Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing-International
Advanced Technological Education Project
ASSESSMENTS AND EVALUATIONS
Just as the manufacturing industries are moving toward a philosophy of continuous incremental improvement in their products and processes, the ATE Alliance believes that no educational program for manufacturing can be static. The ATE Alliance assesses student achievement and other indicators of learning and skills acquisition in the context of the program's goals and against performance benchmarks set in other programs--nationally and internationally. The program undergoes continuous evaluation to identify strengths that can be leveraged and expanded, and weaknesses that may be rectified by incremental changes in the curricula and in the delivery process.
CAM-I's member companies believe that technicians having the knowledge and skills addressed by the ATE Alliance will be employable and able to compete favorably and succeed. The CAM-I companies can expect that graduates from the ATE Alliance program will be employable in large and especially smaller manufacturing industries where a practical, but rigorous, education can make a significant difference. Instruments are being developed and used to follow program graduates as they move into the workplace.
The ATE Comprehensive Evaluation and Assessement Plan includes the procedures identified below:
- Using the identified agile skill sets, knowledge, and competencies to guide the evaluation process. Each curriculum development activity, laboratory exercise, and work-based learning activity should contribute to an improvement of the students' mastery of identified knowledge and skills.
- Utilizing CAM-I experience in benchmarking manufacturing best practices to develop a protocol for the evaluation of best practices in technical education. These efforts involve applying the protocol to best practices among the ATE Alliance members and affiliates and in site visits to other effective programs.
- Evaluating progress toward the completion of products, including: curriculum developments, laboratory projects, technology assists, video and networking infrastructure, and the use of traditional project management tools used in industry. Quality is one of the factors evaluated, with feedback for incremental improvements.
- Evaluating progress toward the implementation of products, including the development of virtual schools and integrated curricula delivered through distance learning. In this case, industrial project management tools also will be used, including rating forms, questionnaires, and checklists for participating faculty, students, and industrial partners. These instruments are used, for example, to evaluation specific curriculum elements or technology assists, integrating experiences, mentoring programs, and internships. These instruments are augmented by site visits and interviews.
- Developing statistical data on those aspects of the project that are quantifiable, such as time and cost results, product and training evaluations, data from questionnaires, and enrollment data by gender, race, ethnicity, and/or disability.
- Tracking dissemination through numbers of inquiries and visits, numbers and products or reports requested, meeting attendance, adoptions of curriculum elements and technology assists, and through numbers and types of articulation and work-based learning agreements.
Data gathered by the evaluation procedures will be summarized to illustrate:
- satisfaction with product and program quality and experiences as reported by ATE Alliance members and affiliates, faculty, students, and parents.
- types, quantity, and quality of teacher and instructor training.
- program contributions to next generation manufacturing career options, within the context of school-to-work transition programs.
- reported positive contributions to student career plans.
- dissemination of information and products.
- student performance relative to peers not in the program.
Student Portfolio
The student portfolio for the ATE project parallels the design of the Michigan Department of Education student portfolio with appropriate modifications to meet the specific requirements of the manufacturing technology curriculum.
Portfolio Content
The Manufacturing Technology Student Portfolio includes a combination of traditional assessments and authentic assessments. The authentic assessments include project descriptions and evaluations. In addition, performance-based assessments relative to employability skills are being developed and will be included. Standards and assessment rubrics for the employability skills are included for the self-directed worker, quality producer, and collaborative worker.
Certification of Competency
As a result of successful completion of curriculum modules, students will receive certifications of various competencies. Certificates will include specific knowledge/skill competencies demonstrated as well as a classifications of "competent" or "exemplary." Such classifications can be translated into traditional letter grades when necessary. Competent is equivalent to a "B" average, and exemplary is equivalent to an "A" average.
SURVEY OF BEST PRACTICES
These efforts consists of gathering curriculum material to drive the development of the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Education curriuclum. Curricular material includes, but is not limited to:
- textbooks, workbooks, and manuals
- videotapes and video-based lessons/courses
- computer-based course or curricular elements, including CD-ROM, computer simulation, and experiential learning
Primary sources of information include:
- members of the CAM-I partnership
- other NSF-funded projects
- members of National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers
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Please submit comments and suggestions to AMEN project coordinator.
January 26, 1996