Tech Tally: Approaches to Assessing Technological Literacy determines the most viable approaches to assessing technological literacy for students, teachers, and out-of-school adults. The book examines opportunities and obstacles to developing scientifically valid and broadly applicable assessment instruments for technological literacy in the three target populations. The book offers findings and 12 related recommendations that address five critical areas: instrument development; research on learning; computer-based assessment methods, framework development, and public perceptions of technology.

This book will be of special interest to individuals and groups promoting technological literacy in the United States, education and government policy makers in federal and state agencies, as well as the education research community.

• Front Matter
• Executive Summary
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Defining Technological Literacy
• 3 Assessment as a Design Challenge
• 4 An Assessment Primer
• 5 Review of Instruments
• 6 From Theory to Practice: Five Sample Cases
• 7 Computer-Based Assessment Methods
• 8 Findings and Recommendations
• APPENDIX A Committee Biographies
• APPENDIX B Technology-Related Standards and Benchmarks in the National Science Education Standards, Benchmarks for Science Literacy, and Standards for Technological Literacy
• APPENDIX C Challenges and Opportunities for Assessing Technological Literacy in the United States
• APPENDIX D Research on Learning in Technology and Engineering: A Selected Bibliography
• APPENDIX E Instrument Summaries
• Index