Improving Technician Training in Industry 4.0 technologies Using Competency-Based Education

技师教育项目包括工业4.0技术的能力教育，可以为学生进入先进制造公司的技术职业提供切入点。人们认识到需要更多熟练的技术人员，能够在制造设施中实施和维护这些技术。该项目将开发和试点一种新的基于能力的教育方法，以支持更多的技术人员培训，并改善高等教育学生对新兴工业4.0技术的学习。这将造就一批高技能的下一代制造技术人员。这也将解决制造业日益严重的工人短缺问题，这将有助于确保肯塔基州乃至全国未来的经济健康发展。该项目将包括从制造业教育项目中传统代表性不足的群体中招募和留住学生的示范实践。以能力为基础的教育内容将通过吸引学习者和改进学习过程，帮助学生为技术人员队伍做好准备。该项目将加强学术界、工业界和其他利益相关者之间的伙伴关系，以确保以能力为基础的教育与工业界的需求保持一致。该项目的目标是开发一种基于能力的教育方法，以帮助当前和未来的制造技术人员学习工业4.0技术的新技能。此外，该项目将鼓励来自弱势群体的学生将制造业作为职业选择，并为学生提供个性化的支持，使他们有一个成功的学习经历，并过渡到劳动力市场。项目团队将重新设计现有的7门先进制造课程，以满足6个学分的行业认证和2个国家认证的学术要求。课程将进行重组，重点是帮助学生学习内容、相关技能和能力，然后进行评估，以确定他们是否达到了特定的学习目标。这些能力将集中在流体动力技术领域，维护工业设备，电路，电机控制，工业机器人和机器人维护，以及可编程逻辑控制器。该项目将招募现有的制造技术人员和/或失业和未充分就业的工人，以及来自服务不足群体的学生，以获得行业证书。以能力为本的教育的有效性将根据学生和行业调查数据进行评估。该项目由先进技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Technician education programs that include competency-based education in Industry 4.0 technologies can provide entry points for students into technical careers at advanced manufacturing companies. There is a recognized need for more skilled technicians that can implement and maintain these technologies in manufacturing facilities. This project will develop and pilot a new competency-based educational approach that supports greater access to technician training and improves postsecondary student learning in emerging Industry 4.0 technologies. This should result in a pipeline of highly skilled, next generation manufacturing technicians. This will also address the growing worker shortage in manufacturing, which will help ensure future economic health for Kentucky, as well as the nation. This project will include model practices to recruit and retain students from traditionally underrepresented groups in manufacturing education programs. Competency-based education components will help prepare students for the technician workforce by engaging learners and improving the learning process. The project will increase partnerships between academia, industry, and other stakeholders to ensure that the competency-based education is aligned with the needs of industry.The goal of this project is to develop a competency-based educational approach to help current and future manufacturing technicians learn new skills in Industry 4.0 technologies. Additionally, the project will encourage students from underserved groups to consider manufacturing as a career choice and provide students with personalized support so that they have a successful learning experience and transition to the workforce. The project team will redesign seven existing advanced manufacturing courses that fulfill the academic requirements for six, credit-bearing, industry-recognized certificates and two national certifications. The courses will be restructured to focus on helping students learn content, related skills, and competencies followed by assessments to determine if they have achieved specific learning objectives. These competencies will focus on the technical areas of fluid power, maintaining industrial equipment, circuits, electrical motor controls, industrial robotics and robotics maintenance, and programmable logic controllers. The project will recruit incumbent manufacturing technicians and/or dislocated and underemployed workers as well as students from underserved groups to earn industry credentials. The effectiveness of the competency-based education will be assessed using student and industry survey data. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.