UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Office of Educational Assessment
Program Evaluation Division		 Updated 05/27/2003

Puget Sound Consortium for Manufacturing Excellence (PSCME)
 
EVALUATION SUMMARY

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
 

The Puget Sound Consortium for Manufacturing Excellence (CME) is a dynamic education-industry partnership working towards building the connection between manufacturing technology education, student career goals, and private sector demand. The CME, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for three years (2001-2004), is working with its partners to revise and develop a manufacturing technology curriculum based on existing industry skill standards. The manufacturing technology curriculum will provide for customization of instruction for students, potentially leading to degree obtainment. CME partner institutions and industry will have the ability to integrate CME curriculum modules into their programs. Professional development activities will be offered to instructors on the design and implementation of the manufacturing technology curriculum system. The CME will also assist high schools, tech prep programs, colleges and universities in promoting manufacturing career opportunities to their students.


PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
  Objective 1: Manufacturing Technology Curriculum. Deploy a manufacturing technology curriculum that will ensure that graduates of manufacturing programs can meet national skill standards.

Objective 2: Professional Development. Promote professional development of high school instructors, college faculty and manufacturing trainers by providing high quality instruction on the use and application of CME instructional products.

Objective 3: Articulation. Present a plan for curriculum articulation and interaction between high schools, community and technical colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and industry.


EVALUATION PLAN
  Goals for Evaluation Plan. Program evaluation activities provide the Consortium for Manufacturing Excellence (CME) with evaluative information to support judgments about program merit and utility. This information will guide decisions concerning program continuation and expansion, and ultimately adoption of the manufacturing technology curriculum by both regional and national instructional sites. The evaluation plan for year 1 is presented in Table 1. Regarding the Manufacturing Technology Curriculum objective, the establishment of baseline data for student enrollment in Washington State college programs with the Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code of 480501 was central to the first year evaluation plan. The 2001-2002 Evaluation Report summarizes the year 1 evaluation findings.

The evaluation plan for year 2 is presented in Table 2. Objectives 1, 2, and 3 above were addressed during year 2. Regarding the Manufacturing Technology Curriculum objective, a curriculum review of CME partner institutions was conducted to identify training gaps to inform the development of new training modules. Two Tri-Institute Summer Conferences were held for K-12 teachers and college instructors to address Objective 2, Professional Development. Regarding Objective 3, Articulation, focus group research and student field trips were conducted to create interest in manufacturing technology careers and obtain information useful for recruitment and retention strategies. Also in the interest of the Articulation objective, an interview with the director of a college recruitment program that targets students of diverse ethnic backgrounds was conducted. The 2002-2003 Evaluation Report highlights the evaluation findings for these activities.

For more detailed information about the preceding evaluation activities please see the activity specific reports outlined below.


FINDINGS
 

Baseline Data
Baseline data of college manufacturing technology program enrollment among the CME partner institutions was collected. The data was collected for post-program comparison purposes to determine to what extent CME activities have an impact on college manufacturing technology program enrollments. This data is summarized in the presentation linked below.

Professional Development
The K-12 teachers and college instructors at the Tri-Institute Summer Conferences were surveyed about their perceptions of this professional development experience. The results of these surveys are reported below.

Articulation
The purpose of the focus group research was to inform the development of recruitment and retention strategies for diverse students. Three focus groups were conducted including two groups by Shoreline Community College with parents and industry leaders as participants, and one group by the University of Washington Office of Educational Assessment with participants who were women re-entering the workforce. Presented below are the detailed report of the women’s group and the executive summary of the findings for all three groups.

The CME created field trips for middle school and high school students to promote interest in manufacturing technology careers among students, and to build relationships between schools and colleges. The results of the student surveys that inquired about student learning and enjoyment of the field trips are presented in the following reports.

To gather information for recruitment and retention of diverse students, the CME is gathering input from established college recruitment and retention programs. Based on an interview with the director of one such program, important lessons learned are summarized below.

Copyright© 2003 UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Office of Educational Assessment