Developing and Implementing Hybrid Instruction to Increase the Access of Women and Adult Learners to Diesel Technology Training

The Alabama Department of Labor has identified Diesel Technicians as a high demand occupation and estimates that 3000 technicians will be hired over the next six years. Wallace State Community College will help to meet this need by revising and enhancing its Diesel Technician program to align with industrial needs and to put students on the path to quickly earn a credential that will result in employment. The college will leverage partnerships to build new virtual training opportunities that will make the program more accessible to students who need flexible learning options. An additional partnership with the National Institute of Women in Trades, Technology, and Sciences will increase the diversity of students entering the Diesel Technology program, ultimately providing more opportunities and jobs for women and adult learners. This project has the potential to establish a pathway to employment for individuals in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama. In addition, the project can decrease the potential negative impacts on supply-chain logistics that heavily rely on diesel technology for the transportation of groceries and farming supplies.

The revised Diesel Technician program will be designed to (1) improve student learning outcomes by aligning the curriculum with National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation standards, (2) implement a hybrid online content delivery model that will enable students to complete up to 75% of their coursework from remote locations, and (3) increase the number of graduates who are women and/or from populations that are not yet equitably represented in diesel technology fields. A Diesel Technology Business and Industry Leadership Team will work with college faculty to align the curriculum with the needs of employers. Students enrolled in the program will use virtual reality training to give them access to on-the-job training that would otherwise take place in a technical workshop. A digital coach in the virtual training modules will provide immediate feedback through Conversational Artificial Intelligence. Information gathered from this project will be shared and replicated among ten Wallace State STEM Career and Technical Education workforce programs. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.