This collaborative project between Old Dominion University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy, Marshall Community and Technical College and South Louisiana Community College is modernizing marine technology education in three major shipbuilding and maritime areas of the country. The project is developing instructional modules in lean six sigma, value stream engineering, green manufacturing and shipyard environmental footprint. The instructional modules utilize active learning instructional methodologies that have been documented to improve student learning. Fifteen community college faculty and sixty secondary school teachers are being trained in the use of these modules and subsequently integrating the modules into the curriculum at their respective institutions. The project has strong participation and support from major shipbuilding entities, including the Virginia Ship Repair Association and the American Society of Naval Engineers, who are providing input on the content and quality of the instructional modules. The project includes job placement activities for students interested in careers in shipbuilding. An independent evaluator is implementing formative and summative evaluation plans throughout the life of the project.
Marine Career Tech (McTech) : Outcome Report Location for Project Activities: Norfolk (Virginia), Huntington (West Virginia) and Lafayette (Louisiana). This project was intended to Technician Education Improvement & Attracting Students to STEM Careers in Shipbuilding and Marine Industry, in striving to reach the proposed project goals a well structured plan was laid each year to conduct activities for teachers and students. The activities include faculty enhancement and training to implement. Motivation for the McTech Project: • Aging workforce in shipbuilding and repair industry • Lack of awareness about the marine industry among students and teachers • Lack of instructional materials in community colleges relevant to marine industry • Work based experiences in marine industry for students Key Components: 1. Faculty Training: 45 community college faculty were trained at three locations with the use of marine kits and four instructional modules during year-1 summer workshops. 2. Teacher Training: 60 middle and HS teachers were trained at three locations with the use of Marine kits during years 2 & 3 summer workshops by selected community college faculty. 3. Instructional Modules:Four modules are being developed for technician education on topics like Lean-Six Sigma, Value Stream Engineering, Green Manufacturing and Shipyard Operations Environmental Footprint. 4. Career Days: Shipbuilding and Repair Career Days were organized in three major shipbuilding areas in the year 2 and year 3. These career Day had shipbuilding and repair hands-on activities, industry expo and shipyard tours Successfull accoplishment of McTech Project Objectives 1. Increasing relevance of technician education in modern practices. This was achieved through development of four instructional modules for community colleges: 1. Lean Six Sigma 2. Value Stream Engineering 3. Green Manufacturing 4. Shipyard Environmental Foot Prints 2. Equipping secondary school teachers with resources and professional development to improve mathematic and science instructions through project based activities in marine engineering and technology. Training in Marine Kits that are designed to target specific standards of learning in math, physical sciences and technology. At University of Louisiana at Lafayette 20 community college faculty each year were trained in the use of marine kits during the year 1. Selected faculty from this group will train middle and high school teachers in the following two years. 3. Attracting students towards Marine Engineering and Technology careers to meet the critical shortage of workforce in this area. This was achieved by organizing Career Day Events during year 2011 & 2013 in three major shipbuilding areas. Industry Expo: • Shipbuilding, repair and maritime companies like Nh G Northrop Grumman Newport News, Colonna’s Shipyard Inc, BAE Systems, MAERSK Line and Earl Industries etc.. • Government organizations like MARAD and OSHA MARAD and OSHA • Educational Institutes that offer Marine Engineering, Technology and Maritime Programs 4. Increasing awareness about career paths and job opportunities among school teachers / counselors and opportunities among school teachers / counselors andcommunity college faculty about shipbuilding and repair industry. This was achieved by summer workshops for school teachers / counselors and community college faculty. Summary: •McTech is a broad based approach to address work-force issue for marine industry • Addressed both K-12 and higher education • Model based successful shipbuilding and repair career day events
