Examining the Demographics and Preparation Experiences of Foundations of Technology Teachers

Abstract

When the Standards for Technological Literacy were released in 2000, Technology and Engineering (T&E) educators were expected to integrate concepts from other content areas within the context of engineering design and problem solving (ITEA/ITEEA, 2000/2002/2007). Fourteen years later, the Next Generation Science Standards called for science educators to teach engineering content and practices within their curricula (NGSS Lead States, 2014). These integrative standards have increased the demands placed on preand in-service teacher preparation efforts to ensure science and T&E educators are properly prepared to teach cross-disciplinary concepts. However, requisite for suggesting changes to adequately prepare educators for teaching such concepts, the demographics and preparation experiences of those teaching within these content areas must be thoroughly examined. This is especially important in T&E T&E educators than openings in the United States (Moye, 2009). Given this shortage it begs to question, “What are the demographic and preparation experiences of those tasked with teaching T&E courses?” This study examined the demographic and background characteristics of 55 individuals who were teaching Foundations of Technology (FoT), the International Technology and Engineering Furthermore, this research investigated the types and amount of formal and informal preparation experiences that participating FoT teachers completed within science and T&E education. among the preparation experiences of those recommendations to better prepare FoT teachers for integrating science concepts were suggested.