Comparing Florida’s Advanced Manufacturing Curriculum Framework to the Department of Labor Competency Model

Pallavi Ramakanth Kowligi; Priyanka Prajapati; Faye R Jones; Marcia A. Mardis

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Conference: 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual On line
Publication Date: June 22, 2020
Start Date: June 22, 2020
End Date: June 26, 2021
Conference Session: 2-Year College Division: Workforce Pathways and ATE
Tagged Division: Two-Year College
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 18
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--34310
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/34310
Download Count: 605

Paper Authors

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Pallavi Ramakanth Kowligi Florida State University

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Pallavi Kowligi is a Graduate Research Analyst at Florida State University’s College of Information. Her research interests include application of Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning techniques in the field of education.

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Priyanka Prajapati Florida State University

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Priyanka Prajapati is a graduate student in information technology at Florida State University’s School of Information. Her research interests include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural language Programming (NLP) and Data Analytics .

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Faye R Jones Florida State University orcid.org/0000-0001-6178-8143

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Faye R. Jones is a Senior Research Associate at Florida State University’s College of Communication and Information. Her research interests include STEM student outcomes and the exploration of student pathways through institutional research.

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Marcia A. Mardis Florida A&M University/Florida State University orcid.org/0000-0002-2209-1498

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Marcia A. Mardis is a Professor and Associate Dean at Florida State University's College of Communication and Information and Associate Director of the Information Institute. Author of numerous publication and recipient of over two decades of federally funded research grants, Dr. Mardis' work focuses on professional identity creation, educational text and data mining, and technician education improvement.

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Abstract

In this research paper, we compare the alignment between advanced manufacturing (AM) competencies in Florida’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) AM Curriculum Framework and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model. AM educators are guided by state department of education documents that specify program content, while employers track the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that AM technicians require to successfully function in the workplace. The Curriculum Framework, created with input from educators and industry, shape AM curricula and course syllabi because they specify the learning outcomes that AM graduates upon completion of two-year AM degree programs. The Department of Labor’s Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model, crafted by federal policymakers and industry representatives, includes personal, academic, industry-specific, and managerial competencies needed by successful AM technicians; the Model is intended to influence technicians’ hiring, training, and evaluation. Although these documents were created by different sets of stakeholders, they “bookend” AM technicians’ school-to-career pathways. To determine the extent to which the 2019-2020 Florida AM Curriculum Framework aligns to the Department of Labor’s Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model, we used text mining to extract and compare the key competencies found in both documents. Through this approach, we compared these documents and identified: 1) frequently addressed topics; 2) verbs that guided the complexity (i.e., Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Learning Objectives cognitive level) of the course learning task versus workplace competency; and 3) overall match between the documents. Our results suggest that the documents overlap very little, with significant misalignments in higher-level Bloom’s verbs. We present implications for educational institutions, AM policy makers, and industry; suggest a revision cycle and process; and propose an ongoing assessment model to improve the congruence between what employers want and what is taught in two-year AM degree programs.

Citation
Format

Kowligi, P. R., & Prajapati, P., & Jones, F. R., & Mardis, M. A. (2020, June), Comparing Florida’s Advanced Manufacturing Curriculum Framework to the Department of Labor Competency Model Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34310

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In this research paper, we compare the alignment between advanced manufacturing (AM) competencies in Florida’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) AM Curriculum Framework and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model. AM educators are guided by state department of education documents that specify program content, while employers track the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that AM technicians require to successfully function in the workplace. The Curriculum Framework, created with input from educators and industry, shape AM curricula and course syllabi because they specify the learning outcomes that AM graduates upon completion of two-year AM degree programs. The Department of Labor’s Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model, crafted by federal policymakers and industry representatives, includes personal, academic, industry-specific, and managerial competencies needed by successful AM technicians; the Model is intended to influence technicians’ hiring, training, and evaluation. Although these documents were created by different sets of stakeholders, they “bookend” AM technicians’ school-to-career pathways. To determine the extent to which the 2019-2020 Florida AM Curriculum Framework aligns to the Department of Labor’s Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model, we used text mining to extract and compare the key competencies found in both documents. Through this approach, we compared these documents and identified: 1) frequently addressed topics; 2) verbs that guided the complexity (i.e., Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Learning Objectives cognitive level) of the course learning task versus workplace competency; and 3) overall match between the documents. Our results suggest that the documents overlap very little, with significant misalignments in higher-level Bloom’s verbs. We present implications for educational institutions, AM policy makers, and industry; suggest a revision cycle and process; and propose an ongoing assessment model to improve the congruence between what employers want and what is taught in two-year AM degree programs.
AU  - Pallavi Ramakanth Kowligi
AU  - Priyanka Prajapati
AU  - Faye R Jones
AU  - Marcia A. Mardis
CY  - Virtual On line 
DA  - 2020/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Comparing Florida’s Advanced Manufacturing Curriculum Framework to the Department of Labor Competency Model
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/34310
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--34310
ER  -