimportant forces were mathematical logic and new ideas aboutcomputation. Computers originally served the purpose of com-putation and data handling, but it soon became interesting toask whether they might play chess, prove theorems, or translatelanguagesall of which they did, but not very well Learningabout human thinking processes and intelhaence is the focus ofcurrent efforts in this held

Applications of Artificial Intelligence

Nevertheless, there are already useful applications of al tificialintelligence, such as for very specific- rn,:,,ciical diagnosis, in whi:hso-called eN:pert systems use brunching questions to arrive at a

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diagnosis. Programs are written jointly by medical experts (whoprovide the content) and computer programmers. Thus computerscan be made to appear to diagnose diseases. Artificial intelligencetechniques have also been used in exploring for oil and minerals.Another application is simple speech recognition, and still anotheris the use of vision systems to recognize objects on a manufacturingline. All of these are elementary applications, which in no wayshould be represented as computers actually "thinking."

More complex programs are under development for speechrecognition and image "understanding." Language translationassistance is already available. Beyond that, but far from achieved,are advanced learning, and planning and reasoning- but again,not "thinking" in the human sense.

In the future, adults who use artificial intelligence techniqueswill need to learn how to communicate so a computer canunderstand them, how to use a keyboard, how to constructgrammatical sentences, how to ask questions, and how to interactefficiently with the computer

Suggested Experiences for Students

Practical experience with computers should begin very earlyin a student's school years. Students should use the computer foreducational purposes and games, and as a means of visualizingproblems and solutions. At a minimum, learning to write ele-mentary programs would help the student to understand howthe computer functions. The hardware and softwar in this fieldare advancing very rapidly. Students can expect to encounterremarkable changes during their school years, and educatorsthemselves will have to make special efforts to keep their knowl-edge up to date.

TRANSPORTATION

The movement of goods or people from place to place is amajor activitti of humans. The medium for movement may beland, water, air, or outer space. Energy and usually vehicles arer?quired for the activity. Various pathwaysroadways, water-ways, and airwaysare used.

Earth Systems

Prehistoric humans moved themselves and their lads bywalking along pathways, and probably by using streams to floatrafts carrying goods, as elementary transportation methods. Theinvention of the wheel and the sail allowed significant advancesto be made and created the need for more elaborate pathwaysand means of navigation. The movement of the stars in theheavens not only stirred the ideas of timekeeping but wasimportant as a means of guiding early transport (just as it istoday). A host of technologies subsequently led to modern trans-portation. These technologies included cartography, road build-ing, and the use of strong but light materials and structures, thecompass, and engines.

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The concept of controlling and guiding vehicles is of greatimportance to safe and efficient transportation. Applications ofthis concept range from very simple mechanical devices such asguideways on a conveyor system to the very complex computer-assisted control of aircraft.

Energy use in transportation systems has grown increasinglyimportant, and it has been related to the availability and costsof fuels. The efficiency of a vehicle is related to its speed (goingfaster costs energy) and to its weight/power ratio, its design, thekind of propulsion system, and other featureshence the devel-opment of modern technologies t -) make lightweight, streamlinedvehicles with efficient engines.

Transportation, like communications, has transformed the worldin the past century, thereby "bringing the world closer together."Foodstuffs moved in refrigerated vehicles release consumers fromdependence on local supplies. Multinational business relies onthe giant network of low-cost, intermodal rapid transportation.

Suggested Experiences for Students

Transportation technology allows students to design and testnetworks, including control systems. Students can do that bydeveloping rail or road projects using toy or model vehicles.Limitations on speed, loads, and efficiency can all be revealedin simple experiments conducted as part of those projects.

SPACE

Few things have caught the imagination of the public, world-wide, as humankind's venture into space has. Based on atechnology developed for missiles in World War II, space activitiesrange from military uses to experimental manufacturing in theabsence of gravity to exploration. Activities in space are expectedto be a national priority for the United States for the indefinitefuture Long-range plans call for a space station nexta programfar larger than the Apollo mission to explore the moon. Stillfuither in the future are projects for colonizing the moon andMars. Such expensive projects (in terms of both donuts andenergy) will require unprecedented public support, since theywill be competing with many other national goals. If they arechosen to be carried through, the public will have still otherissues to resolve, such as deciding who the colonists will be.

Space technology involves strong but lightweight materialsand deigns that can accommodate extreme conditions of stress,vibration, heat and cold, corrosion, andin spaceerosion byions and micrometeors. Activities in space require unique andreliable energy sources. Solar and nuclear energy are likelycandida:ec New challenges face the space technologist, such asthose involved in maintaining a human environment in a vacuum.Still largely unknown are the long-term health effects of zerogravity. Health care in space ships on long journeys may beimpossib:e in some cases The risks will certainly be enormous,and the 'awards remain unknowable for now.

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Suggested Experiences for Students

Design of a space station with complete life-support functionsmakes an excellent learning project. It requires considerableimagination and forces students to search for advanced technol-ogies in many fields. The analysis of space projects by studentscan lead them to consider social values or needs as comparedwith other needs that technology might serve, such as developinga cure for cancer.

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APPENDIX

TECHNOLOGYTANEL CONSULTANTS

Laszlo A. Be lady Vice President and Program Director,Software Technology Program, Microelectronics and ComputerTechnology Corporation (Austin, Texas)

M. James Bensen Dean, School of Industry and Technology,University of Wisconsin-Stout

Mario Bognanno Professor of Industrial Relations, Universityof Minnesota at Minneapolis

John Borchert Regents Professor of Geography, University ofMinnesota at Minneapolis

Alfred B. Bortz Assistant Director, Magnetics TechnologyCenter, Carnegie Mellon University

Kris K. Burhardt Vice President of Research and Developmentfor the Information and Imaging Technologies Center,3M Company

Elof Carlson Distinguished Teaching Professor ofBiochemistry, State University of New York at Stony BrookJohn Entorf Associate Dean of the School of Industry andTechnology, University of Wisconsin-Stout

Robert M. Hexter Professor of Chemistry, University ofMinnesota at Minneapolis

William F. Kaemmerer Fellow, Honeywell, Inc.Jack Kilby Retired Senior Engineer, Texas InstrumentsRobert Kudrle Professor of Public Relations, University ofMinnesota at Minneapolis

Edwin Layton Professor of History of Science and Technology,University of Minnesota at Minneapolis

Douglas McCormick Editor in Chief, Bio/TechnologyMy lon Eugene Merchant Director of Advanced ManufacturingResearch, Metcut Research Associates, Inc (Cincinnati, Ohio)Jay Morgan Director of Research and Development,Pillsbury Company

Vernon W. Ruttan Regents Professor of Agricultural andApplied Economics, University of Minnesota at St. PaulJohn Sadowski Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering,Purdue University

Roger Staehle Consultant and Adjunct Professor of ChemicalEngineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesotaat Minneapolis

Sister Mary Thompson Chairperson of the ChemistryDepartment, College of St. Catherine

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Paul Weiblen Professor of Geology, University of Minnesotaat Minneapolis

Wendell Williams Professor and Chairman, MaterialsScience and Engineering Department, Case WesternReserve University

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NOTICEThis is one of five nanel reports that have been prepared as part

of the first phase of Project 2061, a long-ter m, multiphase under-taking of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciencedesigned to help reform science, mathematics, and technologyeducation in the United States

The five panel reports are

Biological and Health Sciences Report of the Project 2061Phase I Biological and Health Sciences Panel, by Mary Clark

Mathematics: Report of the Project 2061 Phase I MathematicsPanel, by David Blackwell and Leon Henkin

Physical and Information Sciences and Engineering Reportof the Project 2061 Phase I Physical and Information Sciencesand Engineering Panel, by George Buglrarello

Social and Behavioral Sciences Report of the Project 2061Phase I Social and Behavioral Sciences Panel, by MortimerAppley and Winifred B Maher

Technology Report of the Project 2061 Phase l TechnologyPanel, by James R Johnson

In addition, there is an overview report, entitled Science for AllAmericans, which has been prepared by the AAAS Project 2061staff in consultation with the National Council on Science andTechnology Education.

For information on ordering all six reports, please contact Pr, )lect2061, the American Association for the Advancement of Sci:nce1333 H Street NW, Washington, D C 20005

,1iZ


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