Basic Science and Mathematics: Which Topics Are Most Needed?
The engineering technology faculty at Wake Technical College undertook a study in the fall of 1978 to determine if our basic science and mathematics offerings were relevant to graduates' needs on the job. Since 1964, when Wake admitted its first engineering technology students, the engineering technology division had expanded to six fully accredited two year associate degree curricula with over 200 students enrolled. Feedback from employers and graduates indicates that the curricula are equipping graduates with the necessary entry ¬level skills. The explosion in technological information, however, has placed demands on two year ET curricula to include more state of the art subjects at the expense of fundamental science and mathematics subjects. Since only a limited number of topics can be covered in two years, ET curriculum planners must scrutinize subject matter to ensure that it does help to prepare students for jobs as science and engineering technicians, and to avoid technical obsolescence as their field changes.
We surveyed graduates of Wake's six ET programs and their employers to learn what they considered the basic science and mathematics topics most needed by engineering technicians on the job. We also sought to obtain comments about topics not listed on the survey which may be needed.
Of the 697 participants selected to receive our questionnaire, 470 had graduated from one of the six ET programs at Wake from 1969 through 1977, and 227 were employers of graduates of these programs. The questionnaire was drafted by a group of department heads and a second group of people involved with two and four year ET programs nationwide.
Results
Table 1 summarizes the basic science and mathematics topics needed by engineering technicians, as determined by the 29 percent of the enployers and 23 percent of the graduates who responded to the questionnaire. The findings are based on response patterns for a given item in which at least the group of employers or the group of graduates agreed with the combined group of respondents by a majority response in eitherthe essential (E), desirable (X) or not needed ( ) categories.
1) The strongest support for the items under mechanics came from respondents in the architectural, chemical, civil engineering, and industrial engineering technologies.
2) The items under the fundamentals of electricity/electronics were unani¬mously supported by respondents in the computer, electronic engineering, and industrial engineering technologies.
3) All groups of respondents supported the study of the general theory of
light, but only the electronic engineering technology respondents indicated support for all the items under light.
4) The study of the items under sound was supported by three groups of respondents: architectural, computer, and electronic engineering technologies.
5) All groups of respondents supported the study of heat.
6) Modern physics was important only to responding chemical technicians and electronic engineering technicians.
7) Only the chemical technology respondents supported the study of the chemistry subjects.
8) Items listed under biology were needed only by chemical technicians.
9) Civil engineering technicians were the only group who needed a knowledge of all the items under geology.
10) The two items under data processing were important to all but architectural technicians.
11) The study of algebra, trigonometry, logarithms, geometry, analytic geometry, and calculus was supported by all respondents.
12) The chemical, civil, electronic, and industrial engineering technology respondents indicated support for the items under statistics.
At the end of the questionnaire, the study participants were given the opportunity to make further comments, such as to be more specific with regard to certain topics or to list further topics they thought should be included.
In general, their comments addressed specific skills and knowledge required by technicians to do well in their jobs. The comments did reflect an awareness of the rapidly changing requirements in engineering technology and an appreciation of the value of basic science and mathematics in keeping abreast of these changes.
In addition to determining the basic science and mathematics topics most needed by engineering technicians, the study revealed several other trends:
Graduates and employers in all six engineering technology fields indicated that a knowledge of mathematics ranging from algebra to calculus was important for engineering technicians. The extent to which a certain mathematical topic was important depended upon its direct usefulness in solving day to day problems on the job. Support for the study of other mathematical topics resulted from a need for a foundation in mathematics which would afford the technician an opportunity to keep abreast of technological changes, as well as to develop analytical skills.
The respondents believed that an engineering technician needs a knowledge of basic science topics, which provide a foundation for applying skills and knowledge in their particular field. For example, chemical technicians indicated support for a study of the basic science of chemistry. Electronic technicians, on the other hand, indicated an interest in the fundamentals of electricity and electronics that explain the electrical phenomena associated with the application of electronics and electricity.
In the case of data processing, all participants except those in architectural technology believed that a knowledge of at least one scientific programming language was important. In addition, respondents indicated an interest in the study of COBOL.
Analysis of the response patterns of employers and graduates showed that graduates were more supportive of a knowledge of basic science and mathematics topics. Employers, on the other hand, tended to support only those topics that
were immediately useful in solving day to day problems. This difference in response patterns can be attributed to the desire of engineering technicians to stay abreast of technological change, while their employers appear interested primarily in the knowledge and skills that contribute to immediate productivity.
This entry was posted
on 10:49 PM
.
You can leave a response
and follow any responses to this entry through the
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.
Posts
8 comments