Welcome! I'm Ann-Claire Anderson, the PI for the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program funded project, Preparing Technicians for the Future of Work. Our team has identified cross-cutting knowledge and skills that STEM technicians from all disciplines will need upon completion of a program of study. We've done this through industry site visits; interviews with technicians and technician supervisors; regional convenings of academic faculty, technical faculty, and employers; working groups comprised of representatives from industry and ATE Centers; and ongoing conversations like this forum.

We're focused on three specific knowledge and skill areas that will help “future proof” STEM Technicians, but we can discuss those later. Let's start with your observations and experience.

• What changes in career and technical education do you think will be prompted by Future of Work-driven issues?
• How are your industry/employer partners helping you identify and address potential challenges related to rapidly-changing technology in their sectors?
• What opportunities for cross-disciplinary curriculum development and teaching are available in your area?

I look forward to our time online together!

I was excited to see references to AI and robotics in your video. What specifically are you teaching students about AI? How much do you think they already know about AI? How much do you think they need to know?

The answer presently is the not entirely satisfactory "it depends."  We are trying to be truly future-focused and companies are very often trying to address the problems of the here-and-now.  That said, as we need to prepare technicians for future technologies.  The good news is that AI and automation are making tasks easier and increasing productivity, and may be easier to troubleshoot.  The bad new is that when they break, it's usually outside talent that needs to fix it. So this is a potential area for growth in STEM technician training. From our observations and conversations -- and they are ongoing -- it appears that technicians will not be the developers of AI functions and features but the end users of applied AI.

We're two years into the project with two more to go, so our understanding is evolving. What are your thoughts about the need for AI skills by 1- and 2-year program completers?

This is super thought provoking.  I am curious about entry points, number of credit hours required,  and locus of delivery?  Will all these options vary from one industry sector to the next?  Can students/workers self-select and receive credit for on- or in-demand lessons or units?  Can we move away from the traditional 2-year community college technical degree and allow for on the spot yet scaffolded and accredited learning?

Terrific video and great set of questions you've prompted in your opening post, Ann-Claire. We're having similar conversations across the campus at the University of Rochester, and I'm curious what thoughts your team might be giving to weaving your work into K-12 curriculum development, PD for teachers, and perhaps also for schools of education that are preparing future teachers. Industry and employer partnerships are certainly a key element in the future-of-work equation, and so I'm also wondering what you have discovered as key interest indicators from your partners and how deeply they are willing to engage in University/Non-Profit/Industry collaborations. Thanks!

Working backwards on your comment -- business and industry involvement with community college programs is critical; those programs cannot exist in a vacuum. But the degree of involvement varies.  At the secondary level, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) legislation requires experiential or work-based learning of some kind, which means that partnerships with appropriate sites/mentors must be established and maintained.  Many states require that secondary CTE programs have local business advisory groups in order to qualify for Perkins funding of those programs. Strong -- i.e. active -- engagement from employers leads to stronger programs.  There are models of strong employer engagement at the community college level in which those partners have a true voice in program development and updates. Definitely not always the case. When business partners are asked to do real work (thinking about, helping design a program), they know that their input is valued and they are more invested in the success of the technical program.

To the top of your question-- about K-12 curriculum development, etc--
As a project team we've talked about what our next project might be. We have two more years on this project which is specifically aimed at community college technical education and  includes updates to curriculum and faculty development. Our industry advisory board has asked us to think about how we might reach elementary and secondary students and we are definitely open to the idea.  There are lots of good models of up-and-coming technologies being taught at the K-12 level that we can call upon for inspiration.  I think  the interdisciplinary nature of this project would transfer well to lower grades.

Your video resonated with me on multiple levels. In addition to being PI on CyberMiSTS, a project to identify what works in teacher PD & curriculum for cybersecurity in middle school, I am on the advisory board of the Cybersecurity degree program at my local community college.  Industry that understands that community colleges are delivering "work ready, day one" graduates are interested in getting involved in program development and update.  But some companies (possibly sectors?) seem slow to realize the benefit of 2 year technical education vs. 4 year traditional college.  Have you encountered this, and if so, have you had any success in changing the mindset in Corporate America?

Please take a look at the Showcase video for the CyberMiSTS project - perhaps there may be some synergy with your future work?

Thank you for your video, and the work behind it. I'm curious about how students are responding to the new expectations -- are they scared, excited, both? Does this approach make sense to them? Are there parts of this approach that are harder or easier for them to manage?

Nice video! I have been reading reports from consulting firms that highlight the significant role augmented and virtual reality will have in many jobs including with technicians. Are you seeing the companies you partner with implementing this technology? If so, what experiences prepare workers for engaging with this technology in their roles?

Can you share a little about how participants in the trainings will be placed into industry? I'm also curious how local needs are informing the kinds of trainings that are happening in associate degree programs. If a community college was interested in transforming their technician education program, what are some of the considerations that you would recommend, based on your experience.

Participants are placed into internships, apprenticeships or jobs in industry in part because of strong relationships between the college technical program and its faculty and local/regional employers.  Many technical faculty have come from industry and thus have the credibility to recommend good students to hiring managers and supervisors.  It can happen without partnerships,  but that's not ideal. Employer engagement -- in which there is open dialogue about what technology is changing, what's coming next -- is important. Not everybody knows how to cultivate these relationships, but the Employer Engagement Toolkit from the Advancing Credentials project is a really good place to start. I think they are also updating this toolkit at some point soon.

Hello Jameela 

I am Marilyn Barger and a member of the leadership team of this NSF ATE Project and am the PI of FLATE (ATE Center for Manufacturing in FL). Community and technical colleges work very close with their local industry to define KSA's needed. For small and short term needs, CC's would typically turn the job over to the short term training division to develop and deliver.  It the skills are missing from our technician graduates, we would work with industry to close that gap however was appropriate (new module in a course, a new course, new hands-on activity, and possibly a new program. We meet regularly and do much of the job placement right in the departments (by faculty).  

For transforming programs we always have to keep in mind a number of things; Here are the top considerations.

1. Are there jobs for my grads?  (we are required to do an economic study to support the need for a new program's grads and there have to be a sufficient # of jobs to make the program cost-effective

2. equipment, space, and other resource needs

3. Likelihood of attracting a FT faculty for the program

4. The lifecycle of the program (is just trendy - or filling a need for a short time?)

Is that the kind of information you were looking for?

And, thanks for visiting our video!

Really interesting project!  I chair the Civil Engineering Technology (CET) program at Springfield Technical Community College and we are conducting a program review that entails the topics of industry partnerships, stackable credentials, targeted certificates of completion, coordination with workforce development/non-credit classes, among many others.  CET is sometimes left out of the discussion of "high tech" or "future of work", being viewed as a more traditional field--one that does not evolve at the rate that others do.  This impacts interest in the field and especially stifles engagement with underrepresented groups.  Looking forward to doing more research about this initiative and would love to get involved as a community college educator and technology program lead!

Thanks for your interest, Beth. II'll can put you on an email list to receive updates and information about upcoming activities, if you wish.  

I have a question you might be able to help me with: As technology evolves and new skills are integrated into 4-year engineering programs, are you seeing some skills moving down into the two-year CET programs? 

S'great to recognize the role of technicians in the future and to partner with companies to have you finger on the pulse of what will be needed. What kind of data does this project produce?  What constructs constitute your underlying theoretical approach? How do you operationalize those constructs? Measure them? Analyze them? How do they address your research questions? How do your findings re-integrate into the continuing development of your program?