A comparative study of the perceived educational needs of Iowa Merged Area VII manufacturers and Iowa technical educators

This research was a descriptive pilot study that compared the perceptions of Iowa Merged Area VII manufacturers and Iowa technical educators regarding technical curricula, occupational skill certification, and drafting practices as these relate to Associate Degree programs in Mechanical Drafting and Design Technology. The problem was to determine what should be taught in two year technical curricula in Mechanical Drafting and Design Technology. The purpose of the study was to compare the perceived educational needs of Iowa Merged Area VII manufacturers and Iowa technical educators regarding the content of Mechanical Drafting and Design Technology curricula. The populations used for this study were manufacturing industries located in Iowa Merged Area VII, and technical educators currently teaching in community colleges in the state of Iowa. Two independent samples were used for this research consisting of survey responses from the selected population of Merged Area VII manufacturing industries, and survey responses from technical educators in the state of Iowa. A survey instrument was developed in two versions, one for Iowa Merged Area VII manufacturing industries, and one for Iowa technical educators. Both versions of the survey instrument differed only in the content of the cover letter, instructions for completing each section of the instrument, and in the presence or absence of Section 1 eliciting demographic data from manufacturers. A research hypothesis (H$\sb1:\ \mu\sb1\ne\mu\sb2$) was established for each of the individual items in Section 2, Associate Degree Curriculum Components; Section 3, Drafting Practices; and Section 4, Occupational Skill Certification (excluding Item 4.9) of the survey instrument. The null hypothesis (H$\sb{\rm o}:\ \mu\sb1=\mu\sb2)$ that corresponded to the research hypothesis (H$\sb{\rm o}:\ \mu\sb1\ne\mu\sb2)$ for each item in Sections 2, 3, and 4 (excluding 4.9) of the survey instrument was tested by comparing the mean of all industry responses for each item with the mean of all educator responses for the same item using a two-tailed t test at the.05 level of significance. The results of the statistical analysis of the data were used to develop a curriculum in Mechanical Drafting and Design Technology that reflects a balance between the opinion of industry and educators, and that meets the expressed educational needs of Iowa Merged Area VII manufacturers