APPLIED ACADEMICS AND WORKPLACE SKILLS

The following Applied Academic Skills general statements were developed in cooperation with the Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States (V-TECS). The process involved using the NATEF task list and the Basic/Essential Skills Taxonomy developed at Arizona State University by Dr. Lester Snyder.

Committee meetings were held in the following four cities: Beaverton, Oregon; Bessemer, Alabama; Clayton, Ohio; and Melrose Park, Illinois. At each of the meetings, ASE Certified truck technicians were used as experts in the automotive service industry. V-TECS used experts in three academic areas (language arts, mathematics, and science) to help the committees understand the specific definitions of the concepts used in the taxonomy.

The committees were asked to identify the academic skills required to perform each task listed in the eight truck areas. Their responses were recorded using the Basic/Essential Skills Taxonomy codes and were put into a data base. After all the meetings were completed, a composite or unduplicated list of the codes was generated for language arts, mathematics, and science. Specific statements related to the use of the academic skill in the automotive industry were then written. A matrix was built to show the relationship between the composite list and each of the eight truck areas. The general statements included in this manual were developed from the specific statements. Several cross-checks and reviews were conducted to ensure the accuracy of the statement and the relationship to the NATEF task list.

The Workplace Skills List was generated by having the committees identify the workplace skills from the V-TECS/ILLINOIS WORKPLACE SKILLS LIST that are important for employment as a truck technician.

** Please contact the NATEF office to order the Applied Academics and Workplace Skills for Truck Technicians book. This book includes the unduplicated list of applied academic skills in all eight truck areas, complete with statements of their use by truck technicians; the matrix; the definitions of the Basic/Essential Skills codes; the general narrative statements; the Workplace Skills List; and the NATEF Task List.

The information in the book will provide a common vocabulary for instructors and administrators to use in achieving academic and vocational skill standards. This information can be used by programs to document the academic skills taught in automotive technical classes. The examples for teaching an academic concept in an applied context will also be useful for schools when planning, designing, or writing curricula. **