Since 1991, the problem-based learning (PBL) approach has been incorporated into the distance education program culminating in a Bachelor of Building degree from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Newcastle, Australia. The Newcastle conceptual PBL model for on-campus courses was adapted to the special needs of distance learners. The…

A project was conducted to design and pilot a scheme for monitoring trade/industry/commerce technological changes and reporting them to Technical and Further Education (TAFE) teachers and authorities. A matrix of information categories was used to facilitate the collection and storage of information relative to technological advancements in the…

Patterned after a previously successful Laborers-Associated General Contractors model named the Construction Skills Training Program, a demonstration project was implemented at five regional training centers. At least eight courses were created, combined, or revised. Four full-length audiovisual support pieces were completed. Three courses were…

This report describes an Indiana project to develop occupational matrices in six vocational service areas--agribusiness, business and office, health, home economics, marketing and distribution, and trades and industries. (These matrices cluster industry-verified job titles in an occupational field on the basis of task commonality.) These…

The Ventures in Community Improvement (VICI) demonstration, a national research and demonstration program, was designed to test the effectiveness of a youth employment program in various settings. Eight VICI programs, each of which enrolled up to 60 unemployed, out-of-school, economically disadvantaged youths between the ages of 16 and 19, were…

This pamphlet provides a hierarchy of skills, from those most often used in the craft trades to those less frequently used, indicating the extent to which these skills are used by workers in 24 different occupational groups. The pamphlet also provides a secondary school vocational model for craft trades along with lists of the identified skills.…

A two-phase curriculum project was undertaken in Illinois to develop, test, and implement a two-year competency-based model for the education of secondary school building construction teachers in the area of residential structures. During the first contract period, skill and knowledge competencies were identified and validated for thirteen units…

A project was undertaken to formulate a fast-track model for developing curriculum that recognizes the needs of special target groups in industrial arts programs in Florida middle schools. During the project, two groups of key teachers and supervisors from four districts within the state of Florida met in short brainstorming sessions to develop,…

Part of a project to expand and improve the occupational options of low-income women, this program model (one of thirty nationwide) describes classroom training and work experience in the building maintenance skilled trade areas (maintenance and repair of electrical machinery, construction carpentry, plastering, painting, and papering). Part I, an…