NYSTCE Technology Education cheat sheet

Technology is the human-designed world: artifacts, processes, systems, and knowledge used to modify the environment for needs and wants.

Technological literacy includes knowledge, ways of thinking and acting, and decision-making capacity; it is broader than tool skill.

Science explains natural phenomena, engineering designs solutions under constraints, and technology is the created result and broader human activity.

Universal systems model: inputs → process → outputs, with feedback; systems may be open or closed and may contain subsystems.

Seven resources: people, information, materials, tools and machines, energy, capital, and time.

Invention is a new concept or device; innovation is successful implementation; diffusion is spread through adoption.

Technology categories include communication, construction, manufacturing, transportation, energy and power, agriculture and biotechnology, medical, and information technologies.

Intended consequences are designed outcomes; unintended consequences may be social, environmental, economic, or safety-related.

Adoption curve: innovators about 2.5%, early adopters about 13.5%, early majority about 34%, late majority about 34%, laggards about 16%.

Technology assessment examines short- and long-term effects before adoption, including stakeholders, alternatives, and unintended consequences.

Sustainability balances environmental, social, and economic outcomes; life-cycle assessment covers extraction through disposal or recycling.

The digital divide includes access, skills, usage, and outcome gaps, not only device ownership.

Planned obsolescence shortens product life; a circular economy emphasizes repair, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling.

Rebound effect: efficiency lowers operating cost or price and can increase total consumption, reducing expected resource savings.

In the U.S., utility patents generally last 20 years from filing; copyright protects original expression; trademarks identify source.

Risk decisions may use cost-benefit, precautionary, or stakeholder approaches; perceived risk often differs from statistical risk.

Ethical analysis considers utilitarian outcomes, rights and duties, fairness, and virtue; identify who benefits and who bears the burden.

Engineering design process: define the problem, research, specify criteria and constraints, generate ideas, prototype, test, evaluate, and communicate.

Criteria are desired performance goals; constraints are limits such as budget, time, materials, safety, or regulations.

Divergent thinking generates many options; convergent thinking narrows options against criteria and constraints.

Brainstorming rules: defer judgment, encourage wild ideas, build on others, seek quantity, and record all ideas.

Decision matrix score = Σ(weight × rating); normalize weights to 1.0 before comparing alternatives.

Prototype types include proof-of-concept, physical, virtual, and scale models; each is tested against specific criteria.

Factor of safety = material strength ÷ expected working stress; higher values provide more margin against failure.

Optimization seeks the best solution under constraints; trade-offs are unavoidable, so document assumptions and test results.

Reverse engineering and benchmarking analyze existing products to inform new designs without copying protected intellectual property.

Universal systems model: inputs → process → outputs with feedback; open-loop control lacks feedback, closed-loop control uses sensor feedback.

Mechanical advantage = output force ÷ input force = effort arm ÷ load arm; gear ratio = driven teeth ÷ driving teeth.

Efficiency = useful output energy ÷ total input energy × 100%; losses appear as heat, sound, friction, or vibration.

Ohm's law: V = IR; power P = VI; series resistances add, parallel voltage is equal and branch currents add.

Pascal's principle: pressure applied to a confined fluid transmits undiminished; F1/A1 = F2/A2 for hydraulic advantage.

Heat transfers by conduction, convection, and radiation; thermodynamics limits energy conversion efficiency.

Manufacturing process families: casting and molding, forming, separating, joining, and conditioning; tolerances define allowable variation.

Construction structures carry dead, live, and dynamic loads; members include beams, columns, trusses, and foundations.

Communication system model: source → encoder → transmitter → channel → receiver → decoder → destination; bandwidth and noise affect fidelity.

Backward design: identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence, then plan learning experiences and instruction aligned to standards.

Design brief components: problem statement, criteria, constraints, audience, deliverables, timeline, and evaluation method.

Project- and problem-based learning use extended real-world tasks; the teacher facilitates inquiry, collaboration, and presentation.

Universal Design for Learning provides multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression to reduce barriers.

Bloom's revised taxonomy: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create; psychomotor domains address physical skill development.

Differentiation adjusts content, process, product, or environment based on readiness, interests, and learning profiles.

Laboratory routines include safety briefing, passes, PPE, machine guards, cleanup, and tool accountability with active supervision.

Technical literacy strategies include vocabulary instruction, design notebooks, annotated sketches, presentations, and informational reading.

CTE pathways connect programs of study, apprenticeships, industry credentials, and work-based learning to careers.

Assessment purposes: diagnostic before instruction, formative during instruction, summative after instruction for reporting or placement.

Validity means measuring the intended construct; reliability means consistency; fairness requires access and freedom from bias.

Item difficulty p = proportion correct; discrimination index compares high-scoring and low-scoring groups' performance.

Analytic rubrics score separate criteria with descriptors; holistic rubrics assign one overall score.

Performance assessment requires students to apply knowledge and skills to authentic tasks scored with criteria or rubrics.

Hierarchy of controls: elimination or substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then personal protective equipment.

OSHA Hazard Communication requires labels and Safety Data Sheets for hazardous chemicals; PPE is the last line of defense.

Lockout/tagout isolates hazardous energy before maintenance; emergency response includes evacuation, first aid, and reporting.

Professional practice includes duty of care, supervision, confidentiality, mandated reporting, documentation, and continuing professional development.