Highly-skilled, well trained technicians are the backbone of the high-tech world in which we live. Many of these technicians receive their education from two-year technical schools and community colleges which offer associate degrees in a wide variety of engineering-technology areas. Prospective employers desire technicians who are well versed not only in their chosen specialty but also in other important skills. Among these skills are problem solving, the ability to work in teams, the ability to communicate ideas both orally and in written form and the ability to use modern data gathering and analysis tools. The FTCC Technical Physics Project seeks to create an environment where technical students learn physics concepts and develop other desirable technical skills as well. A number of flexible modules will be developed which use activity-centered learning techniques to teach the physics concepts and problem-based learning to teach and foster these other desirable skills. Each module will introduce or build skill in the use of modern data gathering and analysis tools, lead students to solve "real world" problems in working teams, provide the opportunity for students to discuss the problems and solutions within their teams as well as with other students in the class and in other classes (via the internet) and write formal technical reports based on their findings. It is believed that this total immersion technique will lead to increased retention and understanding of the physics concepts and a high degree of success in the workplace. The modules themselves will be developed by teams of faculty representing physics engineering technologies, mathematics and English and representatives from industry advisory boards. They will be field tested at two-year colleges in North Carolina, South Carolina and Michigan.
