There’s a huge benefit to conducting a DACUM and mapping data results, according to Mark Hendrickson, dean of manufacturing at Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC), in Eau Claire, Wis. “It helps us see if a program aligns with industry needs,” he says. “Technical colleges rely on advisory committees, but DACUM mapping provides a more detailed look at curriculum, allowing us to identify curriculum gaps by comparing program competencies with workforce needs.”
CVTC’s associate degree Nanoscience program was established in 2005 as a one-of-a-kind offering in Wisconsin. Through recent DACUM occupational analyses, CVTC better ensures program competencies meet evolving workforce needs. Nanotechnology is a rapidly emerging field, characterized by constant changes in nanotechnology related occupations. While CVTC first developed its Nanoscience program using the DACUM process, the College recently launched new DACUMs to identify the occupational duties and tasks that have emerged since 1995. In doing so, CVTC successfully keeps pace with changes in needed occupational skills.
Occupational Analyses – DACUM – Unveiling Needed Workforce Skills
“One of the ways to keep pace with changes in the occupation is to conduct ongoing career searches to see what jobs are available, and enhance those findings with the occupational duties and tasks unveiled by the DACUM process,” says Hendrickson. “We are working with our Nano-Link and National Science Foundation grant partners to conduct this ongoing career search, as well as working to align our Nanoscience program with regional and identifiable jobs.” Nano-Link is a group of colleges and industry partners in the Midwest focused on promoting nanotechnology education at multiple grade levels.
By this spring, CVTC’s Nanoscience curriculum will be revised to ensure alignment with the workforce skills identified as a result of three DACUMs – biotechnology, nano materials and industrial laboratory technology.
DACUMs aren’t Easy – WIDS Lends a Hand
Area employers, CVTC faculty, and Dakota County Technical College, in Rosemount, Minn., worked together to complete the DACUMs. During the biotechnology DACUM, WIDS consultant Terri Johnson collaborated with CVTC faculty and 10 companies from the Madison area. WIDS consultants are often called on to help organizations conduct, facilitate and analyze DACUM occupational analyses, according to Hendrickson.
“Terri walked us through the process and options of how WIDS could help,” says Hendrickson. “She facilitated the DACUM, walked instructors through the process, and formatted the data in a useable form.”
“We looked at the duties and tasks performed in biotechnology,” adds Johnson, who used WIDS Software to develop an Analyzer report matrix of the DACUM data. “Then, working with CVTC’s teaching faculty, we linked those tasks to courses in the Nanoscience program and to competencies in the courses. We looked for content that might be missing or unintentionally overlapping in the curriculum, which helped to determine where revision or enhancement was needed.”
Results of DACUMs
“There were many common competencies within the three DACUMs,” adds Hendrickson, “but the majority of those competencies were addressed in the lab technician skill-set.” Graduates of CVTC’s Nanoscience program have the skills necessary to operate nano equipment, prepare samples and collect data. Once the current program is enhanced as a result of the DACUMs, graduates will also have the option of transferring credits into a four-year program in applied science, engineering technology and engineering technician. “The colleges that have nano programs show that 30 to 40 percent of graduates move onto a four-year degree,” says Hendrickson.
But perhaps the biggest boon to curriculum revision will be that graduates of the program will be better prepared to handle a variety of jobs in micro and nano fabrication, industrial medical laboratory technology, biotechnology, food processing, laboratory testing, genetics and genomics research, and more …
By ensuring alignment of Nanoscience curriculum competencies to needed occupational duties and tasks, graduates are prepared to move into the workforce upon graduation – in a variety of occupations – or to pursue a four-year degree in a related field of study.
What is Nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of systems at the molecular/atomic scale. Although it isn’t a well-known science, nanotechnology is in demand …
“BCC Research estimates the global market for nanotechnology products at about $15.7 billion in 2010, growing to approximately $26.7 billion by 2015,” according to www.reportlinker.com. Nanotechnology products include a new material called graphene – a thin flake of ordinary carbon – just one atom thick, yet 100 times as strong as steel. The thinnest and strongest material ever produced, graphene outperforms all other known materials as a conductor of heat and may be used in transparent touch screens, light panels and solar panels. In the future, it may also be used to produce cars, airplanes and satellites.
Through nanotechnology, fabrics can be made stain resistant, cars and airplanes lighter, and skin creams better able to penetrate skin layers.
Lending a DACUM Hand
How WIDS Facilitates the DACUM Process
WIDS Consultants are expert DACUM facilitators. They not only help set up the DACUM, and facilitate the process, they analyze the data to create a clear snapshot of duties and tasks. Then they create validation surveys and help faculty ensure program competencies link directly to needed occupational skills!
WIDS will:
- Conduct research to prepare for the DACUM
- Facilitate one- or two-day DACUM sessions with industry and college representatives
- Generate online validation surveys and tally results
- Generate DACUM charts of duties and tasks
- Work with faculty to revise curriculum accordingly