Advanced Technological Education in Manufacturing

As manufacturing continues to become more technologically advanced regionally and nationwide, industry has indicated that many more skilled technicians are needed to maintain, support, and implement these advancements. With an aging workforce moving into retirement, companies will need job-ready graduates who are capable of working independently within six months of employment rather than the typical 1-2 years. This project will research the effectiveness of implementing work-based learning in a technical education setting by shortening the time required for graduates to be job-ready and confident in their abilities. Over the 3-year project, 57 students will be recruited to complete credit-bearing courses in one of two cohorts that will result in an associate level degree within the manufacturing field of mechatronics. Through collaboration with a 20-member advisory council, and guidance from a Business Industry & Leadership Team (BILT) key competencies will be defined and implemented into the work-based learning courses that will utilize a faculty and student designed automated manufacturing cell to simulate real world work experience. The first cohort will complete the degree using the current courses while a second cohort will have select courses replaced with work-based learning to make up the two research groups. A skills assessment will be developed to measure the effectiveness of the two instructional methodologies and inform the need for future work. Because Blackhawk Technical College has a significant number of non-traditional students in the mechatronics program, this project has the potential to increase the number of workers who are underrepresented in STEM related fields. This project will also provide valuable insight into the effectiveness of work-based learning in preparing students for gainful employment.

The goal of the project is to shorten the time required for graduates to become confident in their skills and be capable of working independently through relevant classwork and work-based learning experiences. 57 students are expected to enroll over the 3-years of the project. The first cohort (A) will consist of half of the students and will complete the credit-bearing coursework in its current form, as a control, while another cohort (B), will have four, single-credit courses replaced with 288 hours of work-based instruction. Cohort B will also have a mini capstone project added to select courses to further enhance hands-on learning opportunities. Qualitative and quantitative data will be used to determine the effectiveness of the work-based learning modality with results being shared regionally across the Wisconsin Technical College System and nationally through NSF ATE conferences. Collaboration between faculty, advisory council, industry partners, and the Business and Industry Leadership Team will provide students with relevant and up-to-date information on advanced technology within the workplace.