Academic Preparedness as a Predictor of Achievement in an Engineering Design Challenge

Three influential works have been recognized by the field of technology education as having established a foundation for defining technological literacy: Standards for Technological Literacy (STL), Technically Speaking, and Tech Tally. A unifying theme emerging from these publications is that technologically literate people are able to function in our modern technological society (Gamire & Pearson, 2006; International Technology Education Association [ITEA], 2000; Pearson & Young, 2002). More specifically, technologically literate people must be knowledgeable, capable, critical thinkers, and decisions makers. The STL, published by ITEA, established a formal definition of technological literacy: “Technological literacy is the ability to use, manage, assess, and understand technology” (ITEA, 2000, p. 9). The uniform message is strong— people need to be technologically literate in order to be active, functioning members of our modern society.