The importance of authenticity has been examined in various aspects of education; this is especially true in the area of engineering education where most graduates will matriculate to industry. However, the importance of applied and authentic examples could be even more critical in workforce development programs. In these cases, students are often enrolled with a goal of using their acquired knowledge to advance their career or move into a new role. Purely theoretical or stylized examples would not be aligned with the educational goals of these students.
As part of a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education grant, a certificate program in high value manufacturing (HVM) has been developed. The certificate program is a collaboration between a research intensive four-year institution and an urban community college. In this certificate program students will be taking courses in manufacturing processes, design, and other business-related subjects that are pertinent to the manufacture of low volume components that have high materials costs, stringent quality requirements, and critical project timelines. This unique content area requires example that comprise these pertinent aspects of HVM. This is particularly true of the five newly developed courses covering materials, project management, quality, logistics, and computer-aided design. While the analogous courses at a four-year degree granting institution would likely use stylized examples in these courses, this would not be preferable in an applied certificate program.
This work discusses the acquisition and refinement of authentic and applied examples that are applicable to the HVM environment. Specifically, the use of industry contacts and the translation of examples into useable and appropriate examples are examined. These examples are detailed and compared to traditional stylized academic content. A methodology for examining student perceptions of these examples is also proposed. A discussion of the importance of authenticity in applied certificate programs is also presented
Dr. Michael D. Johnson is a professor in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University. He currently serves as Associate Dean for Inclusion and Faculty Success in the College of Engineering. He is a member o
Dr. Bimal Nepal is a Rader I Professor in the Industrial Distribution Program at Texas A&M University. His research interests include integration of supply chain management with new product development decisions, distributor service portfolio optimization.
Dr. Perez is currently the Associate Vice Chancellor of Curriculum and Learning Initiatives at Houston Community College (HCC). She has served in various positions during her thirty years of service to HCC, such as Executive Dean, Dean of Health Sciences, and Director of Institutional Assessments. Dr. Perez was instrumental in working with faculty to create the first student success course for the Health Sciences students to impact the success rate of these students. Dr. Perez also worked with faculty and industry experts to create several new programs, such as Histologic Technician, Computed Tomography, Cardiovascular Technology, Massage Therapy, and Dental Hygiene. In 2015, she worked with faculty and industry experts to create the Insurance Associate/Specialist program to train students for the insurance business. Most recently, Dr. Perez worked with the HCC Manufacturing Center of Excellence and Texas A & M University in the development of a new certificate, High Value Manufacturing, made possible through an NSF Grant initiative. This initiative also involved the manufacturing industry representatives to ensure that the certificate curriculum would meet the needs of the industry.
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