HOME4TECHS: Hands On Maintenance Education for TECHnicianS

In Ohio, manufacturing supports 17% of the state's economy. For many years Northwest State Community College supported programs on separate skilled trades based on industry practice related to their separate job classifications. A recent trend has been the combining of these separate skilled trades into a multi-craft maintenance position. This project will convert a traditional automation maintenance technology program to a competency-based, hybrid instructional model with flexible laboratory scheduling options. The Hands On Maintenance Education for Technicians (HOME4TECHS) project will support professional development for faculty on competency-based education, and the development and deployment of modular online courses. This project will advance the knowledge and understanding of competencies required by manufacturing companies for students entering the automation maintenance field. The project will also advance the knowledge and understanding of the steps a college needs to take in order to convert a traditional college curriculum and delivery system, to an employer-driven, competency-based curriculum, delivered through hybrid learning.

The goals of the project are to: re-structure 3 courses in the automation maintenance curriculum to a competency-based curriculum, so that they will be aligned with the needs of the local industry. This will involve moving the lecture portion of the courses to a modular online format, and developing an open lab delivery model for the hands-on portion of the 3 courses. Restructuring the delivery system will make the courses more accessible to students and incumbent workers. The project will engage college faculty and manufacturing employers in a collaborative effort to develop a competency-based, hybrid learning model that can be widely disseminated and scaled to promote applied learning in the technical workforce. Project outcomes will be disseminated through a meeting of the Northwest Ohio College Presidents. Research data on the effectiveness of moving from the traditional learning model to the hybrid learning model will be made broadly available.