Integrating Academic and Technical Education for Advanced Technological Careers

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This project expands the work begun in a previous NSF supported project to create a curriculum that integrates academic and technical education and that meets both national academic and industry skill standards. In an earlier project Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) and Southern High School in Baltimore partnered to create an integrated biology/biotechnology high school curriculum unit, and pilot tested it in biology and biotechnology classes. The unit weaves together readings, activities, discussions and analyses, emphasizing a conceptual understanding of scientific principles with laboratories that stress biotechnology skills, the ability to perform technical procedures, and an understanding of the scientific basis of experiments. The curriculum relates learning to careers and real-life work. The goal of that project was to broaden the learning of both academic and technical students. Academic students conduct laboratory experiments, develop technical skills and learn about real life uses of these in occupations, careers and work places. Technical students learn more about the concepts, theories and history underlying the technical skills they develop. This new project extends these goals by field testing this first unit (to obtain more empirical data about student outcomes). The project is also developing a second unit covering topics related to those of the first unit, and following the same format of the first unit. The two units are being pilot-tested together in several high schools (in biology and biotechnology courses) in the greater Baltimore area. Consultants from industry, 2-year colleges, and 4-year colleges are validating the units in terms of their suitability in preparing students for college level work, and providing skills required in the high-skilled workforce. Teacher guides, student books, videos of practitioner role models in workplaces, and scenarios for instruction and assessment, are being produced. High school teachers are being trained in the new curriculum and in related pedagogy.