The Nature of Technology
What the domain covers
Praxis 5272's Nature of Technology domain tests whether you can define technology precisely, explain how technological systems are structured, and describe how technology changes over time. Expect items on the relationship among science, engineering, and technology; invention versus innovation; and the universal systems model.
Core rules
- Technology is the human-made modification of the natural world to meet needs and wants. It includes artifacts, processes, knowledge, and systems-not just devices.
- Science seeks explanation; engineering designs solutions under constraints; technology is the body of knowledge and artifacts that result.
- A system has inputs, a process, outputs, and feedback. Open-loop systems lack feedback; closed-loop systems use feedback to adjust.
- Resources in technological systems are commonly grouped as people, information, materials, tools and machines, energy, capital, and time.
- Technological change is cumulative: inventions are often recombined into innovations that diffuse through markets and society.
Worked example
A bicycle is a technological system. Inputs include the rider's energy, materials (steel, rubber), and information (gear ratios). The process converts pedaling into rotary motion through the chain and gears. The output is controlled forward motion. Feedback comes from the rider sensing speed and shifting gears. A design trade-off-lightweight frame versus durability-shows that optimization is always relative to criteria.
Traps that cost marks
Calling a natural object technology because it is used as a tool without modification; treating science and technology as identical; missing the feedback path in a system diagram; and confusing invention (first creation) with innovation (successful implementation and adoption).