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 …

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 …

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 …