Identifying the professional competencies needed by secondary and post-secondary electronics teachers to participate in Tech-Prep programs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the professional competencies needed by electronics teachers at the secondary and post-secondary levels to participate effectively in Tech-Prep programs. For this purpose, a panel of ten national Tech-Prep experts participated in a two-round semi-structured telephone interview process. These experts were identified through a nomination process based on their perceived expertise about Tech-Prep and their involvement and/or interests in the initiative. From the first round of interviews, 274 competency statements were generated. These were synthesized into 141 competencies and sorted into fifteen categories, namely: academic, technical, contextual and applied learning, articulation, assessment, cooperative teaching and learning, curriculum, guidance and counseling, teacher as a change agent, integration, learning and teaching styles, management (and quality concepts), partnership, philosophy/paradigm, and resources. Of the 141 competencies, 129 had mean ratings greater than eight on a scale of one-to-ten, with ten indicating high perceived degree of importance. Furthermore, 60 of the 129 competencies had mean ratings of nine or higher, thus representing a perceived high degree of importance. Demographic information on the panel members indicated that five of them directed federal Tech-Prep pilot projects. A comparison of their mean responses, however, indicated no significant differences in their ratings of 131 out of 141 (92.3%) competencies, thus indicating a high degree of consensus in the ratings. The results showed that electronics instructors at the secondary and postsecondary levels need to be able to integrate both academic and other technical subjects with the electronics curriculum. Solid backgrounds in both technical and academic content were paramount to success in Tech-Prep programs. Concepts of applied learning and partnerships were also considered critical to teacher preparation. Some recommendations for future research include: determining the effectiveness of the identified competencies in enhancing teacher preparation for Tech-Prep programs and on student achievement; to determine whether or not the identified competencies could be used as a criteria for recruiting teachers, or teacher education students; and to determine whether the ratings of the competencies will differ significantly if a different population is used, or over a period of time.