Center for Teaching Excellence
From High Technology Curriculum Initiatives Application Narrative (Grant funded 1/12/2004)
(& comments by cl dickinson)Center for Teaching ExcellenceIn recent years, financial constraints and budget reductions have seriously limited TMCC's ability to support critical faculty and staff development activities. Increasingly, this loss is threatening the institution's health and vitality. At TMCC, as at other community colleges, most faculty have had little professional training in the instructional methodologies best suited for meeting the needs of a dramatically changing student population.
(I Agree) Furthermore, on the average, TMCC faculty members completed their training /education well over 20 years ago. Due to heavy teaching loads and the limited resources of the college, faculty have had very little time or opportunity to learn new methods or to develop new curricula.
(Note: I have had to learn and develop everything “from scratch”. I have developed 7 new courses and placed 6 of them on the web) . Because of the rapid advances in technologies, the skills of the faculty are becoming obsolete, while opportunities for training to update essential skills are severely hampered by limited fiscal resources.
(I have taken the time and expense necessary to learn & update these skills). This inability to upgrade technical and professional skills diminishes program quality and has a crippling impact on recruitment and retention of students, employability of graduates, and the image the College projects to the community.
(Again, I agree). The problems that TMCC is experiencing have been clearly described in the literature. Among the relevant citations are the following:
"Credentials, where they are necessary, require little or nothing in the way
of professional preparation other than subject matter knowledge or occupational skills and experience. Teachers learn to teach by trial and error, an unguided and lonely experience for the most part. .."
"...the continuous proliferation of new technologies and the unlikely event of a
decrease in this acceleration are reasons to believe that obsolescence among professionals is going to be a continuing problem for organizations."
"...Despite rapid developments in educational technology, teaching methods in postsecondary education remain remarkably traditional."
(“Career” teachers know the “Method’s” & “Pedagogy” of education, but lack “real-world” experience. Especially those with advanced degrees, they have only seen the world through the Educational Institutions lens, whereas those who have experienced life in the “real world” and have now come into “professional education” have to learn an entire new culture plus learn the methods of how to effectively teach )It is essential to student learning and to increasing the potential for success of TMCC's students to develop expertise in new approaches available through technology.
(Especially those students who have grown up with fast paced TV shows, video games and are computer savvy). Multimedia instruction provides the opportunity for faculty to integrate audio, video, graphic and data presentations in their classroom teaching. Presentation software, hypertext, etc. give previously static information more dramatic visual impact. Simulations and video-disk technology allow faculty to bring "live" demonstrations into the classroom and laboratory experience. Computer assisted instruction provides an excellent medium to offer drill and practice to students to assist in reinforcing classroom learning.
(I figured this out long ago… and do all of the above in my teaching). TMCC faculty currently do not have the resources to develop the skills or purchase the materials necessary to enrich the experience of our students through technological enhancement.
(Again, I believe this is true… however I have managed to do this with the help of several “technological savvy” individuals at the college, and by attending training sessions & seminars, often on my own time and at my own expense). Supplemental instruction, programmed instruction, computer assisted instruction,
effective lectures, small group activities, learning logs, and other methods and interventions are also being used with some success at institutions of higher education. TMCC proposes through the Center for Teaching Excellence to expose faculty and staff to new methods and interventions, to assist them in the application and evaluation of those interventions, and to support them in that process.
The integration of high technology equipment, software and materials into TMCC programs allows the College to develop a modular teaching approach to workforce
development. The use of the new Center for Teaching Excellence will ensure that the infrastructure exists for the continuing acquisition of new knowledge and skills for instructors preparing their students for high technology careers or upgrading their skills to meet state of the art requirements.
(And I would hope that those who would hope to transfer this knowledge would have teaching experience as well as technological experience)(comments in bold italic by cl dickinson)
Cover Letter for HR246-05
Re: Preferred qualifications and responsibilities:
Manufacturing Technologies Instructor, Job posting HR246-05
In my present position as an “Industrial Maintenance Instructor” I have been instructing and gaining knowledge well outside of my field (I am an Automation, Instrumentation and Control Systems Technician by trade, who has been teaching “maintenance” and “electrical”). While this is like having a brain surgeon setting broken bones, I enjoy the challenge of developing and providing courses vital to the industry in this area. Coming from private (for profit) industry into an academic setting, an additional challenge was learning the intricacies of the teaching profession as well as the organizational procedures of (government funded) public education.
I hold a B.A. in Industrial Arts, plus have had additional courses in the Behavioral Sciences and Education. I am extremely computer literate, and utilize advanced technology to develop and present material. The education received while working on my degree, as well as ongoing training and employment, has given me an extensive background, especially in industrial/vocational subjects. I am current in my field and hold the highest Instrumentation certification (ISA CCST3). In addition, I hold three California Community College Instructor Credentials in this field (Instrument Machine and related technologies; Instrumentation; and Instrument Mechanics). I also hold an FCC commercial license which demonstrates a proficiency in electronics (when the license was issued). While I have not kept pace with advancements in this field, I do have the aptitude to research and expand my knowledge of the subject if necessary.
I have over 13 years of formal training experience, not including part time at a J.C. in California instructing automation & control technicians in an “Instrument Technician Training Program”. Before working for TMCC, I developed and conducted industrial “short courses” for a national training company and still conduct project-based training for them when requested by industry. As a result of literally the thousands of technicians I have trained, I am under consideration by the ISA for hire as a contract instructor (this would put me at the top in my field).
At TMCC, I have designed & built (with student help) all the labs and “demo’s” for the IMT program. This is not an unusual task, as I have “spec’d”, designed, and/or built numerous control & automation systems for industry (from simple controllers to plant-wide automation systems). Outside of the “35 hour workload”, I developed the curriculum for the various short-courses I have offered, and the seven IMT classes I currently teach. With advice and guidance from the staff at Edison, these seven classes were put through the Curriculum Committee and form the basis of the “Industrial Maintenance Technology Option” of the ECT degree. The majority of these IMT classes are available on the web (through WebCT) and, while not an expert (yet) at distance education, I believe I am on the higher end of the learning curve and one of the more advanced instructors using these techniques. As industry does not operate “9 to 5”, web-based, web assisted, and web-hybrid classes are offered to better serve the needs of students and I consider them essential to establishing an effective industrial / vocational program in this area.
I have developed and attempted to implement “multidiscipline” classes to cross train students and to form core components of an industrial degree program. From very humble beginnings (no labs, no classroom, no in-place curriculum) I have continued to offer new classes and seminars to serve students and industry (in the past five years, I have also developed and presented numerous “industry specific” seminars to various local companies). As WNCC does not currently have an instructor to teach IMT type classes, I am offering Industrial Training in the Carson City area (working through MAP & WNCC). Summers are spent holding training seminars for employees from many diverse fields. By means of a grant from Job Corps, I have developed a basic electrical (web-based) course they will be implementing in their training. In the future, I hope to develop further training aids and would like to help other instructors use innovative technology to reach more students. I am also interested in designing and teaching or “co-teaching” subjects that I believe would be of interest to those students who interests lie more toward the “mechanical” arts. I have had, and enjoyed, subjects which have combined history & technology; philosophy & technology; sociology & technology, and I believe courses such as these would attract non-traditional students and help to lead them toward completing a degree program, rather than just taking classes for job advancement.
Having carefully studied the position description, preferred qualifications and responsibilities, this clearly is a high skill position. I possess the industrial background and experience and, after five years with TMCC, have developed a keen awareness of the formalities and procedures required of an instructor.
As all of my IMT classes were mentioned in the original Manufacturing Grant Application, they were considered a necessary part of the new Manufacturing Technologies program. With the added responsibilities and a salary “dependent upon education and experience´ I am confident that I can expand these classes and add additional classes as required to make the Manufacturing Technologies Program and degree a reality. To help keep technical/vocational education a viable option in this area, I wish to be considered for the position.
References available upon request.
Thank You for your time and consideration.
