Perceptions and Practices of Technology Student Association Advisors on Implementation Strategies and Teaching Methods

Though still small, the co-curricular student organization, the Technology Student Association (TSA), has had a significant impact on the technology education profession. As the profession evolved from the Industrial Arts of the 1960s to become today’s Technology Education (TE), the student organization has changed with the times too. TSA began as the American Industrial Arts Student Association (AIASA) and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2003. Advocates claim that TSA activities have had significant impact in shaping the TE curriculum and also help to promote curricular integration with other disciplines (Peterson, Ernst, Blue, Taylor, & Estler, 2004). Growing from less than one-third of one percent of the students enrolled in industrial arts courses who were involved in AIASA (reported as 21,600 of 7 million by Applegate in 1981) to over 200,000 TSA members in 47 states today (Honor, 2004), the membership of the organization has increased nearly tenfold. In 2003 approximately 6,000 TSA members were elementary school children (Honor, 2004). TSA is an important facet of the technology education movement.