FY 2001 Professional Development Grant Results
In fiscal year 2000-2001, all colleges were
invited to submit a proposal for innovative and practical professional
development projects that would result in the improvement of the vocational and
technical education curriculum. Below is a brief summary of each funded project
by category.
For more information or a copy of any product growing out of the project, please
contact the person indicated.
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| Vocational/Technical
Curriculum Improvement Project – Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community
College. The
project had two major objectives that were carried out through faculty
participation in online, self-paced professional development courses.
They were creating an awareness of opportunities to improve
vocational/technical instruction and developing skills for improving that
instruction by connecting to student learning style preferences and
organizing instruction around student outcomes Contact: Rusty Holmes |
| Project
Access II - College of the Albemarle College failed to report. Contact: Andrea R. Williams |
| Fostering
Teaching Skills in Health, Business, Engineering, and Other Applied
Science Degrees – Forsyth Technical Community College.
It was proposed that release time would be provided for eighteen
faculty members to participate in a forty-hour workshop on using
state-of-the-art teaching techniques utilizing an array of technology. An overwhelming response led to sixty-one participants.
The workshop is continuously being revised and is being set up as
part of a Faculty Development Resource Center.
It is also being implemented at three other community colleges in
the state Contact: Dr. Susan Q. Phelps |
| Improved
Employment Skills through Cooperative Learning – Mitchell Community
College. Faculty received training on the use of cooperative learning
in the technical classroom. They
developed and applied strategies for evaluating the cooperative learning
process and applied the five basic elements of cooperative learning
(positive interdependence, face-to-face promotive interaction, individual
accountability, and group processing). Contact: Dr. Ralph Soney |
| Teaching
Tools and Resources for the 21st Century – Southeastern
Community College. The
project’s goals were to build an instructional model for teaching
courses in a vocational or technical field, to use that model to meet
levels of course competency, and to then adapt the model to individual
courses. Thirteen curriculum
areas were represented. Five vocational and technical instructors from other colleges
along with five instructors and administrators from the host college
gathered information from local businesses and industries to assist in the
development of the instructional model. Contact: Al Phillips |
| A
Comprehensive Professional Development Program for Faculty Teaching
Vocational/Engineering Programs – Wake Technical Community College.
A problem faced by many community colleges is that many of their
vocational instructors, while being knowledgeable and competent in their
fields, are not accomplished teachers.
This project assisted new faculty in developing teaching
strategies, provided training in student retention, established a daylong
instructors’ conference, and published a faculty manual.
With this process now created, state and local funds will continue
to present introductory workshops for new faculty, assist them in methods
of retaining and/or redirecting students, and hold annual instructors’
conferences Contact: Janet Hobbs |
| Freshman
Faculty Mentor and Orientation Project - Wilkes Community College.
The college provided an in-depth orientation system for each new
vocational and technical education instructor by establishing a direct
linkage to a mentor for comprehensive professional development.
A comprehensive orientation system, including an updateable CD, was
developed as was a replicable mentoring system. Contact: Morris West |
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| Sandhills
Online Faculty training – Sandhills Community College.
Twenty-six workshops were held to train vocational/technical
instructors to become part of the Community College System’s Virtual
Learning Community. Program
specific training was then offered to faculty in more than eleven
programs. Faculty from six
other colleges attended the workshops and a presentation was made at the
System-wide Instructors’ Conference.
Thirteen new distance courses were developed through this effort
and ten more courses added an Internet component. Contact: Buddy Spong |
| Web
Based Training and Mentoring Skills for Online Instructional Faculty -
Stanly Community College. The project dealt with two aspects of online
courses – developing the courses and coaching and mentoring online
students. A
“Train-the-Trainers” team of faculty members underwent formal
web-based instructional design and development training and developed a
“Handbook For Learning The Fundamentals of Web Based Instructional
Design and Development.” The
manual was placed on the college’s website and is in the process of
being converted to an online course for all full time and adjunct faculty Contact: Robin McCree |
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| Instructional
Support and Teaching Resources Utilizing Cutting-edge Technology (Project
INSTRUCT) – Coastal Carolina Community College. Four objectives were sought by the project.
Providing instructional skill development training of foundation
skills in teaching methodology for the adult learner, training in the
utilization of cutting-edge classroom equipment technology, training in
alternative delivery methods, including online instruction, and distance
learning orientation to student services support personnel to provide
information to assist in counseling students about programs, technical
requirements, and critical factors for online success. Contact: Marianne K. Herring |
| Classroom
Presentation Technology – Martin Community College. A computerized classroom instructional system was developed
for several vocational and technical programs.
Courses and programs using this format are now in the process of
development. Contact: Ronnie Jenkins |
| Implementing
Multimedia Technology for Instruction – Pitt Community College.
The objectives of this project were to provide basic and advanced
electronic presentation training to faculty, to require each participant
to make technology an integral methodology of at least one course and to
report results, and to collect and compile resources – personnel, sample
lessons, strategies for using technology – for statewide dissemination.
Following the training some faculty prepared CDs for sharing with
other instructors and colleges, some prepared PowerPoint presentations for
the Internet, and resources, tips, and references have been placed on the
college’s website for other colleges to use.
Process and results of the project have been presented at three
national conferences. Contact: Dr. Wanda Bunch |
| Blending
Teaching and Technology – Randolph Community College. Training was delivered to expand faculty proficiencies in
several instructional technologies. Activities
included were training in Go-Live, Macromedia, 3D Studio Viz, Flash 5, and
PowerPoint. Faculty knowledge
and skills on the Internet were improved through several specific training
sessions. A third objective was to improve faculty understanding of
today’s learner through several presentations of diversity training. Contact: Celia Hurley |
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| Development
of Short Term Technical Career Certificates - Central Piedmont Community
College. The objective of
the project was to establish a software- driven (Wisconsin Instructional
Developmental Software System) process utilizing curriculum integration to
develop short-term curriculum certificates.
This approach will allow a student to quickly develop academic and
“soft” skills, begin work, and then return to school while working to
receive another level of certification resulting in an employment upgrade. Contact: Gary Nelson |
| Health
Sciences Instructor Skills Enhancement Project – Fayetteville Technical
Community College. Several
segments of training were included in this project: problem-based
learning, case-based classroom methodology (leading to an improvement in
future student pass rates by 10% on national allied health boards),
digital radiography for all dental faculty, and dealing with a diverse
student body. Contact: Alisa E. Debnam |
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| Building
Instructional Technology Skills – Wayne Community College.
Vocational and technical instructors were given formal training in
computer applications and instructional technology. Short courses,
seminars, and workshops provided the training for faculty teaching in high
technology/communications programs. The modules were designed around current books and CDs and
courses in the Common Course Library of the N.C. Community College System. Contact: Dan Krautheim |