The MechTech project will employ both a DACUM process and a Modified Delphi study to identify competencies related to mechatronics curriculum that will later lead to the creation of educational standards for maritime mechatronics.
The DACUM will bring together a panel of industry craftspeople to identify the duties, tasks, knowledge, skills, traits, and tools used in maritime mechatronics. The Delphi study will use a panel of experts from industry and academia to identify related competencies, and through three rounds will identify essential indicators.
Individuals for the modified Delphi will be engineers and engineering technologists who work with mechatronics systems in the maritime industry. Their background will be in areas such as marine electrical technicians, marine electrical technicians, maritime technologists, mechanical engineering technology, and electrical engineering technology.
In addition to the Modified Delphi study, we will engage in formative and summative evaluation that focuses on measuring progress by the new mechatronics program towards achieving desirable outcomes. The main focus will be on program outcomes, including: How did the program impact teachers and students? To what extent did the outcomes relate to the established goal of the program? Baseline data on each of the evaluation questions will be collected at the beginning of the project period, and will be recollected on an annual basis. These data will inform both the formative (e.g., student demographics, student surveys, institutional course records, and enrollments), and summative evaluations (e.g., student follow up surveys). The objectives for MechTech as well as the evaluation measures and timeline follow.
