Evaluation of the Work-Based Learning Courses in the Manufacturing Technology Program in a Community College (2011)

The primary concern of this evaluation was to improve the usefulness of the work-based learning components in the Manufacturing Technology program in a community college. This study employed semi-structured individual interviews with students, faculty, and work-site supervisors to determine the degree to which work-based learning courses have achieved their objectives and to make recommendations for improvement. Valuable data were generated through the cross interview analysis with interview data. Overall, most of the responses to the interview questions were very positive and optimistic about this program and worksite learning. Evidence was provided to support the successful accomplishment of the objectives. Such evidence also implied the good quality of this program. In addition, several issues or themes were identified to improve this program. Introduction The drastic change and fierce competition in the world economy, as a result of automation and globalization, has increased the demand of the high skill workers (Pfeffer, 1994). And such circumstances have made the U.S. government realize the need for more competent human resources to meet such demands and the need to start paying more attention to career and technical education (Lewis, 2001). Eventually, the U.S. Congress passed the School-To-Work Opportunities Act in 1994. As an influence of the act, educators have made great efforts to develop work-based learning and provide more and better work-based learning opportunities for the students (National School-to-Work Office, 1996). Work-based learning is the learning that occurs at the job site and focuses mostly on work skills and knowledge and typical forms of work-based learning include job shadowing, service learning, paid work experience, unpaid internship, and school-based enterprise (Urquiola, Stern, Horn, Dornsife, Chi, Williams, Merritt, Hughes, & Bailey, 1997). Work-based learning and connecting activities encourage even closer connections between learning in school and in the workplace as job sites are thought to provide a more motivating context for learning for all students (Miller, 2003; Olsen, 1997; Raelin, 2008). Recognizing the importance of work-based learning, a community college has made efforts in expanding their work-based learning programs. However, no attempt has been done in evaluating usefulness of these programs. Evaluation Purpose and Questions This study was aimed at evaluating the work-based learning components in the Manufacturing Technology program in a community college by determining the degree to which work-based learning courses have achieved their objectives. The information obtained from this evaluation was used to suggest new directions for improving the work-based learning courses. In order to address the purpose of this study, two evaluation questions were asked. 1. What are the objectives of the course and how well are they being met? 2. In what ways might the course be changed to meet the objectives of the course better? Evaluation Design and Methods This study employed semi-structured individual interviews (Merriam, 2009) and document analysis (Schwandt, 2001) to gather the necessary qualitative research data in order to know how well the objectives of the course are being met. In creating interview questions, Patton's (2008) utilization-focused evaluation framework was adopted. Four students were purposefully selected for interview with an intensity sampling strategy (Creswell, 2006). Two of them were the students who had positive attitudes about the course and perform well in the course. Others were the students who had negative attitudes about the course and perform poorly in the course. Their status and classification were obtained in consultation with the program chair of the community college studied. Students are the main targets of the course objectives which should reflect and meet student needs and desires. …