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Middle School Measures
What factors affect eighth graders’ exposure to engineering and confidence in handling the subject? The data presented here offer some insight. We learn, for instance, that low-income students are less likely to have studied engineering; that parental education levels are not strongly related to students’ use of computers at school; and that students think they can take something apart and fix it–or not–regardless of how much emphasis is placed on teaching students how to fix something in class.
The data are drawn from the U.S. Department of Education’s first National Assessment of Educational Progress Technology and Engineering Literacy (NAEP) scales in 2014. The NAEP presents real-world scenarios related to technology and engineering in order to gauge knowledge and skills related to engineering and technology fundamentals. In some cases, student-reported data can be compared to reports of what schools say they are teaching. The assessment is unique because it uses an avatar to help students complete the entirely digitally-based process. Many more data points can be found on the NAEP website:
https://www.nagb.org/publications/frameworks/technology/2014-technology-framework/toc.html
Also, an introduction to the assessment can be found at the following website:
http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/tel_2014/
Compiled by Austin Ryland
Infographic by Nicola Nittoli