Asee peer logo

‘All Together Now’ - Integrating Horizontal Skills in CareerTechnical Education Classes with Making and Micro-manufacturing

Download Paper |

Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

ETD - A Technology Potpourri I

Page Count

16

DOI

10.18260/1-2--40616

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/40616

Download Count

255

Request a correction

Paper Authors

author page

Osazuwa Okundaye Texas A&M University

biography

Malini Natarajarathinam Texas A&M University

visit author page

Dr. Malini Natarajarathinam received her Ph.D. in Operations Management from The University of Alabama in 2007. Dr. Natarajarathinam joined the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor in 2007. Dr. Natarajarathinam teaches undergraduate and graduate capstone courses. She also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in logistics, distribution, purchasing, supplier, and customer relationship management. She developed the distribution customer experience course for the graduate program and she has made significant curriculum changes to several courses in the department. Dr. Natarajarathinam’s research focuses on engineering education including service-learning and workforce skills development. She has received over $3.6 million in external research funding from several companies, governmental agencies, and National Science Foundation. Dr. Natarajarathinam has written 22 peer-reviewed journal articles, a business case with a teaching note, 63 peer-reviewed conference proceedings, and was the keynote speaker at the food banks Conference. She works with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in developing innovative Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses in logistics and distribution. Dr. Natarajarathinam has chaired 91 graduate capstone projects, and several undergraduate capstone projects, and has served on two master’s committees. Dr. Natarajarathinam was chosen as of the “40 under 40” faculty by the American Society of Engineering Educations, Prism Magazine in 2018.

visit author page

author page

Mathew Kuttolamadom Texas A&M University

author page

Francis Quek Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

author page

Sharon Lynn Chu University of Florida

author page

Qing Li

biography

Shaoping Qiu Texas A&M University

visit author page

Shaoping Qiu obtained his Ph.D. in Huan Resource Development from Texas A& M University. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the College of Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution, Texas A&M University. His research interests include human resource development, organizational leadership, organizational change, stress and well-being, service-learning, and quantitative methods such as multiple regression, structural equation modelling (SEM), hierarchical linear model (HLM), and item response theory (IRT).

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

In the face of ever-growing advancements in information and manufacturing technology, the future of work will demand cross-disciplinary skills. In such a future, individuals will need to continually acquire a breadth of skills and knowledge that goes beyond any one discipline. At present, our education system follows a siloed model whereby students develop expertise within a given discipline but lack the contextual knowledge needed to integrate skills across different disciplines. In preparing students for the future of work, it is thus necessary that our pedagogical model provides opportunities for students to engage in and develop breadth or horizontal learning.‘Making through Micro-Manufacturing’ (M3) is a production paradigm that couples the concerns of Making with production engineering, achieving the low-volume production (hence the term micro) of personalized artifacts. M3 can serve as a driver for STEM learning through its framework for supporting horizontal learning experiences for students. In this NSF InnovativeTechnology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) funded work, we report on a class within a career and technology education (CTE) sequence that uses M3 as a structure to effectively engage high-school students with a low-volume production scenario focusing on end-consumer product (instructional science kits for local elementary schools). The class charges M3 student group with the manufacturing of instructional science kits for elementary schools, which integrates basic electronics and digital fabrication to produce the kits at scale. Through the class, we seek to understand how students develop personally-defined depth and breadth of skills across the Making and production aligned disciplines that form the foundation of the students' practices in the CTE class.

Okundaye, O., & Natarajarathinam, M., & Kuttolamadom, M., & Quek, F., & Chu, S. L., & Li, Q., & Qiu, S. (2022, August), ‘All Together Now’ - Integrating Horizontal Skills in CareerTechnical Education Classes with Making and Micro-manufacturing Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40616

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2022 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015