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

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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.