The identification of metallurgical and material testing competencies desirable for employment levels in metal manufacturing industries with implications for curriculum development

Curriculum revision must be an ongoing aspect of every educational institution. The constantly changing technological society has placed a heavy burden not only on our educational system but also on the changing character of today's work force. Because of automation, electronics, and specialization, industrial job content is changing rapidly. Education must, therefore, be relevant in order to meet the manpower needs of today and tomorrow. In order for this revision to take place, input from a variety of sources, industry in particular, is imperative.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to identify specific metallurgical and material testing competencies that are desirable for employment levels in metal manufacturing industries and (2) to place the identified competencies in priority of perceived importance for use in educational training programs.

A team of six experts, all with extensive manufacturing experience, assisted in the development of a survey questionnaire consisting of 37 metallurgical and material testing competencies. Three instructional groups, Origin/Production of Metals, Physical Testing, and Non- Destructive Testing, were identified within the metallurgical spectrum of technical education. Three employment levels, operator, tradesman, and technician, were also identified within Maine metal manufacturing industries. These three employment levels paralleled the output products of Maine's educational institutions (i.e., Industrial Arts and Vocational iv

High Schools = Operator; Vocational-Technical Institutes = Tradesman; and University Industrial and Vocational-Technical Programs = Technician).

Through a state publication entitled 1976 Maine Marketing Directory, which listed all Maine manufacturing industries through the Standard Industrial Classification System, a stratified random sample was drawn as the target population. Handcarrying the questionnaires to these Maine firms allowed for firsthand explanation of the research and data gathering.

Four levels (3,2,l,0) of importance were used to rate each of the competencies. Statistical means were computed for each of the lll data cells. The foregoing enabled the researcher to prioritize all the competencies in terms of degrees of importance at each instructional level and for each level of employment. Statistical means were also computed for each instructional level at each level of employment.

Standard deviations were computed to indicate variances in responses. Analysis of variance and t tests were calculated to indicate if significant differences did exist between employment levels and within instructional groups, respectively.

Analysis of each of the 37 competencies in terms of degrees of importance for the employment levels of operator, tradesman, and technician enabled conclusions to be drawn as to which educational institution was best suited to produce the needed employees and what metallurgical competencies these future employees should possess. Means also computed for each instructional area enabled the researcher to identify areas of instruction relating to metallurgy that were in

vi demand by Maine metal manufacturing industries for the purpose of obtaining relevant up-to-date curriculum revision materials for use by the educational institutions within the state of Maine.

It was found in 36 of the 37 competencies that significant differences existed between the three employment levels. Significant differences also were found when comparing instructional groups with levels of employment.

The results of the study established the priority order of competencies in the metals curriculums.