The Automotive Manufacturing and Technical Education Collaborative (AMTEC) builds on the synergies of an established industry-wide partnership between 33 community colleges and 19 automotive equipment manufacturers across eleven states. The Center has developed, tested and disseminated an industry-driven, standards-based, modularized automotive technology curriculum that addresses most of the competencies industry requires of technicians. Professional development is provided for community college faculty and high school teachers. The work is expanded by institutionalizing the AMTEC Career Pathway, the instructional and industry-endorsed collaboration models and by fostering an environment of evidence-based decision-making using analytics to sustain and improve performance. New strategies such as fault based scenarios, accelerated learning, use of simulators, and competency-based instruction are implemented.
AMTEC has developed and implemented an effective, efficient three-tiered process to assess student achievement. Pre and post module assessments measure student progress. End of course assessments are developed by industry as are certification examinations. The assessments provide information about how well students or industry candidates progress through the industry-defined occupational standards. The data provide the evidence to be used by partner colleges to improve their programming and curricula as AMTEC and they make decisions about what works with students. The Center gathers data on employer satisfaction with graduates.
The Center moves toward being a strong convener of automotive educators and the auto industry to provide professional development of faculty and teachers, standards, curricula, online resources, assessments and certificates that can be used by community colleges to educate the industrial maintenance and service technicians needed by the automotive industry.
