Tech Directions - January 2008 - (Page 7)

Encouraging Teachers’ Creativity Project-based assignments and experiential learning should replace some of the text- and test-based curricula now used in schools to foster student creativity, according to presenters at a Tacoma, WA, meeting, including officials of corporations in the area. Washington is the first place in the country, outside of New York City, to establish a group that will encourage creativity in teaching. Creativity Matters already has posted ideas for teachers on its website, and the privately financed group is backed by business people from the state. Officials at the Boeing Co. told the meeting that the firm’s job requirements include creativity and imagination, and employees can receive college tuition to study anything they want, not just courses related to their work. An organizer of the new creativity effort, Eric Liu, cited the programs at Aviation High School, a magnet school in south Seattle, as exemplifying the integration of math, science, and other subjects with hands-on, problemsolving experiences. course of study. They signed a contract committing to the program and to working at the campus for at least two years after it ends, to avoid having to reimburse the university for education expenses. The program pairs each apprentice with a mentor and includes 1,600 hours of on-the-job experience and 145 hours of classroom training each year. A local technical college, distance education, and university staff provide the instruction. The University of Virginia has had an apprenticeship program for 25 years and has excellent retention rates. (Of the 16 graduates in the first program, 14 are still employed by the university.) Other campuses have short-term apprentice programs to give in-house employees opportunities to learn new skills. An advantage of the homegrown programs, according to university officials, is that they create loyalty to the institution that offers the workers greater opportunities and cut down on turnover rates. Colleges Educating Their Own Skilled Trades Employees Many of the nation’s college and university campuses are educating their own because of shortages of skilled personnel to maintain their building and grounds, according to a report in Inside Higher Ed. Several factors led to decisions to have such programs, many of which have been in existence for two decades or more. Colleges are facing competition for skilled trades employees such as carpenters, electricians, heating and ventilation mechanics, and plumbers. Wages in the private sector are higher, so even if the campuses hire workers, turnover is a problem. Also, current employees tend to be in their middle years, so the campuses anticipate significant retirements not too far in the future. The article describes a new program at West Virginia University, where the first class (of eight students) is beginning a four-year www.techdirections.com WASHINGTON 7 http://www.g-w.com http://www.g-w.com http://www.techdirections.com

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Tech Directions - January 2008

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