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Session #3247

Creating a Competitive Edge With Faculty and Curriculum Development Melissa J. Dark Dennis R. Depew Robert J. Herrick Purdue University

Introduction

The United States has always enjoyed a high standard of living compared to the rest of the world. There are several ostensible reasons for this high standard of living. Our nation is able to generate employment opportunities, which provide an income to support our standard of living. The employment opportunities which provide these above average wages are usually found in the areas of manufacturing. Furthermore, the higher incomes in manufacturing are usually identified with what we term high-tech manufacturing.

These technically related jobs are directly linked to our system of higher education. Community colleges and universities provide technology related education programs for students who will eventually work in these industrial enterprises.

As a result of a national concern regarding our standard of living, which is linked to our ability to provide manufacturing jobs for our citizens, the federal government has created many new programs in the past decade to promote educational programs to support our industrial economy. The National Science Foundation established the Advanced Technology Education Program (ATE) to fund and support educational initiatives in the areas of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology education.

The Midwest Center for Advanced Technology Education (MCATE) at Purdue University is supported by the National Science Foundation. MCATE is a consortium between Purdue University and seven midwestern community colleges. The mission of MCATE is to enhance the educational opportunities and experiences available to students pursuing manufacturing related careers. The consortium is accomplishing this mission through faculty and curriculum development. This paper will focus on the planning, implementation, and evaluation process of the faculty and curriculum development activities supported by MCATE.

Planning Faculty and Curriculum Development

MCATE subscribes to two basic tenets. The first is that faculty cannot teach what they do not know. As technology continues to change at a prodigious rate, technology faculty must remain

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Dark, M. J., & Herrick, R. J., & Depew, D. R. (1998, June), Creating A Competitive Edge With Faculty And Curriculum Development Paper presented at 1998 Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--6998