Education Commons^™

The Status Of Ethics In Technology Education, Philip A. Reed, Susan Presley, Angela Hughes, Diane Irwin Stephens, Roger B. Hill (Ed.)

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Ethics is not a new concept within technology education. The inclusion of ethics evolved naturally from the progression of technological activity in the latter part of the twentieth century. During this shift to a postindustrial society, people started to look at technology from a more humanistic view than they previously had. To keep pace with these changes, a "new ethic" was suggested to help advance technological literacy by highlighting the relationship between humans, the environment, and technology (DeVore, 1980, 1991).

How far have we come? This chapter reviews the current state of ethics within technology education. In the first two …

Geospatial Technology, Philip Reed, John Ritz

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Geospatial technology refers to a system that is used to acquire, store, analyze, and output data in two or three dimensions. This data is referenced to the earth by some type of coordinate system, such as a map projection. Geospatial systems include thematic mapping, the Global Positioning System, remote sensing, telemetry, and Geographic Information Systems. The science of mapmaking, cartography, has been around for centuries, and no one is sure of its true beginnings. Each of the above subsystems are elaborate fields unto themselves, however, researchers are linking them together to better understand the world in which we live. Learning …

Creation Of A Faculty Task List For Teaching In A Televised Distance Learning Environment, John E. Turner, Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to develop a task list from which a self-check readiness evaluation tool could be developed to assist faculty who were unfamiliar with televised distance instruction. The study's results should provide guidance to new faculty in identifying both self-directed and assisted staff development activities in preparation for implementing distance education. A survey of experienced distance learning faculty at a major eastern university was utilized for data collection. Initial survey items came from distance learning literature, as well as interviews and feedback from six faculty members experienced in televised instruction. At the request of the researchers, …

Does Baldrige Make A Business Case For Quality?, Mark L. Dean, Cynthia L. Tomovic

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) is a widely accepted model promoting quality management as a means to business success. However, because business results are themselves part of the model, the contribution of the approach-deployment elements to results cannot be determined. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) maintains a history of Baldrige applications and the results of their evaluations. Statistical analysis of these data could yield insight into whether the approach-deployment advocated by the Baldrige model actually produces excellent results. Although NIST does not currently allow access to the data, future empirical evaluation of the data could …

A Paradigm Shift: Biomimicry. (Cover Story), Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Biomimicry is a new way of linking the human-made world to the natural world. Biomimicry is already having a tremendous impact on the way we design technological products and systems as of December 2003. The word biomimicry comes from Greek words bios and mimesis. In short, biomimics imitate nature. We now have the capability, however, to not only imitate products of nature but also nature's materials and processes. During the seventeenth century, the relationship between humans and the natural world changed in several ways. Scientists of various disciplines are working with engineers, designers, and other researchers in an interdisciplinary manner …