Science, Technology, and Engineering Interrelationships: Assessment of the Understanding of

In most reports setting forth frameworks or standards for science, technology, and engineering, the three domains are described as related by their focus on systems in the real world yet different in the roles that the disciplines play in understanding and modifying the world. The definitions for this entry are based on documents produced by national sets of experts in which the relationships of science, technology, and engineering are described. Definitions of science, engineering, and technology can be culled from these frameworks and standards developed by engineering and science organizations, as well as from standards for engineering and technology for state, national, and international assessments.

These definitions of science, technology, and engineering are the starting points for developing assessments of understanding of the ways in which they are related. This entry begins with a summary of prominent conceptualizations of science, technology, and engineering. The definitions...