South Carolina Advanced Technological Education (SC ATE) Center: Evaluating a Curriculum Reform Initiative

After BMW located in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, bringing in tow many parts suppliers, the state's economy transitioned rapidly from an agricultural and textile economy to a technology-based economy. The state's education systems struggled to respond to the new and growing demand for a skilled workforce, and education leaders developed a systemic reform initiative designed to boost the production of associate degree in engineering technology graduates from the state's system of 16 technical colleges.

These two-year colleges lacked capacity and resources to research, design and develop curricula, assessment standards and practices aligned with the needs of the industry. Investment in faculty and curriculum development was limited, so the colleges lacked adequate learner support systems. Faculty had limited access to the workplace and limited understanding of the industries they were training for. Business leaders did not engage with faculty in instructional design.

The colleges lacked an industry scholarship-based recruitment and internship program to identify and grow potential employees. Students were poorly informed and advised about employment opportunities and the expectations of employers.

The statewide reform initiative developed programs and approaches that addressed these needs as well as an abiding infrastructure for coordinating the colleges in strategic planning, research and development, and demonstration and dissemination of best practices in engineering education.

Longitudinal Research Tool

The South Carolina Advanced Technological Education (SC ATE) needed a qualified external evaluator for its six-year, $5 million, NSF-supported curriculum reform initiative aimed at improving the retention rate of its engineering technology students. The Center turned to AED, the chief architect of the successful grant proposal, to collect and analyze the longitudinal performance data as part of an external summative evaluation of the Center.

The Center wanted a confidential and secure mechanism to track the results of its engineering students' interest and success in the revised engineering courses. AED researchers responded with an online student survey and reporting tool protected by the highest levels of Internet security.

Students completed the surveys at the beginning and end of each semester over a five-year period. Participating faculty administered the surveys in computer labs or at computer stations located in their classrooms.

After the students had completed their online surveys (by clicking the "Submit" button), SC ATE staff had immediate, real-time access 24/7 to automatically analyzed summary reports using multiple selection criteria to query the database. For example, staff could select a specific demographic, such as Hispanic female students working part time in 2001, and view the results generated within seconds because this query capability had been pre-programmed. The application also tracked the progress of data entry by reporting on the total number of surveys received grouped according to college.

AED used other data collection methods to triangulate their research findings:

• Web-based faculty survey
• Faculty interviews and surveys
• Site visits
• Class observations
• Informal focus groups
• Literature review
• Analysis of state- and institution-provided student demographic and course achievement data

The SC ATE approach has been adapted and replicated throughout the state, and also in Texas, Connecticut and Kentucky. AED's final evaluation report and survey results for the South Carolina program can be downloaded here. (PDF File Size: 730 KB).

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