A COMPILATION AND STUDY OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY CURRICULA IN THE UNITED STATES WITH ANALYSIS OF THE FORCES BEARING ON THE CURRICULA A Dissertation for the Degree of Ed. D. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY Richard Lawrence Rinehart 196:6 IHESIS LIBRARY Michigan State University This is to certify that the thesis entitled A COI‘AF’ILATIOI‘I AND STUDY OE CIVIL ET‘ICI‘IEERING TECHNOLOGY CURRICULA IN THE UNITED STATES WITH ANALYSIS OF THE FORCES BEARING ON THE CUQQICULA presented bg Richard Lawrence Rinehart has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Docter of Educ. degree in Education ////£/ A/ Major professor Date September 30, I966 0-169 ABSTRACT A COMPILATION AND STUDY OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY CURRICULA IN THE UNITED STATES WITH ANALYSIS OF THE FORCES BEARING ON THE CURRICULA by Richard L. Rinehart This Is an attempt to compile a definition of the civil engineer- ing technician in terms of curriculum. The possible fields of study were Identified and the Institutions offering such programs in the United States were contacted. The total study was limited to those programs wherein the graduate would be assumed to work under the direct or general SUpervision of the civil engineer, thus eliminating electrical and other related pro- . grams. Those institutions offerlng such programs reported on the required and optional fields of study and on the number of classroom hours devoted to the fields of study. Approximately one hundred separate study areas were used. Additional surveys were made of the faculty backgrounds and student characteristics. A second major part of the study was the determination of the rel- ative forces affecting the curricula, such as government, professional societies, employers, school organization and students. The directions of these forces on the curricula were identified and some measure of the com- parative strengths or influences of the forces was made. Employers and . graduate technicians on the job in Michigan were Interviewed and a few other knowledgeable persons in nearby states were contacted. It was concluded that only a few basic fields of study are uni- formly required in significant amounts in all programs. These are basic mechanics, English, mathematics and elementary drawing and surveying tech- niques. Other fields of study are required in varying degrees, but a wide dispersion of effort was recorded on the various subjects. It was apparent that very little basic research has been done on a national basis in the field of civil engineering technology curricula; the individual programs in existence have generally been planned to meet local needs. The civil engi- neering technician is different from other engineering technicians, In that no single specialized study has been uniformly required in depth. There is lack of accepted leadership necessary for such programs and some degree of over-generalization in federal government publications. The American Society for Engineering Education and the Engineers' Council for Professional Development seem to have exerted the greatest amount of influence on the curriculum, while employers and students have had the least recorded effect. The work experience of some faculty members has shown a high correlation with courses taught in the field of surveying and construction, but not in highway work. The general conclusion was made that civil engineering technol0gy is not presently established as an identifiable curriculum in the United States, together with the observation that strong leadership from the civil engineering profession Is lacking. If such leadership is not provided, there is danger that the field of civil engineering technology could disintegrate. A COMPILATION AND STUDY OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY CURRICULA IN THE UNITED STATES WITH ANALYSIS OF THE FORCES BEARING ON THE CURRICULA A Dissertation .Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School .Michigan State University .ln Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by .Richard Lawrence Rinehart June I966 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was undertaken while the writer was teaching and supervising in a civil engineering technician program and has continued because of the interest in the field and concern over the future of civil engineering technology as a discipline. The completion of this research was possible only through the long and continued guidance sup- plied by Dr. Max S. Smith, as chairman of the doctoral committee. In addition, extremely valuable advice on educational research by Dr. John X. Jamrlch and authoritative Information as well as counsel regarding the field of civil engineering from Dr. Charles E. Cutts were received. In addition to the asSistance rendered by the members of the doctoral committee, the writer ls deeply indebted to Mr. John Overhouse, of The Michigan State Highway Department, and other officials of that organiza- tion for continuing assistance, particularly in regard to interviews of the technicians and supervisors in the Department. Mr. Philip Gannon, .of Lansing Community College, has also assisted. Many friends in the field of engineering have contributed moral support as well as specific assistance upon occasion. The writer is particularly lndebted to Mrs. LaVerne Douck for the considerable typing and assistance with matters of style. Finally, the study would not have been possible without the enthusiastic support of Mrs. Rinehart. This support has cost many hours of time away from home and family. III CHAPTER TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INPRCDUCTION TO THE STUDY AND NATURE OF THE PROBLEM . . A. B. C. D. Statement of the Problen mmortmpmblmeeeeeeeeeeee Definition of terms and Limitations of the Stuw Assumptions and Theoretical Development . . . . . . II. REVIEW OF PERI‘INENI‘ LITERATURE AND UNPUBLISHED STATEMENTS A. B. C. D. E. III. A. B. Government Sources Earperts and Consultants in the Field Professional Societies Accreditation Organisations . . Employers in Founding Societies CURRICUIA CQ‘IPILATION AND ANALYSIS . Methodology.......... Specific Study Area Analyses . 1. 2. 3. u. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Theoretical Mathematics . Applied Ntthomtica o o 0 e e e e Conunication and Social Sciences MS°1°n008eeeeeeeeee Materials and Preperties mnmmmcse e e e 0 Additional Engineering Sciences StmoturnlDoaign....... Specific Design Courses . . . . iv PAGE VO‘UNH 15 16 19 22 2n 2!» 26 26 29 30 38 1+7 52 59 63 CHAPTER lOe smuryEngj-neomeeeeeeeeeeee lle COMtruCtion ”Quads e e e e e e e e e e e e 12. Economics Analysis and Financial Accounting 13o Drafting “3 e e e e e lue W8 e e e e e e e 15. Miscellaneous Ce ”301' Stow m‘ W08 e e e Definitions of Materials Used Procedures hMt'eeeeeeeeeee General Directions of Curriculum Rose-endations IV..ANALISISWFORCESBEARINGONTHECURRICULA....... A. Faculty Characteristics . . . . . . . FaeultyandCurriculun .. .. .. B. studOnt mucuAOuog e e e e e e e Analyst“ 01' Student Characteristics Student Motivation and Directions . erISEUantleeeeeeee Ce mtitution‘l munch e e e e e V. CURRICULUHRECGIHENDAIIONS ......... VI. RELATIONSHIP OF THE TECHNICIAN TO THE ENGINEER AnericanSceietyofCivilEngineers. .. . . VII. surname OF MLOIERS AND TECHNICIANS IN MICHIGAN A. State-onto of Graduate Technicians B. State-enteofSupervisors. . .. . . . . .. PAGE 98 100 103 103 107 113 113 117 118 120 132 137 139 139 lilo r I . . .1 a a O a o o _r.. . . i fa I i _ . . . u I L I . . - . _ c i . e i a . I C O o s s O 9 e . e O a e a O . D . I ‘ a c — o o w. 0 . A . Q . a . . e 3 O 0 C a 9 I Q a o e e a Q Q \J I , a _. I a - a I. a . e O O . s o r e e . . y . O 0 s e 1 C 0 O . q a e u a n a. n . I p _ '7: N. C i O 'IJ i ,.., i. .V / a I f. o n I. ~ 0 \ c i a O E Q I C o A 9 I. O I Q § 0 O I D n s . .e o . u . l . Q r a . a I CHAPTER PAGE VIII. CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I4l A. Compilation of Curricula Conclusions . . . . . . . . . I4| 8. Conclusions Regarding Forces Affecting the Curricula . I45 C. General Conclusion Regarding the Future of Civil Engineering Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I48 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I50 APPENDIX . . I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 '54 A. l962 Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |55 8. I966 Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l58 C. Responses of Technician Graduates . . . . . . . . . . . I6I D. Responses of Supervisors of Technicians . . . . . . . . I65 E. Responses of Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I67 vi TABLE I. III. IIIa. V. VI. VII. VIII. X. XI. XII. LIST OF TABLES Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Trigonometry, Analytic Geometry, Calculus, Differential EQDAtiOns e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Statistics, Computers, Sliderule, Calculators . . . . . . Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution English, Speech, Political Science, Government, History, Humanities O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Political Science or Humanities Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Chemistry, Atomic Theory, Physics Tapics, Biology . . . . Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Geology, Metals, Timber, Ceramics e e e e e e e e e e e e Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Portland Cement, Asphalt Cement, Specifications, Codes . Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Statics, Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Strength of Materials. Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Electricity, Hydraulics, Hydrology, Meteorology . . . . . Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Structural Steel Design, Reinforced Concrete Design, Timber Design, Indeterminant Analysis . . . . . . . . . . Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Architectural Design, Bridge Design, Highway Design, Indifldual PrOj act 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Drainage Design,'Water Supply, Sewage Treatment, Public Health e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Heavy Construction, Light Construction, Residential Construction, Conservation Organization . . . . . . . . . vii PAGE 31 35 39 he [*5 “9 53 57 64 67 7O TABLE XIII. XIV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Economic Analysis, Planning, Cost Estimates, Accounting, Business Management e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Mechanical Drawing, Descriptive Geometry, Sketching and PerSPOCtiVGS, Inking e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Scribing, Structural Steel Drawing, Reinforced Concrete Drawing, Architectural DrSWing e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Cartography, Plats, Highway Drawings, Charts, Drawings . . Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Plane Surveying, Instrument Adjustment, Geodetic Surveying, Optical Micrometer U59 e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Route Surveying, Tapographic Surveying, Cadastral Surveying, Surveying LEW' e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution Photogrammetry, Celestial Observations, Stadia, Construction Surveying e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Classroom Effort on Specific Courses by Type of Institution ‘Wblding, LEW, Ethics e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Distribution of Hours in Class, and of Percentages of Total Hours, for Major Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Curriculum.Recommendations in Major Divisions Translated into Equivalent Semester Credits e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Percent of Curriculum in Major Divisions Compared with Percents Recommended by Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Faculty Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Student Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Curriculum Characteristics by Institutional Organization . . . Reasons Given for Entering Michigan Programs . . . . . . . . . Selected Statistics of Enrollment in Civil Engineering TGChniCian Programs e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e viii PAGE 76 77 78 83 85 92 95 102 102 105 116 116 117 119 ABSTRACT This is an attempt to compile a definition of the civil engin- eering technician in terms of curriculum. The possible fields of study were identified and the institutions offering such programs in the United States were contacted. The total study was limited to those programs wherein the graduate would be assumed to work under the direct or general supervision of the civil engineer, thus eliminating electrical and other related programs. Those institutions offering such programs reported on the required and optional fields of study and on the number of classroom hours devoted to the fields of study. Approximately one hundred separate study areas were used. Additional surveys were made of the faculty back- . grounds and student characteristics. A second major part of the study was the determination of the relative forces affecting the curricula, such as government, professional societies, employers, school organization and students. The directions of these forces on the curricula were identified and some measure of the comparative strengths or influences of the forces was made. Employers and graduate technicians on the job in Michigan were interviewed and a few other knowledgeable persons in nearby states were contacted. it was concluded that only a few basic fields of study are uni- formly required in significant amounts in all programs. These are basic mechanics, English, mathematics and elementary drawing and surveying tech- niques. Other fields of study are required in varying degrees, but a wide dispersion of effort was recorded on the various subjects. it was apparent that very little basic research has been done on a national basis in the ix field of civil engineering technology curricula; the individual programs in existence have generally been planned to meet local needs. The civil engineering technician is different from other engineering technicians, in that no single specialized study has been uniformly required in depth. There is lack of accepted leadership necessary for such programs and some degree of over-generalization in federal government publica- tions. The American Society for Engineering Education and the Engineers' Council for Professional Development seem to have exerted the greatest amount of influence on the curriculum, while employers and students have had the least recorded effect. The work experience of some faculty mem- bers has shown a high correlation with courses taught in the field of surveying and construction, but not in highway work. The general conclusion was made that civil engineering technology is not presently established as an identifiable curriculum in the United States, together with the observation that strong leadership from the civil engineering profession is lacking. if such leadership is not pro- vided, there is danger that the field of civil engineering technology could disintegrate. CHAPTER I iNTRODUCTION TO STUDY AND NATURE OF THE PROBLEM Several trends and phenomena in technical education exert an influence on the education of engineering technicians. The movement of engineering curricula from practice toward theory; from the appli- cation of science to more understanding of science principles is a well established trend. This factor, together with social mobility and other aspects of the culture of the United States, has resulted in considerable overlap and confusion between the roles and functions of the scientist, the engineer, the technician, and other technologists. There is little agreement on the extent of general education that col- ieges should be responsible for in technical curricula. The sources of support for technical education are several: government, students, industry, the professions, and each has its own goals. The general problem might be stated as the determination of the curricular definition of the civil engineering technician, in relation to the engineer, the scientist, the skilled craftsmen, and other tech- nologists. Equally important is the analysis of the curriculum force. The understanding of the force directing curriculum or determining the material to be learned must be understood in order for the employer to predict the abilities of the civil engineering technician. This know- ledge of what determines actual curriculum would also be important to the student and to all other agencies involved in this program, such as the administration of the college planning to offer Civil Engineering Technology. A. Statement of the Problem This is to be a definitive work on the Civil Engineering Tech- nician, leading to a detailed description of the educational program. The necessary abilities, competencies, and expectations of the student going into the curriculum, the depth and breadth of the studies, and the possible and potential job descriptions of the graduate will be identified. An equally important part of the study will be the deter- mination, relative importance within a given program, or in the overall configuration of civil engineering technician programs, of the curricu- lar definition, the leadership of learned and professional societies, the influence of government and other financing sources, the faculty orientations and abilities, and of the student's own expectations and abilities. What is a civil engineering technician? Related to this, what is a highway technician or a surveying technician or other technicians related to the civil engineering field? The study is concerned with the future of this person on the job, as well as his entry skills and ability. An answer to these kinds of questions will help define the tech- nician in the family of occupations related to civil engineering. This information is to be determined in as much detail as possible. Major areas of study will be analyzed, but more importantly, specific skills and abilities within major course areas will be tabulated. For example, it will be important to know what proportion of civil engineering students study the subject of structural drafting and, in addition, what extent of ability in reinforcing steel or structural steel detailing is understood by the majority of the students. Any other identifiable characteristics or attitudes that are .measurable as being distinctive within this group will be tabulated, such as the ability to solve problems in comparison with the ability of the same skill of the engineer, the skilled craftsman, and the average person having two years of college education. it is possible that there will not be an identifiable, distinctive characteristic in the group. it is also possible that only negative conclusions may be drawn concerning what is expected. For example, it may be that no de- gree of uniformity is observable in the extent of taking calculus or the extent of teaching technical report writing to the technician. it is also possible that there will be no significant difference in atti- tudes between the civil engineering technician and the journeyman car- penter in many fields. Negative conclusions stating that there is no such distinctive characteristic will be important, but will be further analyzed to attempt to determine what forces do determine the extent of these non-uniformities. if the analysis of curricula indicates a wide variation in the understanding of geology or soils, then it will be concerned with what affects this variation. is it the background of the faculty, variation in the instructor's own experiences that causes this variation, or is some other factor causing it? B. The importance of the Problem An answer to these kinds of questions will help define the technician in the family of occupations related to civil engineering. This definitive information is needed for counseling prospective stud- -ents and to encourage more students to enter this type of curriculum. Planning and legislation are sometimes hampered by the need for more spe- cific information about these programs and, above all, the civil engineer could make more use of technicians if he knew what he could expect of the graduate. The field of civil technology is possibly broader than that of the much older-technologies: electronic and mechanical., This may be one reason that it has not become as popular. There are several hundred coi- ieges and technical institutes offering some form of electrical and indus- trial type curricula, but there are only thirty technician schools offer- lng something related to civil engineering. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Education, has been studying the older curricula in detail and has published sample programs, suggested outlines, and conference reports on curricula for them. They are in the planning stages for doing similar work on metallurgical and a few other curricula for technicians, but they have only one brief publication for the field of civil engineering technology.| it is probable that they have not done more in civil technology because of the small size of the enrollment com- pared to the older technologies. This smallness makes it possible for this dissertation to study the existing situation, using a complete sample, and the information will be of value to the colleges beginning such pro- grams ln the next ten years or so. Lansing Community College has received requests for guidance and information on curricula from ten other colleges around the country who plan to initiate similar programs. in addition, four State Departments of instruction have requested information on curricu- 'Civil and Hi hwa Technolo , u. s. Department of Health, Educa- tion and welfare, 0 E 800|§ iWasfiington: Government Printing Office, i962). lum to help the development of civil engineering technology in their states. it seems that there is a growing need for this curricular information. Another important need is the low enrollment in technician pro- grams as well as in engineering. The need for more technicians and better engineers hardly needs documentation today. it is a standard topic of discussion. The lack of sufficient students in this area is due at least in part to misunderstandings of the roles or definitions of the engineer and the engineering technician. This study should help to provide definition and improve counseling of potential students. it is hoped, in addition, that the results of the study might point out some areas where the apparent goals of the curricula are perceived as being undesirable by the students or employers who could use additional technicians. it is certainly not intended to set up curricula simply to please students, but if the study can highlight apparent discrepancies in desires, then the image controlled by public relations may be improved. A related problem and need for the study is the existence of dropouts in the student body. it would seem that if the curriculum is more clearly defined, then better guidance should reduce the number of dropouts. Again, it is possible that some dropouts occur where the cur- riculum is not nearly enough appropriate to the perceptions of people in related jobs. Another importance for the study stems from the misunderstandings in federal agencies on the definition of the technician. Federal aid to technical education is not always being used for the "high level tech- nician" because of the lack of good definition and the efforts of other pressure groups. C. Definition of Terms and Limitations of the Study The study examines curricula for civil engineering technicians. This includes all and any programs of approximately two academic years equivalent length beyond high school. it is assumed that the student has graduated from a typical secondary school. The study includes Highway, Structural, Surveying and other technologies wherein the graduate technician will probably work under the general SUpervision of a civil engineer, but does not include architectural or building programs where the technician would probably not be working with engineers. All colleges or institutes offering such programs in the United States are asked to reply to the curriculum analysis. Some are propri- etary institutions, some are extensions of universities, some are public technical institutes, some are community colleges; both accredited and nonaccredlted schools will be contacted. Schools which do not schedule regular classes, such as correspondence and on-the-job training programs are not included. The academic part of co-op programs is included, and it is assumed that most of the programs lead to an Associate Degree in the field, but this is not required. Since the research deals with subject matter, there may be some confusion or difference in course titles. The course titles used in the survey form are, therefore, provided with a short description and typical titles are used where possible. Only technicians in Michigan are inter- viewed. D. Assumptions and Theoretical Development it is a basic social fact that the institutions of society compete with each other for support in personnel and financial support. These resources are always in short support in comparison with the ultimate aims of the institutions, so critical decisions must continually be made as to the best allocation of these for the maximum good to society. The topic of distribution of wealth is certainly considered to be in the field of economics, but the actual process is controlled by the personalities and values of the persons involved and by the social forces to a large extent.2 Many people who have been trained in economics have doubted that man oper- ates like a machine, always seeking to maximize gains and minimize costs, and men are necessarily involved in the critical decisions of allocation. There have been trenchant attacks on the psychological assumptions of economics; Veblen took a great delight in pulling the rug out from under the learned by forcing them to recognize that many elaborate economic sys- tems were built on psychological quicksand.3 Many changes in the role of work are observable now from the perspective of the "Theory of the Leisure Class." Work is respectable; to have a job is increasingly viewed as a positive value, and leisure is now within the reach of all. it is appar- ent that the concepts of role theory, group theory, and motivation must be included in a study of the allocation of resources to institutions. These will now be demonstrated in respect to educational institutions and 2Orville G. Brim, Jr., Sociology and the Field of Education, (Russell Sage Foundation, i958), p. . 3Eli Ginzberg, Human Resources, (Simon and Schuster, I958), General statement paraphrased. -later on the paper will apply the developed theory to a specific type of education. Support to education is made for many reasons and most of the reasons can be identified with a reasonable degree of clarity. The sup- port comes from the student, the federal, state and local governments, private philanthropy, industry, and other occasional sources, such as churches. The education is aimed at some or all of the following goal areas: training of manual and mental skills, teaching an understanding of scientific and social theories, development of habits and personality. The typical objectives of education are: procurement of employment, devei0pment of judgment, critical thinking, general education, entertain- ment, and now and then to satisfy a sense of curiosity. Students perceive education as a means of getting a good job. Local government views educa- tion as a means of gaining political support through satisfying the de- mands of the voters. Federal government uses education as a means of international competition as well as other reasons. industry expects edu— cation to improve their profit situation through efficiency and research. Scholars in general hold that education exists to search for knowledge or truth. All of these perceived needs are, or can be stated, in terms of minimum requirements plus desirable additions in extent. Education must compete for the support of the various groups against other institutions of our society; and there is competition within education for resources. The question of efficiency or the effectiveness of the multiple support of education will be considered. The concepts defined by Chester Barnard can be used throughout this paper in this sense: "What we mean by effectiveness of cooperation is the accomplishment of the recognized objectives of cooperative action. The degree of accomplishment indicates the degree of effectiveness...Although effectiveness of cooperative action or effort relates to the accomplishment of an objective of the system and is determined with a view to the system's requirements, efficiency relates to the satisfaction of individual motives."4 The theory to be developed by this paper will be a means of measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the allocation of resources in educational cooperation. This theory, relating the resources supporting education and the various objectives of the education in terms facilitating a measure of effectiveness and efficiency, must deal with several intervening variables. The perceptions of the role of the student, the institution, and the gradu- ate must be considered instead of objective or impersonal statements of purposes. The personality, abilities, and motivations of the student af- fect any outcome of an educational program. Another variable to be con- sidered is the existence of group pressures, social forces, and the clash of interest groups. The frame of reference of the people involved in the process of education and the reference groups of these concerned affect the process also. It is hoped that this theory will stem from generaliza- tions possible from examination of the system of the above variables. The system will be empirical, but possibly some degree of logical verification may be made. The behavior of the persons making critical decisions is the handle to be used in making data measurements. As a construct for handling relationships in the variables, a force system acting to move a mass from one locus to another can be used. The forces are the sources of support allocated to education, their direc- 4Chester l. Barnard, The Functions of the Executive, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Unlversity’Press, l965), p. 55. l0 tion being perceived objectives, and their magnitude being the amount of , effort made. The mass is, of course, the number of students, and the loci represent relative degrees of attainment of goals. A few physical concepts used with such force systems will be needed including: Work - the force times the actual net distance moved; Energy - force times dis- tance potential; Components - the relative force or displacement in a given direction of a general direction force. Efficiency will be the ratio of the total work accomplished to the energy used; effectiveness will be the degree of attainment of a goal. This is a dynamic system in which forces and goals will be changing with respect to time. Since mul- tiple goals are involved for each force, the centroid of the configura- tion will be used to direct the forces. Each source of support for education is a force directing a stud- ent toward a perceived set of goals that will maximize the attainment of objectives desired by the source of support. in more general terms, the allocation of support for an institution of society is made in such a way as to achieve a maximum of goals determined by the forces of society, recognizing that complete accomplishment or satisfaction is rarely at- tained, due to the limits of society and resources. The various forces or drives each have their own particular set of goals, and they expect a rea- sonable degree of attainment of the goals. The goals are changing and are subjective for the force. This statement of theory leads to some hypotheses: l. Efficiency of allocation of resources increases as the congruency of goals among forces increases. 2. Effectiveness of support is the degree of mee-lng success on goals; if satisfactory effectiveness is not attained, the force will probably be withdrawn or reduced. 4:3. Other hypotheses may be drawn from the model, or theory, by refer- ence to the axioms of dynamics and mechanics of force systems. impulse is defined as the product of a force and the time of application of the force. This concept has similar implications for social forces. Momentum is de- fined as the product of a force and the velocity of the action resulting from the force. Momentum, in its physical sense, shows a remarkable simi- larity to the ideas of political or social momentum. The popular word "power" is found in mechanics also, with a quantifiable Specific defini- tion: the rate of doing work. (Remember that work is actual accomplish- ment, not the expenditure of energy). This suggests that this model could be used to quantify power in political theory. The model of a socio-polltico-economic-behavioristic force system and the theory borrowed from mechanics and dynmalcs will now be applied to a situation with which the author is familiar, technical education. The Lansing Community College has a curriculum in "Civil Technology." This program was begun at the request of the Michigan State Highway Department to train technicians who could relieve engineers in the Highway Department of routine tasks in technical areas. The program thus got impetus from that department. This was an initial force, gradually replaced by the sup- port of providing jobs for the students on a cooperative schedule. Finan- cial support is received from the student in fees, from the State of Michigan in general college student reimbursement from taxes, from the Federal Government through National Defense Education Funds, from other Federal sources for specific items, such as equipment, from the City of Lansing School District as a part of school taxes going to the Community College, and from a few gifts of individuals. Other support comes from the faculty teaching the technicians, since the teaching required knowledge Q. .i l2 and experience that command a higher salary in the engineering field. The individuals in each case had motives for contributing or exerting pressure toward accomplishment of their own set of goals. As constructed, this theory will use the assumption of rationality of the individual with behavior being a measure of the motivation. The psychoanalytic concepts must be considered as hypothetical constructs, not as intervening variables. it will be necessary to do more than listen to the statements of the persons to adequately determine their objectives and motives for the operation in question. The motives must be inferred from the behavior of the person. However, underlying unconscious motivations within him will not be evaluated; one can only recognize that such factors exist. The person who was assigned the responsibility for this program deveIOpment in the Highway Department had an academic background and was necessarily close to the students applying for the training. His goals reflect the goals of the student and a concern for the future education of the student beyond the student. The person in the Community College who was given the responsibility for the program with his own individual goal for the program also demonstrated the goals through his behavior. The student goals can be measured by their decisions and stated objectives. The State of Michigan stated goals for education in colleges and the Fed- eral Government has prepared statements of the goals for education in terms of generalities. These are included as an appendix to this report. Directions for the forces can be derived from a study of these goal orientations. The magnitudes are not all in the same units, but it is appropriate to convert them to a common unity for comparison. This paper will use the dollar as the common unit; this usually makes an appeal- .45 i l a b" l3 ing and understandable scale. The total amount of money Spent to educate a class by each group must be calculated. The time spent by the student is to be added to his tuition, and the interest and intelligence could be used also, if desired. The amount of money and time spent by the Highway Department will constitute the magnitude of its force. The time spent by agencies of the engineering profession and the forces of society should be included. The status and expectations thrust upon education by society can be evaluated in terms of goals or directions and the size of the force can be determined by comparison with the expectations of the student or other groups and their financial contributions. it should be repeated that these directions or goals are functions of time and any changes should be measured. it is readily observed that students' goals change as they ap- proach transition points in the education program. in order to handle the concepts of the force system it is necessary to use several other concepts and constructs from theory in existence. Role theory and the expectations of the parts of the system are needed to deter- mine the directions of some of the forces. The role of the student or the job that he sees for himself is the suggested way to identify the goals he has set. For example, a student falling out of engineering might transfer to a technician program to identify himself with success in a related field. This orientation would be different from that of the student who enrolls in a technical program because it leads to a job in a shorter time than other fields might. The magnitudes of some of the forces is often dependent on more than just the size of the dollar investment. it varies with the personality of the person involved and so the concepts of drive, tension, the psychic mobility of the persons, and frustration can be used to better evaluate the l4 forces. Some of the handy psychological concepts, such as intelligence or i.Q., are of dubious value, but a behavioral approach might be useful. (l CHAPTER II REVIEW OF PERTINENT LITERATURE AND UNPUBLISHED STATEMENTS Chapter ii is a review of the general literature, together with reports from meetings and studies dealing with civil engineering tech- nicians. Due to the interrelationships between the many aspects of the problem, this is not organized by the specific topic or sub-study area. The topics are organized rather by the source. The groups of peOpie making statements provide the best means of organizing this section of the paper. Within each section the topics will be arranged chronolog- ically. The groups who have something to say about civil engineering technology are many and varied, but they will be broken down into the following categories: i) Government organizations (federal, state and other organ- izations) 2) Consultants and experts in the field for being leaders in the development of civil engineering technician programs 3) Learned societies ( statements made from a society stand- point as position statements) 4) Accreditation groups, particularly the Engineers' Council for Professional Development 5) Faculty (statements made by teachers and department heads in civil engineering technician programs) 6) Employers of civil engineering technicians 7) Students and graduates of the programs I5 i6 it will be helpful to see the differences in viewpoints in these various groups; it will also be helpful to ascertain any change or trend of think- ing within a group from the early publications to the more recent. The following statements are selected from a larger number as being most rep- resentative. Many publications and most authors seem to prefer to generalize to all of engineering technologies. As was observed in the introduction, such generalization is not necessarily valid, since the general work and orientation in the field of civil engineering is different from that in other fields of engineering. The civil engineering fields deal with some topics that do not lend themselves to the refined scientific knowledge found in other fields. For example, soils and public welfare are of im- mediate concern to people in the field of civil engineering. in working on such projects, the technician must deal with research and procedures developed from the social sciences in addition to those of the physical sciences. in addition to this, problems involving political value and judgments of unknown quantities, such as future loadings on bridges, call for a different type of decision making than do the design procedures for comparatively short lived electronics apparatus. A. Government Sources Government units seem to have taken little or no notice of civil engineering technology until l962. This apparent void is noticeable in several governmental publications prior to that time. Highway departments and some other state agencies of government were interested in programs prior to that time, but no recommendations for programs were observed in federal government publications. in a i957 article discussing the develop- l7 ment of two year colleges, Martorana observed that nineteen statewide studies of higher education between l950 and l957 included recommendation for organized occupational curricula in two year colleges.‘ A publication of the Office of Education in i958 recommending particular programs omitted any mention of the civil engineering technology field. Under the general heading of engineering technicians and technical occupations, it did list building construction foreman as the nearest thing to the civil engineering field.2 in i959, Kenneth Brunner, of the Office of Education, presented a historical review of the Federal Government's interest in technical insti- tute education, which again made no mention of programs in the civil engin- eering field.3 The report covered government activities dating from a l946 commission reporting to President Truman through World War ii and l959. During this time the Office of Education was counting the number of civil engineering technician programs without definition in their annual reports on education. Mr. Brunner listed such things as the Engineering Science and Management War Training Program for World War ii, the National Defense Education Act work by the Department of State, the Department of Labor, without mention or examples from the field of civil engineering. in the debate on the National Defense Education Act, the Congres- sional Committee Proceedings include the controversy on the level of tech- lS. V. Martorana, "Two Year Colleges," American Education, August, l957, p. 57. 2Lynn Emerson, Vocational-Technical Education for American industry, U. S. Department of HeaTth, EducatTon and Welfare, Circular 530 (Washingtbn: Government Printing Office, l958). 3Kenneth A. Brunner, "The Federal Government and Technical institute Education," Technical Education News, Special issue, l959, pp. l - 3. I8 nician programs. The first Act in l958 provided for assistance to engin- eering technician programs under Title Vill, but did not include technical institutes. The revision to this act in l962 continued the debate and finally reworded the limitations to include technicians "or skilled work- ers requiring scientific or technical knowledge." This, in effect, moves in the other direction to include some skilled labor and was initiated on the recommendations of representatives of organized labor. Summaries of arguments at that time for this change were that it extended the useful- ness of the act, and those against were that it departed from the stated purposes of the act. in l962, a publication of the United States Office of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Education, to help implement the National Defense Education Act, listed some of the fields of study and the requirements within these fields.4 Again, no civil engineering fields were mentioned, although some of the advice could be applied to civil engineering technician programs. A trend toward lower level programs was still noticeable in this publication, although it is recommended that most programs would be post- high school; however, they included a sample mechanical technology pro- gram for high school. This indicated that the Office of Education be- ileved that the technician program could be offered either in high school .or post-high school institutions. A subsequent series of publications of the Office of Education5 involving education for a changing field of work 4Occupational Criteria and Preparatory Curriculum Patterns in Technical'EducationgPro rams, U. S. Department ofTHeaTth, Education and Welfare, OE - SOOIS (Washington: Government Printing Office, l962). 5Lvnn A.Emerson, Education for a Changing World of Work, U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, - 8002i (Washington: Government Printing Office, l963). Also Technical Training in the United States, OE - 80023. I9 again made the recommendation that technician programs be offered in the high schools, as well as in Special vocational schools for non-high school youth and engineering colleges, in addition to technical institutes and community and junior colleges. There seemed to be the belief that these programs could be instituted at any level. in l962 the Office of Education did publish the suggested curricu- lum development plan for civil and highway technology.6 This is the only significant publication of the Office of Education dealing with civil tech- nology. in this publication they listed job descriptions of chalnman, con- struction engineering aide, surveyor, as well as other fields, as occupa- tions for which the training has prepared students. Of these listed occu- pations, those of chalnman, architectural draftsman, instrument man and rodman are generally filled by persons with no technical training. High school graduates or other students pick up the knowledge on the job to be- come chalnmen and rodmen. instrument men could conceivably be supplied through a short course, but in actual practice, most people come into this position without any technical training. The architectural draftsman is another field completely outside of civil engineering. 8. Experts and Consultants in the Field Again, there have been many statements published by a group of experts in the general field of technician programs and engineering tech- nician programs particularly. However, civil engineering technology does not seem to have attracted the interest of this group of experts as much as 6Civil and Hi hway Technology, U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, OE SOOIB (Washington: Government Printing Office, l962). 20 mechanical and electronics technology. Moreover, most of the statements . on technology in general reflect this concern for the mechanical and elec- tronics programs, in that they imply a relationship with industry found in those areas and not found in the area of civil engineering technology. Some of the statements that have been noted reflect the interest of the private technical institute in the time prior to l957 and the Sputnik. Russell Beatty, President of Wentworth Technical institute, reported in l957 and l958 on the technician programs.7 He listed the civil and high- way engineering technician program at Wentworth and its problems and advan- tages. This report to the Board of Trustees is interesting, because it re- flects the general point of view of the Engineering Council for Professional Development. These programs require an extensive investment in equipment and assume that the program will serve an area at least as large as a state, or a population of 500,000 people for the minimum programs and 2,000,000 for programs such as civil engineering technology. J. Ross Henninger, in a ser- ies of reports between l957 and the present time on technical institutes and engineering technicians, listed civil engineering technician programs.8 He seemed to feel that they were similar to other engineering technician pro- grams, except that they are smaller in numbers. Research and publications by Dr. George Brandon, of Michigan State University, in l959 and i960 focused attention on curricula for technician programs.9 A close study of the re- search seems to indicate that his concern was for the industrial technicians, . 7Russell Beatty, Re ort of the President to the Board of Directors, l957-58, (Wentworth lnstituge, IQSBI. 8G. Ross Henninger, The Technical institute in America, (McGraw Hill Book Company, l959). 9George L. Brandon, Ex loratlons in Research Desi n: Curricula for Technicians, College of EducaTion E R - l, (Michigan State niversity, Nevember, i960). 2| since he is more concerned with skills and manual abilities rather than with scientific understandings. in fact, his main statement, that a matrix for the curriculum could be developed itemizing the specific skills, is less applicable in an engineering technician program, where the abstract and more complex ideas are considered to be the more important thing. ‘These things do not readily lend themselves to a matrix of specific skills as the one he deveIOped. The Technical Engineering News, published by McGraw Hill Book Com- pany, provides many articles on civil engineering technician programs and their editorials deal with the need for concern with these programs and sup- port from the legislatures and Congress. Congressman Brademas was quoted extensively, because he was the chairman of the committee dealing with the revision of Title VIII of the NDEA. Other experts have developed core or common curricular foundations for engineering technician programs. One was IO reported in the Technical Engineering News in l96l, others included pro- posals by Norman Harris, of the University of Michigan.H Core required courses would be necessary for civil engineering technician programs, as well as other engineering technologies. There is not a significant differ- ence between these core programs. The significant difference seems to be in the extent of transferable courses within the core that might be included in an engineering program. Dr. Karl Werwath, President of the Milwaukee School _of Engineering, and Ken Holderman, of Penn State University, were leading 'OH. 8. Desnoyers, "The Common Technical Curriculum," (Editorial), Technical Education News, January, i96l, p. l. Also "Gaston Technical institutefl'December, l964, pp. ll - l5. "Norman Harris and William Yencso, Technical Education in Mlchi an Community Colle es, School of Education ORA 0632i, (Universlty of Michigan, MarCh, i965). 22 authorities during the period of rapid growth following l957 and they have been proponents of the idea that transferabllity of the courses is inappro- priate. C. Professional Societies The Michigan State Board for Vocational Education sponsored a sur- vey and study by Dr. Harris and Dr. Yencso, of the University of Michigan, dealing with the technical terminal curricula in junior colleges.l2 They reported on the frequency of various kinds of programs. The civil engin- eering technologies were of very low frequency. They were listed once com- pared with ten programs for electrical technology, twelve times for draft- ing technology and twenty-two times for general engineering technician pro- grams. in i959 the American Society of Civil Engineers held a general meet- ing of major importance on civil engineering instruction at the University 0* MIChIQBD-I3 This brought out several recommendations, the most signifi- cant for this paper being that recognition of the civil engineering tech- nician should be reflected in the undergraduate curricula. Recommendations, if adOpted, would reduce the specialization of courses in civil engineering, which was one of the major goals of the conference. The Professional Engineers Conference Board for industry reported in l962 on plans for surveying the need for technician programs in the field 'zNorman Harris and William Yencso, Technical Education in Michigan Community Colle es, (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Office of ResearCfiT Admlnlstration, 965), p. 60. '3Civil Engineering, (American Society of Civil Engineers, l962) 23 of civil engineering and concluded that there was a probable need for more civil engineering technician programs. The professional engineers of the Province of Ontario have licensed engineering technicians since l96i and their examinations in civil technology have a bearing on the curriculum in the engineering technology.’4 The National Association of Manufacturers and the Technical institute Division of the American Society for Engineer- ing Education have published brochures describing the general work of the civil engineering technician to encourage enrollment in these programs.'5 The American Concrete Institute and other specialized organizations in the civil engineering field have published in their journals descriptions of courses for technicians. The American Society for Engineering Education is the most widely recognized organized organization in the field of engineering technicians and their journal has reported several times on civil engineering tech- nician programs. The American Society of Civil Engineers has done less on civil engineering technicians, in spite of the fact that this is the founder society in the field of civil engineering. They have studied the education of the civil engineer in great depth and in doing this, have made some refer- ences for civil engineering technicians, but they have not performed a study of civil engineering technicians as such. The National Society of Profes- sional Engineers has instituted a program to certify engineering technicians, including civil engineering technicians and the requirements of this certi- fication again have a bearing on the curriculum. I4Syiiabus of Examinations for En ineerin Technoio , (Toronto, Ontario: The Association ofTProfessional Engineers of the Province of Ontario, l96i), Section 0, Civil Technology. '5Your Opportunities as a Technician, (National Association of Manu- facturers, l957) and The En ineerin TeCEniclan, (American Society for Engin- eering Education, l960i 24 D. Accreditation The Characteristics of Excellence in Engineering Technician Educa- Ilggié is a publication that spells out requirements for accreditation of civil engineering technician programs. This was published in l962 by the American Society for Engineering Education in cooperation with the Engin- eers' Council for Professional Development. The annual reports of the Council indicate that few civil engineering technician programs have been accredited.‘7 Ten such programs were reported in l960 and in l964 this had only grown to twelve such programs. E. Emgloyers in Founding Societies The Consulting Engineers Council and the American Association of State Highway Officials, as well as individual highway department heads, have offered some comments on civil engineering technician programs, while some companies, such as General Electric, in the National Association of Manufacturers, have reported on engineering technician needs in general. The Highway Department reports are usually self-centered. For example, in l962 Connecticut boasted of a unique training program,‘8 apparently feeling that they were the only one having such a program, when as a matter of fact, fifteen such programs were in operation at that time. The Minnesota Highway '5American Society for Engineering Education, Characteristics of Excellencegln En ineerin Technician Education, (Urbana, illinois: American Society for ringing—Hr ng ducation, 1962). '7Annual Re ort, (New York: Engineers' Council for Professional Development, 964 . I3Howard S. lves, "Connecticut Boasts of a Unique Training Program," American Highways, 4i: 4, October, l962, pp. ll - l5. 25 Department also published a similar article in Better Roads Magazine.'9 The general point of view of consulting engineers was somewhat different as reported by Crawford,20 in that the consulting engineer wanted a civil engineer who was closer to the engineer in curriculum than the re- quirement of the Highway Department. Probably the civil engineering tech- nician in the consulting engineer's office would work for and with the civil engineer. He would take over as much as possible. Since the highway departments have a thousand or more engineers and technicians, the relation- shlp would be more that of the mechanical engineering technician in industry, where the technician does not work as directly for the engineer. A study of the Michigan State Highway Department and the employer's needs will be re- ported in detail in Chapter iV and Chapter Vii. '9"Technlclan Training Program, Better Roads, May, l962, p. 24. 20L. K. Crawford, "Education and Practice Viewed by Consulting Engineers Council," (Chicago: Presented at the World Congress on Engin- eering Education, June, l965), p. 3. f“) CHAPTER III CURRICULA COMPILATION AND ANALYSIS This section of the paper shows the breakdown of curricula, makes comparisons with different types of institutions, and provides some analysis of the factors affecting the curricula. individual study areas are analyzed and tabulated, together with comparisons of related courses. This is to be followed by an analysis of the major aspects of the curricula, such as the extent of general education. The relative emphasis upon skills, sciences, technical and general education courses will be compared. Throughout this chapter there will be two general purposes. The first is the determination of what is actually being taught and the ex- tent of teaching. The second purpose is the analysis of why there are differences between institutions in the various areas and a prognosis of the reasons for the differences. A. Methodology The preliminary analysis of selected catalogs and curriculum plans was made by the writer. in addition to this, several interviews were held to ascertain a general picture and the various Options that are offered. With this information and the author's own experience, a tabulation of all possible areas of study was made. An attempt was made at this time to identify the institutions offer- ing civil engineering technology as herein defined. The definition used 26 C; 4% 27 includes the criteria that the graduates of such a program would generally be working for the civil engineer or engineering organization. This would be either an indirect or direct relationship; however, it excludes those programs wherein the graduate would not have any relationship to the civil engineer. Therefore, programs in building construction, which are more closely related to the skilled trades, and programs directly aimed at work for an architect only were excluded. The list of selected institutions was derived from various sources, including government reports of engineering technician programs and state highway departments. Additional programs were discovered through an analysis of membership in the American Society for Engineering Education. Those members who had an interest in civil engineering and also in technical institute work were contacted for inform- ation relating to programs. The first questionnaire (Appendix A) was then sent to the thirty identified programs in the United States. The questionnaire asked some preliminary questions concerning prerequisites for students entering the program, the length of the program, and the description of the faculty. The bulk of the questionnaire then asked for information about the curri- culum. The unit of measurement selected for this questionnaire was the classroom hour, either in a lecture or laboratory situation. Also a suf- ficient breakdown of study areas was made because of the differences be- tween institutions ln course organization. it was discovered that a simple listing of courses as included in a catalog would be quite misleading, since there is no clear-cut pattern whatsoever of course content. Especi- ally in the technical areas it was apparent that considerable variation existed. For example, a study of concrete might be included in any one of six different course titles and conversely, several institutions having the i; 28 same course title, such as "Survey i," had a complete divergence of topics included under such a title. The unit of classroom hour made it difficult for reSpondents to fill out the questionnaire; however, a sufficient number of responses were received. This unit indicated the extent of teaching, rather than just the fact that such a subject was taught. This information is quite important. Two institutions might easily require a knowledge of the preperties of asphalt. if one institution spends twenty hours on this and the other spends only two, it is quite apparent that the depth of under- standing is quite different. Since the results of this paper should be of value to the employer, it is important that he know the extent of the gradu- ate's knowledge to be expected in each field. The results of this tabula- tion show the range of instruction and a statement on the probability of an individual institution's offerlng. Replies were received from twenty-six of the thirty questionnaires. ’ A second questionnaire was sent out two years later to twenty-two of the same institutions. This second questionnaire was also sent to thir- teen lnstitutlons apparently adding the program in this period of time, a total of thirty-five institutions. The questionnaire this time used the same study areas, but asked for a sample check on whether the areas were required or optional. The tabulation of this instrument helped to verify responses from the first instrument and it also provided some further know- ledge. An additional questionnaire (Appendix B) was sent out asking for information about the background of education and experience of the faculty. in addition to these principal surveys, some individual samples and inter- views were conducted on Specific questions as they arose. Twenty-seven usable responses and three additional replies were received from the thirty- five institutions. The three non-usable replies generally indicated that f) 29 Such a program was not really under way yet or was restricted to part time evening students. 8. Specific Study Area Analyses The following pages show the results of surveys in each course area and show relationships between related courses. The results are calculated from the twenty-seven usable replies from ten community col- leges, eleven technical institutes, and six university related programs. The statistics to be used in this section are the classroom hour distribution of the total population and the percentage of required and optional courses. The distribution of required classroom hours for all responding schools is made first. For a given area the seventeenth per- centile of hours, the fiftieth percentile (median) and the eighty-third percentile were calculated. These are percentiles of the total distribu- tion of all reports of classroom hours by all responding institutions. For example, from Table i, it is seen that eighty-three percent of all programs require less than fifty-one class hours in trigonometry. This description gives a truer indication of probabilities than would a state- ment of the mean number of hours, since these are not normal distributions. Following this, the percentage of schools requiring this course and the percentage listing the course as optional are shown in each chart. Then a breakdown of institutions by their organizational structure is made. This is done to indicate differences due to the institutional organization. Quite often statements regarding the propensity of technical institutes to omit general education and for community colleges to over-emphasize general subjects are made. Tables l through XX are based on the twenty-seven replies. The 61' 30 numbers are omitted from the charts for clarity and ease of comparisons. TABLE I THEORETICAL MATHEMATICS This table shows the extent of emphasis placed on the traditional academic mathematics fields. TRIGONOMETRY Trigonometry is required by one hundred percent of the institutions and the distribution of hours shows a high degree of concurrence. Quite obviously the graduate will have a good understanding of trigonometric cal- cuiation, regardless of the institution. it was noted that some of the schools list trigonometry as a prerequisite before entering the program and the report on hours for these institutions was adjusted to show the pre- requisite hours. Analysis of catalog statements and personal interviews with faculty indicate that these trigonometry courses are generally taught by the mathematics faculty of the institution. in all cases, some degree of skill in application was stressed. Naturally, this would vary from in- structor to instructor, even within an institution. However, it can be safely assumed that the ability to transform equations, to solve formulas for unknowns, and to work out somewhat complicated formulas such as are used in celestial observations, is achieved. in all cases, a knowledge of loga- rithms is required; however, not all institutions develop practice to the same degree of precision. Five place precision is uniformly required by all tested courses; however, only a few give practice in seven or eight place precision. This information was obtained from interviews of selected repre- sentative programs. 3| TABLE I CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Differ- ALL RESPOND|NG SCHOOLS Igmgtry SEZAZII; Calculus EZSStTSns l7th percentiief(number of hours) 33 0 I 0 0 50th percentile (number of hours) 47 9 IIS 0 83rd percentile (number of hours) Si 35 58 0 Median no. of laboratory (hours) Percent of schools requiring (%) lOO 82 52 [SEE Percent of schools, optional (%) 0 i8 37 33‘ COMMUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES IPercent of schools requiring (%) I |oo I 50 I lo I 20 IPercent of schools, optional (%) I 0 I 40 I_ 70 I 50 TECHNICAL lNSTlTUTES , r IPercent of schools requiring (1) I lOO I 9i 64 I 9 IPercent of schools, optional (%) I 0 I 9 27 I BSf- UNIVERSITIES Percent of schools requiring (2) iOO I iOO lOO I 33. Percent of schools, optional (%) 0 I O 0 I O—— 32 ANALYTIC GEOMETRY It is quite probable that the student will have studied analytic geometry, since seventy-nine percent of the institutions require such know- ledge. However, the extent of classroom hours is small for many institu- tions and this is apparently a topic within a more general mathematics course, such as Technical Mathematics, for many institutions. The median number of nine classroom hours would teach enough analytic geometry so that the}technician can calculate intersections and rates. The most typical problem for civil engineering technicians involving analytic geometry is the determination of the intersection station and the angle of intersection for highways. There is a seventy-five percent probability that the tech- nician will be able to solve different types of problems. However, it is likely that he would need extra experience on the job to do such calcula- tion with sufficient precision and accuracy to be of value in actual prac- tice. it is noted that one hundred percent of the university related insti- tutlons and ninety percent of the technical institutes require this course, but that only‘fifty percent of the community colleges require analytic geo- metry. This is a significant difference between institutions and will be commented on at the conclusion of analysis of this table. CALCULUS Differential and integral calculus receive more attention in class- room hours than does analytic geometry; however, it is required by a smaller percentage of institutions. This would indicate that the institutions requir- ing calculus require a larger amount of time to be spent on it than they do in near related subjects. Since most institutions now combine analytic geometry 33 and differential equations with calculus in integrated courses for engin- eering students, it is apparent that the technicians are not taking the same courses. Otherwise the percentage of institutions requiring these three courses should be approximately the same instead of the noticeable difference. DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS Very few institutions require this and the distribution shows that apparently only the top seventeen percent of the distribution have any time in class on differential equations. An examination of Table i makes it quite clear that the universities and technical institutes conducting such programs make a much heavier demand in mathematics than do the community colleges. The preliminary analysis of catalogs made it apparent that this study could omit the subject "algebra." There are two reasons for this omis- sion: first, the fact that almost all programs expect high school algebra as a prerequisite and, second, that there is considerable confusion between different institutions on the identification of algebras. The topics that may be considered to be college algebra in one institution are referred to as intermediate algebra in others and sometimes are included in non-credit algebra. Therefore, it was felt that the statistics on the subject would be of little value unless the specific topics within algebra were studied. 34 TABLE II APPLIED MATHEMATICS The subjects of statistics, computer programming, slide rule usage and desk calculator proficiency are included here as applied mathematics. This definition would be in conflict with the more commonly accepted idea that applied mathematics would be "technical mathematics" or an equivalent title. Resolution of this conflict of definitions is not important for the purposes of this paper, since we are concerned with the specific topics and understandings rather than course titles and, therefore, this breakdown is used. Usage of titles such as technical mathematics would be of little value in this study, since it does not explain the particular skills or understandings involved. it is recognized that many applications will be taught under the headings in the previous section. STATISTICS Only one institution surveyed requires a course in statistics or probability. it is optional at a small percentage of the institutions. Therefore, the employer could not expect an understanding in this field. Some specific topics under this heading are probably taught in the geodetic surveying of courses and have a median of fourteen class hours. A knowledge of probable error and the handling of measurement statistics must be taught in such courses. Although the survey does not have this information, it is felt that many of the faculty would teach a few hours on the subject of least squares and related factors in the balancing of survey networks. There was no apparent difference in institutions in the emphasis on statistics. 35 TABLE II CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS Statistics Computers Sildarula Calculators a l7th percentile (number of hours) 0 o O 0 50th percentile (number of hours) 0 o 5 o 83rd percentile (number of hours) 5 2 20 5 Median no. of laboratory (hours) Percent of schools requiring (%) 4 33 89 55—— Percent of schools, Optional (%) 25 |5 4 7 CCMJUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES [Percent of schoolsarequiring (%) O 60 I lOO I 60 IPercent of schools, optional (%) 50 I() I 0 I '6 TECHNICAL lNSTlTUTES : IPercent of schools requiring ($) 0 I8 I 9i I 55 IPercent of schools, optional (1) I8 I 0 I ;- UNIVERSITIES [Percent of schools requiring (%) '7 l7 67 33*_I IPercent of schools, optional (%) I7 '7 I gfl—I j“ i9 36 COMPUTER PROGRAMMING AND APPRECIATION 'An apparent contradiction in statistics is evident in the table. *Very few class hours are scheduled by any institution, with only two class hours at the eighty-third percentile and zero for most institu- tions, while one third of the institUtions indicate that they require study in this area. Apparently the subject of computers is at least mentioned, possibly in an orientation course, with a brief description of its possible applications. However, the technician graduate certainly cannot be depended upon to have any developed knowledge in working with computers. With the advent of computers in many activities, such as highway design and structural analysis, some of the graduate technicians will be faced with learning on the job. Due to this low frequency, it is quite probable that civil engineering technicians will not generally find themselves working with computers, but rather that specialized com- puter technicians will do all of the direct work with data processing. SLIDE RULE USAGE Ouite obviously, the graduate will definitely know how to use the slide rule. An extremely high percentage of schools require this. Although the classroom hours are rather low, not many hours are required in class to teach the usage of the slide rule. The median of five class- ,room hours should certainly be sufficient to instruct in the use of the eight or ten principle scales of the slide rule. With this understanding most students would be able to adapt to specialized scales and circular rules. 37 DESK CALCULATORS AND RELATED MACHINES Approximately half of all institutions require some knowledge of desk calculators. The number of classroom hours here is zero at the median; therefore, it is probable that the graduate will not have any skill in desk calculator usage. This would seem to be a serious defi- ciency, since most of the jobs for graduates would involve some usage of calculators. An attempt was made to draw a correlation in this topic with other characteristics, but none was apparent with faculty descrip- tion, school organization, accreditation of size. 38 TABLE iii COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL SCIENCES The subjects in Table III are English, speech, political science, and history or humanities. These could be referred to as the general edu- cation component; however, many definitions of general education do not include English and technical report writing and would include economics, psychology and the behavioral sciences. Since it is more appropriate to define general education on the basis of the goals of the course, a separate tabulation of total effort in general education is made later in this chap- ter. This tabulation will include ethics and philosophy, but will not in- clude English and speech, since these usually have an applied orientation when taught for civil engineering technicians. ENGLISH AND TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING It was necessary to combine the two general headings, because there is a considerable overlap between technical report writing and English com- position. The statement of the American Society for Engineering Education on this topic recommends a minimum of six credit hours in written and oral communication. This recommendation and that of other experts point out the need for such courses for success on the job. This is not the same reason and goal as that of the general educationist. The American Society for Engineering Education statement further recommends that proper writing and speaking be taught in every class in the program. The statistics show that this subject has the highest degree of con- stancy of all subject areas studied. One hundred percent of the institu- tions require it and the classroom hour distribution for the middle two- 39 TABLE III CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF iNSTITUTION Political Science, History, ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS English Speech Gov't. Humanities l7th percentile (number of hours) 32 O i O 0 50th percentile (number of hours) 90 4 l4 0 83rd percentile (number of hours) i08 33 50 ll Median no. of laboratory (hours) Percent of schoolsrequiring (%) I00 59 4| 45—— Percent of schools, Optional (%) 0 26 22 33 COMMUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES . [Percent of schools requiring (%) I mo 60 I 40 I 50*— IPercent of schools, optional (%) I 0 30 I 40 I 50 TECHNICAL lNSTlTUTES 7 g 7 Percent of schools requiring (%) lOO I 64 I 36 I 36 Percent of schools, Optional (%) 0 I 36 I O I i8_— UNIVERSITIES Percent of schools requiring (fi) ‘00 50 50 50::I Percent of schools, optional (%) o o 33 40 I 4O thirds of the institutions ranges from thirty to one hundred eight class- room hours. A preliminary survey of employers conducted to initiate this paper showed that English was the most important topic in their recommenda- tions. A serious deficiency in the use of English was observed by almost all employers of engineers and technicians. PUBLIC SPEAKING AND SPEECH IMPROVEMENT This subject is not considered to be as important as written work apparently. Two-thirds of the institutions require a study of this subject either in an English class or in a speaking class. There is not a signifi- cant difference between institutionai organization and the emphasis upon speech and also the distribution of classroom hours indicates that one-half of the institutions would have four classroom hours total or fewer on the subject. Since the study of employers indicated the need for improvement in spoken as well as written English, it would seem that the employers have relatively little influence on this part of the curriculum. This is also apparent when a detailed analysis is made of the specific topic taught. The employers indicate a severe problem in spelling, grammar and precision in the use of written and spoken English. The actual teaching is much more concerned with academic styles and techniques and literature. The writer's personal experience in discussing this has shown that English is generally taught by members of the English department and that these faculty members generally do not consider it proper to include grammar and spelling in their courses. in this situation, it seems that the faculty members in the dis- cipline have much more influence on the curriculum than anyone else. 4i POLITICAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES The two categories of government (political science) and history or geography (humanities) will be considered together. The survey shows that more classroom hours are spent on political science than on history; however, that a slightly larger number of schools require history than political science. Tabulation of schools requiring one or the other shows that fifty-eight percent of the institutions have such a require- ment and that the median of seventy-three classroom hours are spent in the combination of such subjects. There could be some specific tOpics particularly available for the civil engineering technician, such as the knowledge of local and state government organization, to understand the relationships between county road commissions and state highway de- partments or the ramifications of federal and state monies on design practices. These Specific topics are not likely to occur in an ordinary political science or government class. If they are to be taught at all, they would be more likely found in a class taught by the technical fac- ulty. An examination of the areas of English, speech, political science and history shows that a higher percentage of community colleges require these courses than technical institutes or universities. The difference is not extremely large, but it is consistent. Seventy-five percent of the community colleges compared with fifty-five percent of the technical institutes and forty percent of the universities require either social science or humanities. The same relationship is apparent in speech. The tabulation of faculty descriptions shows that the faculty is generally the same in the three institutions, the only difference being that the 42 TABLE IIIa CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF iNSTITUTlON Political ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS SSASETTIZ; l7th percentile (number of hours) 0 50th percentile (number of hours) 73 83rd percentile (number of hours) '35 Median no. of laboratory (hours) Percent of schools requiring ($) 58 Percent of schools, optional (%) CCUVUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES Percent of schools requiring (S) 75 Percent of schools, optional (%) TECHNICAL INSTITUTES Percent of schools requiring (1) 55 I Percent of schools, optional (%) I UNIVERSITIES . Percent of schools requiring (S) 40 I I __I Percent of schools, optional (%) I I I u 2 ; - I I 1 n i h'h' . I | ~ , o c I - . . -.———. w - .- -- u L . ,,_ . - - .n 43 community colleges and universities have a greater probability of having people with a Master's Degree in civil engineering, whereas the technical institutes have peOple with Bachelor's Degrees in civil engineering. Therefore, it may be concluded that the organizational structure of the institution does affect the extent of general education. The community college, having transfer programs on the same campus, requires more general education because of this. The universities would also have baccalaureate programs; however, the technician program is generally run in isolation from the rest of the university. 44 TABLE IV PUPE SCIENCES These areas of study are differentiated from engineering sciences as well as from social sciences and behavioral sciences. These courses are concerned with understandings in applications. INORGANIC AND ORGANIC GENERAL CHEMISTRY Only one-third of the institutions require general chemistry courses, although another one-quarter list them as optional. Almost all of the Optional courses are in community colleges and more of the required courses are in technical institutes. The number of classroom hours Spent in a typical program is rather small. A further breakdown of laboratory hours indicates that the institutions requiring chemistry are offering typical laboratory sessions. it is apparent that the graduate cannot be expected to have had a course in chemistry at the college level. it is much more likely that he would have had courses in materials, as we shall see later. MOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND FORCES A very small percentage of students will have been exposed to this theoretical understanding of why certain materials have the proper- ties they have. Again we shall see later that they may have studied metals and concretes enough to know what the properties are, although they will not have the current understandings of the inter-atomic forces that result in these properties. 45 3 TABLE lV CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF lNSTlTUTlON Atom. Physics ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS Chemistry Theory Topics Biology l7th percentile (number of hours) 0 0 I2 0 50th peEcentiIe (number of hours) 0 0 36 0 83rd percentile (number of hours) 22 3 66 0 Median no. of laboratory (hours) |5 Percent of schools requiring (1) 3o [9 74 4_—' Percent of schools, Optional (1) 26 I9 I5 [9 CCVWUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES . 3. Percent of schools requTring (1) I 20 20 I 70 I o I I; Percent of schools, optional (1) I 50 40 I 30 I 40 I TECHNICAL lNSTlTUTES . Percent of schools requiring (1) I 36 I I8 I 73 I 9 Percent of schools, Optional (1) I l8 I 9 I 9 I 9i:— UNIVERSITIES Percent Of schools requiring (1) 33 I I7 I 83 J 0 Percent of schools, Optional (1) o I 0 J4 0 I OPT—I «a- 46 PHYSICS An effort was made in the questionnaire to distinguish between topics of pure physics, such as light and sound, and topics that would be applied to civil engineering technology, such as force systems. Seventy-five percent of all institutions require a course in physics and the total number of classroom hours show a significant concentration of either one or two semesters in length. A comparison of the mathe- matics requirements proves that these physics courses required are not based upon calculus and, therefore, are not the typical engineering courses. A median of fifteen laboratory hours and twenty—one lecture hours is authorized. Quite apparently, physics is relevant to the civil engineering technician, but chemistry is not in actual curricula. BIOLOGY The statistics show that this is almost completely neglected in the education of the technician. Other surveys referred to later in the study will show that employers have not recommended this and that no group has felt it to be sufficiently important to include. ‘0' 47 TABLES V AND Vi MATERIALS AND PROPERTIES These two tables are combined to indicate the relative importance of various types Of materials. The study of portland cement and asphalt cement are put together on Table Vi because Of the close relationships between them and their resulting concretes. GEOLOGY, SOILS AND AGGREGATES A significant number Of institutions and a relatively large number Of classroom hours indicate that the technician will have studied these tOpics. Examination of catalogs and interviews indicate that the student will be concerned with the classification of various soils and rock. The student should be conversant with the terminology and a general under- standing of these materials. These topics could have been separated; how- ever, many courses developed for the technician include knowledge of all three tOpics. The particular classification systems of soils depends some- what on the system in use by the local state highway department, although the empirical systems, such as the A.A.S.H.O., probably receive more emphasis than do the pedalogicai systems. The extent of geology would prObably be limited to the applications in construction rather than the historical and theoretical aspects. it is also more likely that only surface soil pFOper- ties would receive sufficient attention for use. Foundation engineering would be described but left to the engineers. METALS Only a small number of hours are spent on metallurgy. This is a clear distinction from the mechanical technician programs. The civil Id‘ 48 TABLE V CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS Geology Metals Timber Ceramics i7th percentile (number of hours) 0 o I 0 0 50th percentileE(number of hours) 47 o I 2 o 83rd percentile (number of hours) 37 9 9 3 Median no. of laboratory (hours) 23 Percent of schools requiring (1) 7O 33 - 55 zi—T Percent of schools, Optional (1) |9 |9 7 7 commuwltv, JUNIOR COLLEGES IPercent of schools requiring (%) 60 I 50 I 80 I 30 I IPercent of schools, optional (1) 30 I 30 I I0 I 20 I TECHNICAL INSTITUTES IPercent of schools requiring (1) 73' I 27 I 45 I I8 IPercent of schools, optional (1) I. I I8I 9 I 0 UNIVERSITIES IPercent of schools requiring (1) _ 83 I l7 I 33 I l7_J IPercent of schools, Optional (1) I '0 I O I 0 I 49 TABLE VI CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Portland Asphalt Spec'ns. ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS Cement Cement Codes l7th percentile (number of hours) 0 0 0 50th percentile (number of hours) 5 l 5 83rd percentile (number of hours) 30 40 30 Median no. of laboratory (hours) Percent of schools requiring (1) 32 67 74——' Percent of schools, Optional (1) 0 ll 7PT— CCHJUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES IPercent of schools requiring (1) I 80 I 60 I 50 I IPercent of schools, optional (1) I 0 I 20 I 20 I TECHNICAL INSTITUTES Percent of schools requiring (1) I 32 I 73 I 9| Percent of schools, Optional (1) I o I 9 I OTT- UNIVERSITIES IPercent of schools requiring (1) 83 I 67 J 67:] IPercent of schools, optional (1) o I O I 0 I —-- e-p- I u . . . . . ¢ .. u. . ...I . u a n ..al.| . r 301' .. “I. and. - 7“... a t cub. n-u ,. S. 50 engineering technician would not have an understanding of heat treat and other specialized tOpics. It is quite likely that his knowledge would be restricted to the properties of ferrous materials. TIMBER Somewhat greater emphasis is put upon timber than upon metals; however, it is still not enough tO depend upon. A higher percentage of the community colleges than of technical institutes study this and it is quite probable that it will never be a course by itself. Later on we will see that a few more hours might be spent on timber design, but this topic is generally omitted in favor Of the study of concretes and their design. CERAMICS, PLASTICS, GLASS A neglible amount Of time is spent on these topics, even though portland cement concrete is a ceramic material. CEMENTS, PORTLAND AND ASPHALT The statistics show that there is approximately the same effort put on the two materials and both are significant. Portland cement is required in more institutions and not optional in any; asphalt is required in fewer institutions, but is Optional in three. The distribution of class- room hours ls approximately the same. These topics are very important in the eyes of the employers and it is somewhat surprising that approximately one quarter of the institutions do not offer courses in these fields. it seems apparent that the technician 5! will know something of the prooerties Of these materials, but probably will not have skills in the testing and sampling of these materials. Apparently the technician will rely more Upon specifications and codes than upon a rational understanding of the design of concrete materials. SPECIFICATIONS AND CODES It is quite likely that the technician will have studied some of the common sets of specifications and should be able to develop a proficiency in the application of specific codes encountered on the job. It is apparent that more technical institutes emphasize this subject than do other types of institutions. The graduate technician would probably have about a seventy-five percent probability Of being able to do construction inspection, based upon specifications and codes, upon graduation. 52 TABLE VII ENGINEERING MECHANICS The four categories Of statics, dynamics, thermodynamics and strength Of materials would be a part of the engineering sciences. These four are shown together because of their close relationship. A sequence of statics to dynamics, to strength of materials has been traditional in engineering curricula, although this is rapidly being replaced by slightly different emphases in vector mechanics. in technician programs the statics is often included as a first part of a course in strength of materials, giving only sufficient coverage for typical applications of elementary structures. Thermodynamics could be considered separately, but it is included here for illustra- tion and comparison. STATICS AND GRAPHICS All of the institutions except one require study in force systems and the number of classroom hours, ranging from twenty-two to seventy-five, show that fairly thorough coverage is given. it may be concluded that the technician will be able to determine forces, compon- ents, and resolutions in simple structures. in addition, he will under- stand the distribution of forces on surfaces. Therefore, he will be able to analyze elements of structures in a design office and should be able to understand construction forces. DYNAMICS Only a small proportion of institutions require a knowledge of moving particles or machines. Technical institutes are more likely to 53 TABLE VII CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Thermo- Strength ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS Statics Dynamics dynamics of Materials l7th percentile (number of hours) 22 o .0 40‘ 50th percentile (number of hours) 44 |o :0 A 54 83rd percentile (number of hours) 75 3| I6 87 Median no. of laboratory (hours) |o . 3 7 2| Percent of schools requiring (3) I 95 . 3o 7 A93_—' Percent of schools, Optional (1) 4 .5 25 o—TT CCNMUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES [Percent of schools requiring (1) 90 30 I o I 90 IPercent of schools, optional (1) lo 30 I“ SO I 0 I TECHNICAL INSTITUTES Percent of schools requiring (1) lOD 36 i8 I I00 Percent of schools, Optional (1) o 9 l8 I o UNIVERSITIES Percent of schools requiring (1) iOO I7 I 0 I 83 Percent of schools, Optional (1) 0 0 I 0 I O I... o|IIIu 54 .teach this, but even here fewer than half of the institutions do. Because of the fact that only twenty-five percent of the institutions require this and a few more list it as optional, it is surprising that a median of ten classroom hours are reported. Apparently a few lectures are given on the subject in some other course. it cannot be expected, however, that the technician will be able to analyze systems in motion. STRENGTH OF MATERIALS Like statics, stress analysis is often required. The median of fifty-four classroom hours would indicate that a fairly thorough knowledge of simple stress analysis is taught. The laboratory-lecture breakdown shows that a median of twenty-one laboratory hours are required. This is probably involved with tensile compression and flexural testing. it is also likely that some combined stresses may be studied in the laboratory. The technician, therefore, should be able to deal with various design sys- tems including ultimate strength and elastic theory. Because of the mathe- matics limitations, these courses are probably taught on a non-calculus level; however, many instructors may very well have time to show the theory limits. The technician might be expected to realize the complexity of actual stress concentrations and distribution. He, therefore, should be quite qualified to do simple design and routine analysis. Such work could be done manually; it is not likely that the technician could directly use computers for this work. THERMODYNAMICS it is extremely unlikely that the civil engineering technician will have a knowledge of heat flow and transfer. This Should not hinder his 55 work on structures, although it would indicate that his knowledge of insulation in buildings and heat-air conditioning systems would be very limited. 56 TABLE VIII ADDITIONAL ENGINEERING SCIENCES Electricity, hydraulics, hydrology and meteorology are addi- tional areas of engineering sciences. These engineering sciences are distringuished in many definitions from the pure sciences upon which they are based, and the technical specialties which would be based upon them. ELECTRICITY AND ELECTRONICS There is a fifty percent probability that the technician will have an understanding of either electricity or electronics. An analysis of the course descriptions indicates that when taught, the topic of AC and DC circuits and motor generator systems would be included. it is not likely that knowledge of electron properties, vacuum tubes or semi- conductors would be involved. The number of classroom hours would indi- cate that only rarely would any depth be taught. Therefore, no knowledge in this field should be assumed by an employer of the technician. HYDRAULICS AND FLUID MECHANICS This subject is very similar to electricity in its coverage and there is little probability that the technician would have an understand- ing of closed or Open circuit calculations. it is interesting to note the tendency for technical institutes to apparently favor hydraulics and for university related programs to favor electricity, while community colleges show a consistently low interest. The differences in these sub- jects will be further analyzed later on with comparisons of the type of faculty work experience. 57 TABLE VIII CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Meteor- ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS EIecfrICITY Hydraulics ngrology oiogy A ---. _I Il7th percentile (number of hours) I 0 0 0 0 50th percentile (number of hours) I II ? 0 0 83rd percentile (number of hours) 40 48 20 0 Median no. of laboratory (hours) Percent of schools requiring (1) 44 44 22 34— Percent of schools, optional (1) l9 l9 l5 l9 CC” UNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES —I‘. -‘ “_ u — Percent of schOols requiring (1) 4o 40 I 30I 0 Percent of schools, optional (1) 4O 20 I 20 I 40 TECHNICAL INSTITUTES Percent of schools requiring (1) 36 I 64 I8 I 9 Percent of schools, Optional (1) 9 I i8 IS I 9 UNIVERSITIES IPercent of schools requiring (1) 67 I l7 l7 I 0 Percent of schools, Optional (1) 0 I l7 0 [_ 0 . I a . .. n a _ s u c . .v'-u . a L . ¢ . . D - a Q . a . . . I I . . ~. . . , a o . w . ~ . . O a u . . . c K p r U s u at H . I ~ . . . O. I v n a I a a . J . o u . . I. I .. I .< . . a- 03. o (e u . a .lvl . i. Q I a . i . . . . . o . . . .. . a . . \ . . .u o .. . l . . . . 4 ¥ _ e ~ E . a _. o . 58 HYDROLOGY AND METEOROLOGY A very small probability of these topics being taught is apparent. Somewhat greater emphasis upon hydrology indicates that this is probably related to the drainage design which fifty percent of the institutions require. The subjects were included in the study because of their oc- casional use in sanitary engineering projects and in construction Opera- tions. it is disappointing that the graduate will not have a better knowledge Of run Off calculations, because of its many applications, es- pecially in highway drainage. The knowledge of weather forecasting is apparently not important. 59 TABLE IX STRUCTURAL DESIGN These courses involve the application of engineering sciences to design problems and an effort was made in the selection of courses to determine the extent of design complexity to be expected of the technician. The general literature has never been very clear on the subject of design. Many employers of technicians seem to say that design is an engineering function and that only routine calculations could be provided by the tech- nician for the designer. Others have indicated that the technician can actually do some types of design. The topic is further complicated by the extent of computer use in design. Another aspect to be considered is the extent of creativity in design. Should the technician be concerned with handbook design only and selection from catalogs, or should he be taught some basic principles of creative design? STRUCTURAL STEEL Since more than three-quarters of all types of institutions require a course in structural steel design, with an average of twenty-three class- room hours, it can be assumed that the graduate would at least be able to select prOper sizes and shapes of rolled steel and standard connections. The technician would probably be familiar with the handbooks of shapes. it is most likely that he will be able to compute stresses based on the elastic theory. Flexure tension and compression, shear and routine stresses in nor- mal shapes would be included. The small percentage of schools not offering structural steel design concentrate more on surveying and are in reality sur- veying technology prOgrams. Related to this in Table XV, the same number of 60 TABLE IX CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Structural Reinforced indeter- sows 0:33,: “523:? 322?; 2:53;. i7th percentile (number of hours) 0 TTTDTS .0 0 50th percentile (number of hours) 23 25 I O O 83rd percentile (number of hours) 66 65 l8 l Median no. of laboratory (hours) 4 4 Percent Of schools requiring (1) 78 63 48 22—— Percent of schools, Optional (1) 7 ll l5 l9 CCHHUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES Percent of schoOTS requiring (1) I 70 60 60 I l0 Percent of schools, optional (1) I 20 20 30 I 30 TECHNICAL lNSTlTUTES Percent of schools requiring (1) 9i 82 55 I 45 Percent of schools, optional (1) 0 9 9 I I8:j UNIVERSITIES Percent of schools requiring (1) 57 33 [7 I 0 Percent of schools, Optional (1) o o 0 I 0 .O-O .u... -... N O .0; o-’ . l r . . t. . 194. 1-... I.'.s1a. 6i institutions require additional hours in structural steel drawing. There- fore, the employer can expect that the graduate can be productive in structural steel detailing and design of the individual elements. REINFORCED CONCRETE DESIGN Two-thirds of the institutions, a smaller proportion than in steel, require work in reinforced concrete design. The number of classroom hours is approximately the same as for structural steel; however, it is not nearly so clear whether the technician would actually understand the design prob- lems. Since it is not a matter of selecting shapes and sizes from a catalog and since reinforced concrete is necessarily rigid and indeterminate, it is likely that only a smaller range of elements can be covered. An examination of catalogs indicates that simple beams are the only element covered in the majority of the courses. The technician employer will probably find that only a general understanding can be expected. This should be sufficient for catching errors in bar placement on inspection and for drawing work in this field. TIMBER DESIGN Fifty percent of the institutions require a course in this field. This and the distribution of classroom hours indicate a fifty percent proba- bility that the technician will be able to design timber structures. These statistics and the relatively small emphasis on timber as a material, as indicated in Table V, show that no real mill design can be expected. 62 INDETERMINANT ANALYSIS The small numbers involved here clearly delineate the extent of technician design ability. Continuous, rigid and other structures of any consequence should not be entrusted to the civil engineering technician for design. All significant structures involve some degree of rigidity and cannot properly be analyzed by the design principles the technician has learned. Of course, all welded and reinforced con- crete connections are indeterminant. Technicians can certainly learn on the job some factors.to make them of more value in design; however, their background would still restrict the extent of their ability in structural design. 63 TABLE X SPECIFIC DESIGN COURSES These courses could either build upon the structural design study as integrated courses, or it is possible that these could be completely separate from the preceding study areas. ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN it is apparent that the civil engineering technicians, as defined in this paper, are not taught problems in architectural building design. The other programs excluded from this survey, such as building and con- struction technologies, probably would go into this in more detail. The survey instrument pointed out that design, not architectural drawing, was being measured. Architectural drawing included in Table XV involves some- what more emphasis; however, even there only a small number Of institutions include this in the curriculum. The curriculum analysis would indicate that current programs do not turn up graduates who can be of use both in structural engineering organizations and in architectural organizations. BRIDGE DESIGN Obviously, the design of a bridge must be the responsibility of an engineer. However, this course was designed to measure the extent of the technician's knowledge in this field. Even though many of these technicians will work for bridge divisions of highway departments, it is not likely that they will have studied bridges to a significant extent. it had been theorized that they might at least be taught the geometric design Of the relative mer- its of various bridge styles. This is apparently not true. With their know- ledge of structural steel and reinforced concrete design, they will be able 64 TABLE X CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Archi- tectural Bridge Highway individual ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS Design Design Design Project l7th percentile (number of hours) 0 O ' 0 0 50th percentile (number of hours) 0 0 ?l3 0 83rd percentile (number of hours) ll l0 78 O Median no. of laboratory (hours) Percent of schools requiring (1) 25 37 70 ll Percent of schools, Optional (1) ll I9 7 30 CCFAUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES Percent of schools requiring (1) I 20 I 50 80 I l0 lffi .—— . Percent of schools, optional (1) I 20 I 20 i0 I 50 TECHNICAL INSTITUTES Percent of schools requiring (1) 27 36 I 82 I 9 Percent of schools, Optional (1) 9 27 I 9 I 27 UNIVERSITIES Percent of schools requiring (1) 33 I I7 I 33 I 17::1 Percent of schools, Optional (1) o I o I O I 0 I 14- 65 to learn on the job that they would not be productive Upon employment. HIGHWAY AND GEOMETRIC DESIGN Seventy percent of the programs require courses’and the distri- bution of classroom hours indicates that civil engineering technicians will have some knowledge of highway design. This is probably limited to a brief comparison of various paving materials, pavement thickness selec- tion from empirical formulas, and use of standard codes for dimensions. it is not likely that they will have studied traffic engineering and other specialties, but they probably could adapt themselves to work in most divisions and most aspects of highway work. Many of the programs involve a co-op program with highway departments} it can certainly be expected that these students will know the relationships Of highway planning, pro- gramming, route selection design, construction maintenance and scheduling. With this background they probably could also be of value in financing estimates and detailed design. lNDIVlDUAL PROJECTS Although the A.S.E.E. recommendations strongly favor such an activity to integrate the knowledge learned in the various courses, very few institutions have such an activity. in view of the surprisingly low frequency of this requirement, an attempt was made to verify this fact. Apparently some institutions have a degree of cases or project work; it is aimed at a specific topic so that more new information can be taught instead of integrating the other courses. The principal conclusion that may be drawn from this is that the graduate technician will require a brief period of time to adjust to the actual job situation. 66 TABLE XI SANITARY ENGINEERING DESIGN These courses may not be strictly in the field of sanitary en- gineering, but they are combined here because of their mutual depend- ence upon public health principles and hydraulics. We have already seen that approximately half of the programs involve a study of hydraulics, and so this cannot be depended upon. The combination of these fields is an indication of the flexibility of the technician. Several experts recommend that civil engineering technology is too bread for a single curriculum and that options in sanitary, as well as highway and construc- tion should be planned for second year specialization. DRAINAGE DESIGN, SEWERS AND CULVERTS There is a fifty-fifty chance of the technician having studied in these fields. There is no distinction between institutional organiza- tion on this subject and we will later see the relationship between the faculty work experience and the tendency for this to be included.- The un- usual distribution of classroom hours would indicate that schools either Offer no classroom hours at all, or a full course of twenty-five hours or so. Therefore, the employer must look at the individual curriculum to find out whether the graduate can be used to plan drainage structures. Culvert and storm sewer selection can only be handled on a rational basis after a full course is taught. WATER SUPPLY, SEWAGE, TREATMENT AND COLLECTION The statistics show that the technician will probably not have studied in this area. It is surprising that almost as many schools list 67 TABLE XI CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION ”3:33: gaggiy T321232. 5:12:15: l7th percentTle (number of hours) 0 0 I O I O . 50th percentile (number of hours) I | O i O 0 83rd percentile (number Of hours) 25 0 ll . l l Median no. of laboratory (hours; Percent of schools requiring (1) I 52 26 I9 4_T Percent of schools, Optional (1) I ll 22 22 22 r COMMUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES . [Percent of schools requiring (1) I 60 30 I 20 I I0 I IPercent of schools, optional (1) I I0 30 I 30 I 40 I TECHNICAL INSTITUTES 7 Percent of schools requiring (1) 55 I l8 I 9 I 0 Percent of schools, optional (1) l8 I 27 I 27 I lBT— UNIVERSITIES Percent of schools requiring (1) 33 33 33 I OTTI Percent of schools, optional (1) 0 0 OI OTTI .O'h 68 these subjects as optional as require them. Apparently the institutions having such courses arrange for options within the civil engineering tech- nician program. A graduate, therefore, would have to be recognized as having had this option for the employer to expect any proficiency. There is no significant difference between the emphasis on the two major headings here. PUBLIC HEALTH Since it had been suggested that civil engineering technicians could be useful as sanitarians, this item was included. it can positively be stated that the general civil engineering technician is not qualified in this field without further training. 69 [TABLE Xll CONSTRUCTION METHODS The following subject areas would develop sufficient understanding in the various specialties to allow a graduate to work for contractors or to do inspection if taught. The limited definition of this paper excluded programs aimed specifically at this field and so the general question to be answered here concerns the ability of the technician, with a general background to be of value in construction. By consensus in the industry, heavy construction involves earth moving, highways and engineering struc- tures, such as dams. This is differentiated from light construction in- volving buildings. Contracting organizations typically are smaller and are concerned with immediate problems. They are not able to offer on- the-job training and require experience or immediate usefulness of their employees. The Associated General Contractors have been reluctant to even involve much in the way of apprentice programs and have made several public statements concerning the need for education of technicians in construction. A recent example is that of Mr. James Chase, Executive Secretary of the Michigan A.G.C., speaking on ipril l, i966 in East Lansing. He said that there was a vacuum in the construction industry. He also said that there are few skilled personnel being turned out by the universities for construction and consequently "tradesmen must make too many decisions on construction." There is an apparent opportunity here for technicians who would know enough about construction to provide the link between design and actual construction. One factor restricting the amount of construction is the shortage of this type of person. This person would understand computers as used in construc- tion and the problems of design and would also know enough of construction practices and methods for translation. 70 TABLE XII CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF iNSTiTUTION ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS !_E ' _.¥-> 4 ul- Heavy Con- Light Con- dential Resi- Conserva- tion struction struction Construc. Organize. l7th percentile (number of hours) 0 o 0 0 50th percentile (number of hours) 2 o I 0 O 83rd percentile (number of hours) 35 33 0 22 Median no. of laboratory (hours) Percent of schools requiring (1) 44 33 22 43—— Percent of schools, Optional (1) ii || || ll COMMUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES Percent of schools requiring (7.) 4o 30 20 40 IPercent of schools, Optional (1) 20 30 30 30 TECHNICAL INSTITUTES , Percent of schools requiring (1) I 55 I 36 l8 55 Percent of schools, optional (1) I I O 0 OT— UNIVERSITIES ‘IPercent of schools requiring (1) 33 I 33 TT33-‘ 50::I IPercent of schools, Optional (1) O I O 7I HEAVY CONSTRUCTION About one half of the institutions require a course in heavy con- struction; however, the number of classroom hours indicates that only a few hours would be involved for most schools. Apparently there are some general lectures on equipment and definitions. it must be concluded that the general civil engineering technician cannot be expected to be of value in heavy construction. These programs under the heading of civil engineer- ing technology that have some instruction in this area apparently are planned for Specific use, such as highways. LIGHT CONSTRUCTION An even smaller emphasis is placed upon architectural construction. Strictly residential construction is practically ignored. The civil engin- eering technician is not being trained for these fields. This industry either must get people from construction technology programs (whose gradu- ates would not be trained to be of value to the civil engineer), or addi- tional courses would have to be taken upon the conclusion of a two year civil engineering technology program. CONSTRUCTION ORGANIZATION AND PLANNING There is a fifty percent probability that the technician would have learned something of the methods by which construction is planned. Large contracting organizations and related organizations have deveIOped consider- able science of organizing and planning in their work. Apparently it is much more expected of the employer than of the technician. Sui 72 TABLE Xlll ECONOMICS ANALYSIS AND FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING These study areas of economics analysis, planning, cost estimating Sand accounting are combined because of their relationship. Under some definitions these could be construed as general education for the tech- nical person; however, they have definite job applicability and, there- fore, are separated. in the education of the engineer, as well as the technician, a conflict of Opinion exists in this area. Some experts re— commend their inclusion in a curriculum so that the technician will see the physical aspects of his work, while others recommend concentration in the technical Specialty and object to the dilution of effort by the inclus- ion of subjects. it will be of interest to see what pattern the curricula actually take. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND PLANNING Very little effort is included in the curricula in either of these areas. Only university programs seem to have a real interest in this area. Therefore, the technician cannot be expected to understand the business or financial aspects of his work. COST ESTIMATING AND ACCOUNTING it is surprising that only half of the institutions offer courses in cost estimating, since it is often suggested that the graduate technician could be useful in this field. The lack of courses is particularly notice- able among the community colleges. Accounting and business courses in gener- al are only listed in university related programs. Apparently the employer of a technician will have to make most cost estimates himself. The consult- Her 73 TABLE XIII CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Accounting, Economic Cost Business ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS Analysis Planning Estimates Management l7th perCGhtile (number of hours) 0 O ' 0 0 50th percentile (number of hours) 0 o I O O T83rd percentile (number of hours) 0 0 5| 0 Median no. of laboratory (hours) Percent of schools requiring (1) 33 7 43 |9_— Percent of schools, Optional (1) 25 22 ll 26 CCVJUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES IPercent of schOols requiring (3) 20 O I 30 I 0 I IPercent of schools, optional (1) 4O 40 I 20 I 50 TECHNICAL lNSTlTUTES _ Percent of schools requiring (1) 36 O I 55 I I8 Percent of schools, optTOnal (1) i8 IS I O I 9_— AUNlVERSlTlES Percent of schools requiring (1) 50 33 57 I 50“] Percent of schools, optional (%) l7 0 l7 I I7 I .'—. ~ a --~¢-oo- ..- V n o.— ‘1' v- a - .. a 4 . 'u o. ‘ n I L... . a . u . . - u - ~-. . .. . -0 cas- | n - - _~ no - . -c. .. ‘o- o- -.. ‘0 .an . . a t ‘ ‘ . o o a w - ' - a . , ,3 u e I . 9 ac-.. . .o. ans-o mt. l 74 ing engineer is certainly required to provide estimated costs, as well as control, on the projects for his clients. The government organizations employing technicians are also required to provide such information. it is recognized that judgment must be used in cost estimating; however, the preliminary and basic data, such as material take-offs, could be done by a technician, if he has had such a course. Responses to the survey, how- ever, show that he probably has not had much instruction in this field. T. 75 TABLES XIV, XV AND XVI DRAFTING AREAS ’The next three tables represent a detailed analysis of the content ' in drawing courses. This is to be distinguished from design courses, in that the skill of drawing together with knowledge concerning proper graphic presentation is being studied, not the principles underlying the design itself. This organization was felt necessary to arrive at a better under- standing of the technician's actual functions and capabilities. MECHANICAL DRAWING AND LETTERING All technicians have taken courses in principles of drawing, with a median of forty-eight classroom hours, of which fortyafive would be labora- tory hours, being recorded. This Shows that a rather high degree of general drawing skills can be expected. Various projections and views, as well as graphic terminology, will certainly be taught. The extent of time spent on lettering would depend upon the individual instructor; however, the prin- ciples of dimensioning and layout can also be expected. DESCRIPTIVE GEOMETRY . Although more than half of the institutions require such study, the distribution of classroom hours is low and indicates that a truly complete course in descriptive geometry cannot be expected of the graduate. The dis- tribution of hours also indicates that a small proportion of schools do teach a large number of hours. Therefore, the top seventeen percent of the insti- tutions, having sixty or more classroom hours, have the equivalent of a regu- lar engineering level course. 76 TABLE XIV CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Descrip- Sketch- .1“ ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS MegtgsIgg'Geo;;t:y Sggciiszg- inking I7th percentile (number of hours) l5 0 0 0 50th percentile (nURber of-EOU:S) 48 O 3 4 6 83rd perCentile_(nUmEOr Of hours) lOO 60 l7 l6 Median no. of laboratory (hours) 45 4 Percent of schOoiS requiring (1)T_I 96 59 63 48—— Percent of schools, OptTOOal (1) 4 l5 4 I5 COHNJNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES _ Percegt—Of schOols FGOUTring (1) '00 80 70 I 80 I Percent of schools, optional (1) 0 i0 lo I lo I TECHNICAL lNSTlTUTES Percent of schools requiring (1) 9| 55 55 I 45 Percent of schools, optional (1) 9 l8 0 I [3—— UNIVERSITIES Percent of schools requiring (1) lOO I 33 Percent of schools, optional (1) I7 . ‘~- . .. . _. . . 4- I . . .. .. ,, 1. . .—..». o I .. .. i h . o as. . , I c . . .u. a . . —- -.. .. . . a.-. . . . l - - a . .o—v- . . I ‘ - .. . . | a . o -. ..... . -a a o .. t . a a..- , v I l o o o v V o l v u’ I-O. .a... . . . -. , ..-. I . I . . o I -» .. . l .. . . 5 fl‘ ' ' . . . .o..A a n a ‘ ' "00 o ‘ ‘ o I . ... .._ - 00‘. ' 77 3. TABLE XV CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Reln- Sfrucfural forced Archl- l7fh percenflle (number of hours) 0 O ' 0 0 50+h percenfile (number of hours) 0 36 ?I0 0 83rd percenflle (number of hours) I IIO 56 88 Median no. of laborafory (hours) 33 IO q PercenT of schools requlrlng (i) 7 i 73 59 3;—— Percent of schools, optional (1) 25 4 IS ll CCHHUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES :3 Percenf of schools requlrlng (%) IO 90 I 60 l 40 Percenf of schools, opTlonal (1) 50 IO [_ 20 I 30 TECHNICAL INSTITUTES Percenf of schools requlrlng ($) 0 82 73 I 45 Percent of schools, 0p+lonal (1) |3 0 l8 1 6—— .UNIVERSITIES [Percenl of schools requlrlng (%) I7 ' 50 33 I I7 lPercenf of schools, optional (%) 0 ' 0 0 l O‘— 6" . u u . . ,. . . . n o 0.. . .I.,1.!o. .I, _ . v Q < ~ . . . . . 4, . . . . v .0}! u‘ u o .s O .. . _ .- . m u , . I . on o » m . .. . u — . b . M . u . . l...- l l . 3-2!, m..- . i .. . . . . r . q . . . , . u . . F . . . 1 . . . . . m u . . ‘l O. c u I‘ll; loc'. . n O . » § a . . w . . . . . 78 TABLE XVI CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Car- Highway Charis, ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS “99th flats Drawlngs Drawings I7Th percenfile (number of hours) 0 o o 0 50th percenfile (number of hours) 0 o ?|2 0 83rd percenfile (number of hours) |7 IO 34 5 Medlan no. of laboraiory (hours) [0 Percent of schools requlrlng (%) 52 53 53 25—— Percenf of schools, opflonal (1) I5 0 0 I5 COMMUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES IPercenT of schools requiring (%) 70 I 90 I 70 I 30 IPercenI of schools, OpTIonaI (%) 20 I 0 I O I 20 TECHNICAL INSTITUTES Percent of schools requiring (%) I 35 55 82 I l8 Percenf of schools, opfional (%) I l8 0 o I la IUNIVERSITIES Percent of schools requiring (%) 50 I 33 I7 I I7:] Percenf of schools, optional (%) 0 I O O] 0 I o-v .--‘ 1,- . . .. ~ _ ¢ . ‘ ‘ — . n ‘1 -I |I I .9.» . .o . n . . . lu1l0.Ici. . . . a O . .3 ll,.. 0: _ . . . ..I. I. . r . . . a . 79 SKETCHING AND PERSPECTIVES There is a reasonable probabillTy ThaT The Technician can do skeTchIng; however, even The Top sevenTeen percenT of The insTiTuTions do noT require more Then sevenTeen classroom hours on This Topic. This Is The reverse of The slTuaTion for descrlpTIve geomeTry. A comparison of These firsT Three fields would indicaTe ThaT The civil engineering Technician graduaTe will be able To provide informaTive drawings formally or Informaliy. However, he should noT be expecTed To be able To solve problems graphically wiThouT furTher on-The-Job Training. INKING AND SCRIBING The low percenTage of lnsTiTuTions requiring These courses and The small amounT of classroom Time expecTed shows ThaT The Technician will probably have some difficulTy if he Is expecTed To prepare permanenT draw- ings. The civil engineering field Is somewhaT differenT from oTher Tech- nologies In iTs requiremenTs, since many applicaTions would require a form of permanenT record. UTIIITy drawings, properTy drawings and locaTions of underground uTiliTles musT be TreaTed in such a way ThaT They can be referred To sevenTy-flve or one hundred years laTer. IT is, Therefore, somewhaT un- forTunaTe ThaT more Time is noT placed In This. IT is possible ThaT micro- films and oTher Special processes will solve The problem In some occupaTlons; however, smaller organizaTions sTiII depend upon drawings Themselves. IT seems ThaT The drawing courses for civil engineering Technicians are gener- ally TaughT by persons more familiar wlTh mechanical and lndusTriaI drawing. In These IndusTries There is very liTTle need for permanenT drawings and Ink- Ing Is regarded as an anachronism. 80 STRUCTURAL STEEL AND REINFORCED CONCRETE DRAWINGS BoTh of These skills can be expecTed of The Technician To some ex- TenT. The Techniques of sTrucTural sTeel convenTions and symbols are more heavily emphasized Than would be The bar schedules and convenTions of re- inforced concreTe. IT is To be observed ThaT The programs affillaTed wiTh universiTies have a much smaller emphasis on These parTicuIar areas. This may reflecT The facT ThaT engineering facuiTy members have liTTie concern wiTh subjecTs of sTeei deTaiiing pracTice. ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING As previously observed, under The heading of archiTecTural design, mosT InsTiTuTions ignore This subjecT; however, Those ThaT do Teach IT offer a considerable number of hours. There is no degree of knowledge ThaT can be expecTed of all Technicians. CARTOGRAPHY Map making is required in fIny percenT of The insTiTuTIons, wiTh a smaller number of classroom hours involved. IT is possible ThaT This subjecT is even TaughT wiThin a surveying course as ofTen as iT is TaughT in a drafT- Ing course. Topographic drawing is relaTed To carTography; however, iT Is very definiTely TaughT wiThin The surveying courses, since iT is impossible To do Topographic surveying wiThouT a knowledge of The drawings ThaT resuIT from The survey. PLATS iT is quiTe likely ThaT The Technician will have been TaughT someThlng 8| abouT land plaTS and The drawings necessary for The approval of subdivision IayouT. There is noT enough classroom Time necessary To Teach The principles ThaT lie behind The drawing, buT These would be TaughT in relaTed courses. The Technician should be able To adapT To The Specific legal requiremenTs of plaTS wiThin a given sTaTe. HIGHWAY DRAWINGS There is a Two-Thirds probabiliTy ThaT The Technician will be able To prepare highway plan and profile drawings. IT is possible ThaT he will know someThlng of mass diagrams and oTher Specific Types of highway drawings. iT Is To be observed ThaT The univerSiTy relaTed prOgramS neglecT This, as They do STrucTurai drawings. CHARTS AND DIAGRAMS This Topic was included in The survey To deTermine The likelihood of The Technician's having Skills To presenT graphic informaTion. DiSpIay graphs, sTaTISTicaI charTS and scheduling devices are noT TaughT and, There- fore, The employer would have To provide on-The-Job Training if The Technic- ian is To be able To make proper charTS. 82 TABLES XVII, XVIII AND XIX SURVEYING Surveying is anoTher area of sTudy wherein The deTailed breakdown nu: T'be made. There is as much difference beTween second order and Third order surveying as There IS beTween eighTh grade arlThmeTic and differen- Tial equaTions. Surveying Technology programs were included in This sur- vey if H seemed ThaT The graduaTe would be working on engineering pro- JecTS for engineers. Those programs ThaT are for land surveyors did noT charT The definiTion of This sTudy and were excluded. There have been recommendaTions for addiTionaI programs Specifical ly for surveying and IT Iv! ll be of value To deTermine The relaTIve meriT of general and Specific p r-og rams . PLANE SURVEYING MeasuremenT based upon assumpTionS of a plane surface is The ele- InenTary course. One hundred percenT of The lnsTlTuTions require such sTudy. A very large amounT of Time is SpenT on This subjecT. Of The median eighTy- Three classroom hours, TwenTy-nine are iecTure and The oTher finy-four are labonaTory or pracTice hours. This would guaranTee ThaT The Technician will know how To use The equipmenT for measuring disTances, angles and elevaTions, using convenTional equipmenT. Third order precision can be expecTed and some degree of skill add efficiency can be expecTed of The graduaTe. WiTh This amounT of InSTrucTion The graduaTe can perform as an insTrumenT man on convenTional work and could become a parTy chief wiTh a small amounT of on- The Job Training. He will be able To use vernier insTrumenTs and should be adapTable To differenT models. 83 TABLE XVII CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION OpTicai Plane lnsTrumenT GeodeTic MicromeTer ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS Surveying AdjusTmenT Surveying Use l7Th percenTile (number of hours) 45 O ' 0 0 SOTh percenTile (number of hours) 83 IO §I4 0 83rd percenTile (number of hours) I33 20 30 I7 Median no. of laboraTory (hours) 54 6 IO PercenT of schools requiring (%) IOO 85 37 37—7 PercenT of schools, OpTlonaI (fl) 0 O 7 il COMMUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES IPercenT of schools requiring (%) I I00 I I00 I 50 I 50 IPercenT of schools, opTionaI (1) I 0 I 0 I lo I 20 I TECHNICAL INSTITUTES IPercenT of schools requiring (1) I I00 I 73 I 27 I 36 IPercenT of schools, opTional (S) I O I 0 I 9 I 9 UNIVERSITIES IPercenT of schools requiring (S) I00 I 83 33 I I7:] IPercenT of schools, opTlonaI (S) 0 I 0 0 I O I . l . I I ”V"... . . ., ....... -..».~- . I u a . as.» ._, .. . . o . --- . . .--...'.0 ~ .4 84 3 TABLE XVIII JLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION TOpo- Cadas- ALL RESPOND|NG SCHOOLS Sfiislging 53::ggIgg Su:$:;IngsurL::'ng I7Th percenTile (number of hours) 0 O I O 0 50m percenTile (number of hours) 49 8 3 .4 83rd percenTlle (number of hours) IIO 48 47 20 Median no. of laboraTory (hours) 30 5 PercenT of schools requiring (%) 93 BI 63 4T— PercenT of schools, opTional (%) 4 7 l9 I5 CC”fiUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES 1’ PercenT of schools requiring (%) I 90 I 90 I 50 I 20 PercenT of schools, opTIonai (%) I O I i0 I— 40 I 40 TECHNICAL INSTITUTES PercenT of schools requiring (%) I 9| I 82 I 73 I 64 (PercenT of schools, opTional (fi) I 9 I 9 I 9 I UNIVERSITIES PercenT of schools requiring (5) lOO I 67 67 I 33:] PercenT of schools, opTional (%) O I 0 O I O I , ..,. . v: . l ‘ n.. . . s . . u s - ». . no -_ « . ._-. ~~ - ~... 0 .00....“— . .n ~ . n . . ». g I u ! .—-- «to I ' a... i z a b u a I ~Ic .-. -.--. ... .... .. ._-.. C v 1 . . -I“L. .....4. . 7- 0 son--. I u m I a > . I U-.. . . | - run.“- . . . .h._,. . .. ‘ I ~ch -~... . . . 1 ’ 0.. . . 5 . . ,. - v- . l n . . n.- . up u- I I ~ " . .E... l . I - . i I . . _. . '. -.. ,_ o..-“.- -. , ._‘ I 85 TABLE XIX CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION CelesTiaI .0... 22222:. “2222:2222" l7Th percenTile (number of hours) 0 0 I 0 0 SOTh peFEenTile (number of hours) 8 9 7_ 8 83rd percenTiIe (number of hours) 46 2i . I7 30 Median no. of laboraTory (hours) 5 7 4 4 l PercenT of schools requiring (%) 4| 4| 8| 7—— PercenT of schools, opTional (%) 22 II 0 CCVWUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES PercenT of schools requiring (z) 40 I 50 I 90 I PercenT of schools, opTional (1) 40 I 20 I 0 I 7 TECHNICAL INSTITUTES PercenT of schools requiring (%) 36 I 36 9| PercenT of schools, opTional (%) IS I 9 O 7—— UNIVERSITIES PercenT of schools requiring (z) 50 I I7 50 I :] PercenT of schools, opTional (%) o I o 0 I I o... .—. u. - ---v n. -.-'. o. . .. u r-Uim‘v- - . _ .._ a n. ., .. v. .. . . — 0‘..— .r. . . u an. n --. I .e. .. .o o ..- .u .u—. .- .o... ' ..- .. . w 86 INSTRUMENT ADJUSTMENT AND REPAIR MosT of The lnsTlTuTions Teach The adjuSTmenT of TransiTs and levels. The median of Ten classroom hours, six of Them In prachce, should be sufficienT To make rouTIne adJuSTmenTS. IT should also be suf- ficienT for The Technician To learn The firST lesson: ThaT Thorough checking musT be done before aTTeMpTing adjusTmenT. GEODETIC SURVEYING FirsT and second order work are apparenle noT as ofTen TaughT. JusT over a Third of The programs require This. The disTrIbuTion of class- room hours Shows, however, ThaT half of The schools involve fourTeen or more hours. Therefore, IT can be concluded ThaT The Technician will noT be proficienT in geodeTic work upon graduaTion. A much larger amounT of Time would be needed To develop The deTailed Techniques and caiculaTIon procedures. OPTICAL MICROMETER USE Fewer Than half of The programs indicaTe work on opTical micromeTer insTrumenTs. They will, Therefore, have To learn This on The Job. A simi- larITy of curriculum Is observed wiTh The subjecT of geodeTic surveying and This is To be expecTed, because such programs involve TheodoliTeS. MosT TheodoiiTeS In currenT use involve opTlcal micromeTerS. IT would seem ThaT, for engineering surveys, such insTrumenTs would ofTen be required and iT may be ThaT Their omission Is due To The relucTance of lnsTlTuTions To inveST In This Type of expensive equipmenT. A peculiarITy of surveying insTrumenTs is The reTenTion of value over a long periof of Time and The Increasing Tendency 87 To avoid replacemenT. -ROUTE SURVEYING This is a normal second course offerlng following plane surveying. IT is required by almosT all lnsTlTuTions. There Is a reasonable disTrIbu- Tion of classroom hours and iT can be concluded ThaT The graduaTe can per- form in This field. Thery of The median ToTaI of forTy-nine classroom hours are SpenT in The field. An examinaTion of course descrlpTlonS Indi- caTeS ThaT The following TOpIcs are defianely Included: curves, horizon- Tal and verTical, earThwork, slope sTaking and on miscellaneous highway sur- veys. OTher specialized Topics could noT be depended upon as much. TOPOGRAPHIC AND HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYING Three quarTerS of The lnsTlTuTions requlre sTudy in This SpeclaITy. A disTrIbuTion of classroom hours is lrrlgular and There IS a considerable range of classroom hours. Hydrographic surveying was included in This cafe- gory because of iTS close relaTionShlp; however, IT Is expecTed ThaT such acTivlTy is a minor parT of The sTudy. CADASTRAL AND PROPERTY SURVEYS Two Thirds of The lnsTlTuTions Teach This. IT IS noTlceable ThaT almosT all of The Technical insTlTuTeS and unlverslTies requlre IT, while only half of The communiTy colleges do. Of The Two-Thirds of The pro- grams required, moST will include land descrlpTion sysTemS, such as The pub- lic land sysTem. Small properTy surveys would noT call for any special Tech- niques over and above plane surveying; however, an apprecIaTlon of The pecu- liar problems and approprlaTe precision is ImporTanT. 88 SURVEYING LAW This T0pic could be considered To be duplicaTing The preceding headings. The difference is ThaT The quesTion here asked for require- menTS In law relaTed To properTy righTs. The sTudy of law necessary for licensing and prachce as a land surveyor Is noT covered well in civil engineering Technician programs. IT is noT likely ThaT he would know The relaTIve sTrengThs of confllchng properTy descrlpTlons. lT ls quiTe clear ThaT a civil engineering Technician could perform field work for a land surveyor, buT could noT acT as a parTy chief or assume responsiblliTy for The resulTlng informaTlon In general. On The oTher hand, The civil engineering Technician does have a knowledge of roads and oTher general Topics. Therefore, a civil engineering Technician could be of value To The land surveyor, buT would need addiTlonal work experience To prOperly conducT such surveys. The programs designed parTicularly for surveying Technicians can develop people who would be able To do land surveys, buT iT ls likely ThaT They would be of llmlTed value In subdivision planning and parTicular problems involving a knowledge of appllce engineering. PHOTOGRAMMETRY IT IS noT likely ThaT The Technician will have enough knowledge of phoTogrammeTry To be of value immediaTeiy upon graduaTion. There IS a finy percenT probabiliTy ThaT he will know enough abouT The Topic To learn on The Job. CELESTIAL OBSERVATIONS There IS only a finy percenT probabiliTy ThaT The sTudenT would have sTudied This field and so he may noT be able To deTermine bearings 89 and oTher facTors from solar or sTellar observaTions. STADIA MosT of The programs involve some knowledge of sTadia and, There- fore, There IS a reasonable expecTaTion of proficiency here. AlThough This Technique is quiTe old, lT is an indicaTion of The Type of surveying ThaT The civil engineering Technician could do. Even wlTh The IndicaTed cover- age of sTadla principles, he Should be able To adapT To geodeTic meThods for using sTadia. The Type of sTadia used in plane Table work, precise leveling, and subTense bar usage can be handled by The Technician, buT probably noT by The land surveyor. The sTudy of plane Tables and alidades ls somewhaT relaTed here. A preliminary examinaTion of caTalogs and experience IndicaTed ThaT very llTTle plane Table sTudy was done and ThaT even if lT were TaughT, very few employers would be lnTeresTed In iTs use in This counTry. CONSTRUCTION SURVEYING The number of classroom hours was recorded; however, The second quesTionnalre did noT Include This sTudy area. This was eliminaTed because of confusion beTween iT and general surveying. The parTicular Techniques for conSTruchon surveying depend To a large exTenT on The Individual sur- veyor and, wiTh The excepTIon of baTTer boards, iT is noT a significanle differenT or idenTiflable field of sTudy. iT is more concerned wiTh manual Techniques, such as driving sTakes and unusual markings, Than wiTh pracTiceS ThaT are commonly accepTed In The IndusTry. A more IdenTiflable area of sTudy mighT have been The surveying relaTed To major equipmenT lnsTallaTion and lndusTriai IayouT. The use of parTicular lnsTrumenTs, such as colli- 9O maTors and wires and working wiTh millwrighTs could be TaughT, TogeTher wiTh The surveying done in The air frame manufacTure. The preliminary analysis of caTalogs indicaTes a negligible inTeresT in These Topics. 9| TABLE XX MISCELLANEOUS The lasT Three sTudy areas are included here because They have noT seemed To fiT inTo The oTher caTegories. WELDING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE There is liTTle probabiliTy of The Technician's having any exposure To welding, ouTside of ThaT which mighT be TaughT in The sTrucTural sTeel design. This field was included because of The inTeresT in using The civil engineering Technician for inspecTion of major consTrucTion. lT musT be concluded ThaT under The presenT curricula, The Technician should noT be expecTed To inspecT This aspecT of consTrucTion. There Is liTTie likelihood ThaT welding inspecTion can be effecTive when The lnspecTor is unfamiliar wiTh The process. in addiTlon To This, There is a normal apprehension of The process on The parT of The neophyTe. lT would be very helpful if The Technician could aT leasT have The opporTuniTy To do a small amounT of welding so ThaT such apprehension could be overcome. ENGINEERING LAW There is a high probabiliTy ThaT The graduaTe of a Technical lnsTl- TuTe program will have sTudied This area. There is a very low probabiliTy for graduaTes of oTher programs. When TaughT, This would include conTracTs and agency principles as well as parTicular documenTs. Since The Technical lnsTlTuTes are Teaching mosT of The courses here, lT is probable ThaT The applicaTlons will be sTressed much more Than The underlying bases of common law equiTy and The Judicial process. 92 TABLE XX CLASSROOM EFFORT ON SPECIFIC COURSES BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION ALL RESPONDING SCHOOLS Welding Law EThICS I7Th percenTile (number of hours) 0 o I 0 50Th percenTlle (number of hours) 0 4 0 83rd percenTIIe (number of hours) I 3| IO Medlan no. of laboraTory (hours) PercenT of schools requiring (Z) '5 55 25 PercenT of schools, opTional (1) 30 II II CCNAUNITY, JUNIOR COLLEGES PercenT of schools requiring (i) 20 30] 20 I PercenT of schools, opTional ($) 50 30 I 30 I TECHNICAL INSTITUTES 7 7. PercenT of schools requiring (%) I 9 I 9| I 36 PercenT of schools, opTlonaI (%) I is I 0 I O <_T UNIVERSITIES . , PercenT of schools requiring (%) I [7 I 33 I I7 TI PercenT of schools, opTional (%) I o I o I 0 T—TI 93 ETHICS AlThough The preliminary lnvesTigaTIon showed ThaT This was noT likely To be TaughT, iT was included because of a general concern in Tech- nical fields. Much of The criTicism of engineering and Technician educa- Tion by The employers and professional socieTies has been direcTed Toward The problems of professional prachce. lT is apparenT ThaT The Technician will have had IlTTie exposure To The concest of eThics. WheTher This should be included is a maTTer of values and, Therefore, no recommendaTion can be made. 94 C. Major STudy Area Analyses in This secTIon of The reporT comparisons of The energy expended upon major caTegories will be analyzed. The headings of general educa- Tion, manual skills, sciences and Technical subjecTs will be used. As anoTher dimension, comparisons will be drawn beTween The ToTal number of classroom hours as one unIT and percenTage of The ToTal curriculum as anoTher unIT. AlThough all of The programs are approximaTely Two years In IengTh, The ToTai number of classroom hours vary considerably from one InsTiTuTlon To anoTher and, Therefore, six hundred class hours mighT be forTy percenT of The ToTal program for one insTiTuTion and fIny percenT for anoTher lnsTlTuTion. The ToTal number of class hours, as shown in Table XXI, ranges from l,220 for an insTlTuTion aT The sevenTeenTh per- cenTlIe To 2,000 for oTher InsTiTuTions. AnoTher basis for comparison here will be on insTITuTional size. Programs Involving more Than Two facuITy members and more Than finy sTud- enTs will be disTInguIshed from The smaller InsTiTuTions. All of The daTa appears In Table XXI. DEFINITION OF MATERIALS USED SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS These are The TheoreTIcaI courses In basic disciplines, including chemisTry, physics, biology and all maThemaTics courses, excepT The use of desk calculaTors. COMMUNICATIONS English and speech are The only Topics included here. 95 TABLE XXI DISTRIBUTION OF HOURS IN CLASS, AND OF PERCENTAGES OF TOTAL HOURS, FOR MAJOR CATEGORIES DisTribuTion PercenTiles: All Programs Large Programs Classroom Hours: P'7 P50 P83 P17 P50 P83 Science, MaThemaTics I37 248 4IO II5 2I5 278 CommunicaTions, General Educ. I43 207 264 I44 I98 263 Engineering Sciences IOI 2I9 375 I80 253 39I Technical SpecialTies 596 780 I2l6 609 880 I359 Manual Skills I8 53 II6 I8 64 I22 ToTal Hours by insTiTuTion l220 I658 l9l4 I425 I706 2299 PercenTages of Hours: Science, MaThemaTics i0.3 I5.2 22.8 I0.0 l6.| 22.5 CommunicaTions, General Educ. 8.8 ll.5 20.0 8.3 9.8 20.0 Engineering Sciences 7.6 i4.0 22.| 9.4 l4.8 2l.7 Technical SpecialTIes 38.l 50.7 64.l 39.I 5|.4 6l.7 Manual Skills 0.9 3.6 7.7 0.9 3.4 7.2 96 GENERAL EDUCATION This Is The ToTaI of sTudy areas designed To improve civic know- ledge, cuITural appreclaTion, behavioral sciences, and The humaniTies. lT Includes The communicaTion courses, social sciences, such as polITIcal science, humaanIes, such as hisTory, managemenT and economics courses. All courses In These fields are included regardless of Their TlTles, be- cause The acTual Teaching of The class deTermines The exTenT of direcT applicaTlon. Therefore, courses in Technical reporT wriTIng, psychology I of human relaTIons, and economic analysis are Included. This definITion of general educaTlon would noT agree wiTh ThaT used for baccalaureaTe pro- grams; however, iT ls necessary here because This is The defInITion used in Technical lnsTlTuTe evaluaTion. In reaIlTy, some general educaTlon Is invariably TaughT In Technical courses. The concest of crITical Thinking and communicaTions are usually accepTed as general educaTion and These are TaughT In many design courses. in addiTlon To This, a knowledge and appre- cIaTIon of asTronomy ls required In an advanced surveying course and a know- ledge of governmenTal relaTIonshIps is necessary in a highway design course, since The design Is based on These relaTIonshIps. ENGINEERING SCIENCES This includes geology, soils, meTalIurgy, properTles of maTeriaIs, sTaTlcs, dynamics, Thermodynamics, elecTronics, sTrengTh of maTeriaIs, hy- draulics, hydrology and meTeorology. TECHNICAL SPECIALTIES This Is The summaTion of sTudies In various direcT applicaTlons. '97 JIT excludes manual skills, such as drafTIng and welding. IT includes a wide varieTy of courses in consTrucTion, sTrucTural design, drafTIng appli- caTlons, surveying, sanITary and highway design. SKILLS This Includes Those sTudies designed To Improve manual skills and iT includes leTTering and basic drawing Techniques, The use of desk calcu- laTors, welding and occasional oTher applicaTlons. PROCEDURES The ToTal number of classroom hours In a given caTegory was calcu- IaTed for each InsTiTuTion. A disTrIbuTion of These ToTals was Then ana- lyzed and The sevenTeenTh, fifTieTh and eighTy-Third percenTlIes of each disTrIbuTion were recorded. The percenTages were handled In The same way. Large schools were seiecTed on The following crITeria. The number of sTudenTs In The Two year programs musT be equal To or greaTer Than fIny, as recorded In governmenT surveys, and The number 6f full Time faculTy mem- bers, as recorded on The survey insTrumenTs, musT be Two or more who devoTe full Time To Teaching in The program. None of The small InsTiTuTions are accredITed by The Engineering Council for Professional DevelopmenT. Some TabulaTIons of Technician daTa dIsTlnguish on The basis of This accrediTa- TIon. IT ls feIT here ThaT some large and successful programs have noT soughT This E.C.P.D. accredITaTIon and iT would be misleading To Include Them wiTh The small programs. 98 RESULTS Science and maThemaTics range from Ten To TwenTy—Three percenT of The efforT for The cenTer Two-Thirds of all reSpondlng insTiTuTions. IT is apparenT ThaT There is no significanT difference beTween The large and small InsTiTuTions on This disTrIbuTion. There Is somewhaT more noTIce- able difference when The number of classroom hours is The uniT of measure- menT. The larger lnsTlTuTions consisTenle require fewer hours Than The ToTal of all lnsTlTuTions (Including large and small). The ToTaI of all general educaTion ranges from eighT To TwenTy percenT and one hundred forTy-Three To Two hundred stTy-four classroom hours. A sTrIklng simi- IarITy is noTIced when The larger insTiTuTions are analyzed by Themselves. IT is also noTIceable ThaT This Is noT a normal disTrIbuTion, as was The case for science and maThemaTics, wherein The median Is approximaTely The average of The sevenTeenTh and elghTy-Third percenTlIes. In This case iT Is apparenT ThaT almosT all lnsTlTuTions are wiThIn a small range, while The Top figures Increase considerably. Engineering science courses range from 7.6% To 22.l% of The ToTal efforT, a normal disTrIbuTion. Here The larger insTiTuTions are consIsT- enle higher in Their classroom hours. ApparenTIy The large insTiTuTions Tend more To The engineering sciences and away from general educaTion To This exTenT. I In Technical specialTIes a consIsTency Is again recorded. These courses consTITuTe The bulk of The curriculum and efforT for all insTiTu- Tions. For This reason a breakdown wiThIn The Technical specIaITIes will be analyzed laTer. Manual skills obviously call for a small efforT in The educaTion of civil engineering Technicians. This Is noT affecTed by The size of The 99 InsTiTuTion and The average of 3.6% of fIny-Three classroom hours Is very small. IT ls quiTe apparenT ThaT The civil engineering Technician program Is COMpIeTely disTInguIshed from The indusTrIal Technician and skilled Trades educaTlon. There Is no doubT ThaT some confusion exisTs; however, These figures make IT clear ThaT The Technician is much more closely relaTed To The engineer Then To The skilled crafTsman. A consTrucTIon foreman and a highly experienced survey man cannoT be consTrued To be a Technician and neITher can The Technician be expecTed To be proficienT in These skills. The ToTal number of classroom hours has a large range. For a col- lecTIon of Two year programs, IT Is surprising ThaT This discrepancy In classroom hours Is so greaT for all sizes of insTiTuTions. Of course, a sTudenT can learn ouTside The classroom To a cerTain exTenT; however, much more can cerTainly be expecTed of Those graduaTes having a larger number of classroom hours. IOO GENERAL DIRECTIONS OF CURRICULUM RECOMMENDATIONS Table XXII Is a TabulaTion of recommendaTlons on civil engineering Technician curricula as inTerpreTed and TranslaTed from specific sTaTemenTs. Four sources of recommendaTlons are shown as forces affecTIng The curricu- lum. These are: l) The U. 5. Office of EducaTion recommendaTIon publica- Tlon enTiTled Civil and Highway Technology; 2) consulTanTs represenTed by Dr. Norman Harris, of The UniversiTy of Michigan; 3) The American SocIeTy for Engineering EducaTion, as published In The CharacTerIsTlcs‘21_Excel- I2232_12_EngineerlngTechnician EducaTion, and employers of Technicians, as represenTed by a TabulaTion of supervisors In The Michigan STaTe nghway DeparTmenT. The publicaTlon of The Office of EducaTion was difficulT To quanTify alThough a TabulaTion of recommendaTlons was made. The reporT IisTed several fields as advisable and oThers as essenTIal and IT was adJusTed To fiT The defInITions used In This chapTer. For example, sTrucTural compuTaTIons and esTimaTIng were Included as maThemaTics and were shIfTed To Technical Specl- alTies for This compuTaTIon. IT also lIsTed sTaTIcs, dynamics, and soil analysis as sciences and These were changed To engineering sciences To baTTer maTch The caTegories of oTher groups. The recommendaTlons of Norman Harris were Taken from lnTervlews wiTh him and his reply To The quesTionnalre used In This disserTaTIon (Appendix A). OTher consulTanTs corroboraTIng for recommendaTlons were Mr. Raymond STITh and Douglas Libby, of The UniversiTy of DayTon and WenTworTh lnsTlTuTe res- pecTIvely. The recommended core requiremenTs are Included In This caTegory. The employer's sTaTemenT Is a synThesis of research done aT The Michigan STaTe Highway DeparTmenT by Mr. John Overhouse, of The Highway IOI DeparTmenT. The supervisors of Technicians were asked To quanTify Their recommendaTlons and This was TranslaTed InTo equivalenT crele hours. All of The recommendaTlons were TranslaTed InTo semesTer crediTs for comparison purposes and were proporTlonaTely adjusTed To a uniform ToTal of stTy-six semesTer crediTs. Table XXIII compares The recommendaTlons as percenTages of The ToTaI efforT wiTh The acTuaI percenTages of surveyed efforT. IT Is appar- enT ThaT The greaTesT amounT of congruency Is noTIced beTween The recom- mendaTlons of The American SocIeTy for Engineering EducaTion and The acTual resulTanTs. IT may be Inferred ThaT The professional socieTy Is a more effecTIve force on The curriculum Than are The oTher groups. I02 TABLE XXII CURRICULUM RECOMMENDATIONS IN MAJOR DIVISIONS TRANSLATED INTO EQUIVALENT SEMESTER CREDITS EquivalenT SemesTer CredITs Office of EducaTion ConsulTanTs A.S.E.E. Employers MaThemaTIcs I5 IO 9 l3.5 Sciences 9 I0 6 0 CommunicaTions 6 5.5 6 6.5 General EducaTion 3 4 9 2.5 Skills 6 4 6 l6 Engineering Sciences 9 6.5 I0 4.5 Technical SpeclalTies IS 26 20 23 ToTal 66 66 66 66 TABLE XXlll PERCENT OF CURRICULUM IN MAJOR DIVISIONS COMPARED WITH PERCENTS RECOMMENDED BY GROUPS RecommendaTlons 8y AcTual ResulTanT Office of ConsulT- Curricula EducaTion anTs A.S.E.E. Employers MaThemaTIcs IO% 22% I5% l4% 20% Sciences 6 l4 l5 9 0 CommunicaTions 6 9 8 9 I0 General EducaTion 7 5 6 l4 4 Skills 4 9 6 9 24 Engineering Sciences l5 l4 IO I5 7 Technical SpeclalTIes 52 27 40 30 35 CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF FORCES BEARING ON THE CURRICULA A sTudy of The various groups and facTors having an Influence on The curriculum was made. The following lndependenT variables are Included: faculTy, sTudenTs, and The InsTiTuTional organizaTion. ThroughouT This chapTer comparisons have been drawn beTween seiecTed samples In order To deTermine possible co-relaTIonshIps or associaTions beTween individual characTerlsTics of The group and of The curriculum. In each case, The sample was seiecTed To minimize The effecT of oTher facTors. Following The TehoreTIcaI framework of The disserTaTIon, These lTems of faculTy, sTudenTs and InsTiTuTionaI organizaTIon are defined as forces acTing upon The curricula. The ImpacT of The force is measured by The quanTITaTIve change In The general curricular descrIpTion. A. FaculTy CharacTerIsTIcs Each of The seTs of quesTionnalres ask for InformaTIon on The faculTy. The firsT quesTionnalre asked abouT The number of years of Teach- Ing experience and The number of years of work experience relaTed To The program. A conTrolled sample of InsTiTuTions having represenTaTIve Inclus- Ion of various organizaTional paTTerns and sizes was seiecTed. ThIrTeen InsTiTuTions comprise This sample. IT is recognized ThaT any measuremenT of These faculTy characTerlsTics would change from year To year and ThaT one addiTlonal year of Teaching experience would resulT from each succeeding year. I03 I04 Therefore, The lIsT of lnsTlTuTions was also checked for relaTIve sTablIiTy and assurance ThaT They represenTed a Typical InsTanT In Time. IT was found ThaT The average faculTy member had 7.3 years of Teach- lng experience and 7.6 years of non-Teaching experience. Since mosT of The non-Teaching experience had To be gained prlor To associaTion wiTh The civil engineering Technician InsTrucTion, These figures have some Special signifi- cance. IT Is apparenT ThaT a significanT amounT of work experience In The engineering field Is normal for The faculTy. The 7.6 years Is probably larger Than The number of years of professional non-Teaching experience In liberal arTs and oTher fields. The ToTal range of such experience for reporT- ing faculTIes was from Two years To ThIrTy years. There Is liTTIe expecTa- Tion ThaT faculTy would be hired immediaTely upon receiving a Bachelor's Degree. Table XXIV lIsTs The CharacTerIsTIcs reporTed In The second ques- Tionnalre. The quesTionnalre asked To have "The general characTerlsTics of The faculTy responsible for The civil engineering Technician curriculum by checking all_approprlaTe boxes describing The faculTy as The single per- son meg: represenTing groups Involved." IT Is apparenT ThaT mosT of The faculTy are civil engineers; In facT, nIneTy-five percenT of Them have a Bachelor's Degree In civil engin- eering. AT The same Time IT was reporTed ThaT TwenTy-seven percenT of The ToTal groups have Bachelor's Degrees In oTher fields. AlThough cerTalnly some faculTy members have Two Bachelor's Degrees, iT Is likely ThaT InsTi- TuTions in This case would noT respond describing The giggle person, buT IisTed characTerlsTics of addiTlonal faculTy. Of major ImporTance is The facT ThaT finy-five percenT have MasTer's Degrees In civil engineering and stTy-eighT percenT are licensed by The sTaTe as regisTered professional I05 TABLE XXIV FACULTY CHARACTERISTICS CharacTerIsTIcs checked as describing The Number PercenTage faculTy as The single person mosT repre- of of all senTing The civil engineering sTaff lnsTlTuTions lnsTlTuTions 8.5. In Civil Engineering 26 95% 8.8. In OTher Fields 7 27 M.5. in Civil Engineering IS 55 M.S. In OTher Fields 5 I8 Journeyman or EquivalenT l 4 RegIsTered Engineer IS 68 RegisTered Land Surveyor IO 36% More Than Two years experience In: ConTracT ConsTrucTIon 8 29% Highway DeparTmenT I5 57 OTher GovernmenT DeparTmenTs O 0 Teaching, EducaTion and Research l9 7l IndusTry, ManufacTurIng 4 l4 Surveying I3 48 PrivaTe PracTIce, ConsulTing Engineer IS 57 ArchITecTural PracTIce 3 l0 Railroads 0 0 SanITary Engineering 3 I0% I06 engineers. BoTh of These percenTages are much higher Than The percenTages for The ToTaI populaTIon of all civil engineers. The facT ThaT ThIrTy-slx percenT are regisTered as land surveyors would be normal, since abouT one half of The regisTered civil engineers are also licensed To pracTice land surveying. Licensing as a civil engineer includes granTIng of auThoriTy To conducT engineering surveys, while licensing as a land surveyor ls re- quired for The resoluTIon of conflIcTs In properTy surveys. The overall selecTIon of programs under The definiTions for This paper has screened ouT Those programs noT direchy relaTed To supervision by civil engineers. As a consequence, only one program had a faculTy member IisTed as a journeyman In The consTrucTion Trades. RespondenTs were Then asked To check Those fields in which The represenTaTIve faculTy member had more Than Two years of work experience. On This TabulaTion, lnsTlTuTions having checked more Then four caTegories were eliminaTed. This was done under The assumpTlon ThaT They were probably checking The characTerlsTics of several faculTy members. The characTerlsTics of mosT represenTaTIve faculTy members were desired In order To draw conclusions beTween The char- acTerlsTic and The Inclusion of Technical speciaITy courses. IT was also ThoughT To be desirable as a means of InTerpreTing resulTs of This paper. The Table Is self explanaTory as a general descrIpTlon; however, a few commenTs mighT be made. If Is InTeresTIng ThaT no faculTy reporTed having railroad work experience and ThaT only a few came from The fields of saniTary engineering and affiIIaTion wITh archITecTs. The sevenTy-one per- cenT having previous Teaching and research experience is noT a reliable figure, because This probably Includes Their experience In The program. AnoTher quesTion To pursue In The fuTure mighT be The deTermlnaTion of Those who join The faculTy from oTher Teaching experience, such as civil engineer- I07 Ing deparTmenTs of unlverslTies. The faculTy have a fairly broad range of work experience, alThough The number having had conTracT consTrucTion ex- perience was somewhaT lower Than would be expecTed. FACULTY AND CURRICULUM CHARACTERISTICS A measuremenT of The significance of associaTions beTween seiecTed faculTy characTerlsTics and seiecTed curriculum characTerlsTics was made. IT ls difficuITy To prove a causal ralaTionship; however, The significance of These relaTIonshIps Is sTiIl of value in helping To predIcT The abiliTIes of a civil engineering Technician. A sub-group of InsTiTuTions, whose fac- ulTy have a common characTerlsTic, such as a work experience in surveying, was compared wiTh anoTher sub-group noT having The surveying experience, To deTermine any difference In The surveying InsTrucTion. Two opposITe Theo- ries could explain associaTions. IT Is possible, for example, ThaT The fac- ulTy member having had surveying experience would logically Teach and require more surveying. IT Is also possible ThaT The engineer, having had work ex- perience In a given field, mighT assume ThaT such a field would be The func- Tlon of The engineer, and mighT noT require or Teach IT for The Technician. A fuTure sTudy To resolve This confllcT of Theories mighT be conducTed by InTerviewing or surveying faculTy members. Such a procedure Is noT Included In This paper because iT will be possible To show whaT The associaTion beTween seiecTed facTors is wiThouT explanaTIon. This Type of InformaTIon would be of value In predicTIng The characTerlsTic of The civil engineering Technician. A conTrolled group of TwenTy-one programs was seiecTed for The firsT analysis. Ten of These had faculTy wiTh surveying experience and eleven of Them had faculTy wiThouT surveying experience. The oTher variables were held consTanT. Since almosT all of The insTiTuTions required a basic knowledge of I08 surveying, This was noT included In The analysis. Four areas were seiecTed wiThln The surveying field. These were areas where approximaTely one-half of The InsTiTuTions required such sTudy. The compIIaTIon of required courses In comparison wiTh faculTy experience yielded The following disTrIbuTion: CadasTral Laws PhoTo rammeTr CelesTIal NoT NoT NOT NoT Req'd. Req'd. Req'd. Req'd. Req'd. Req'd. Req'd. Req'd. Survey a) 8 2 6 4 7 3 8 2 No Survey b) 5 6 4 7 2 9 2 9 Since prOper analysis requires more Than fIve uans In such 2 X 2 Tables, The four sub-headings were combined To give The following resulTs: Reguired NoT Required ToTal Survey 29 II 40 No Survey l3 3| 44 ToTaI 42 42 84 Chi-squared caiculaTIon, using YaTes' correcTion, was made. The value of chi- squared was I0.24, indlcaTlng a highly significanT associaTion wiTh The O.l level of significance. Apparenle There Is a sTrong relaTIonshIp beTween The Inclusion of such surveying specialTIes and The surveying experience of The faculTy. A compleTely opposiTe resulT was deTermined from a similar calcula- Tion of highway deparTmenT experience and The exTenT of required highway courses. The figures for These courses were: I09 Experience Bridge Design Highway Design Highway Drawinn AsphaIT Highway Dep'T. 2 IO 8= 4 9 3 9 3 No Highway Dep'T. 4 5 7 2 5 4 5 4 Experience Required NoT Pequired ToTaI Highway Dep'T. 28 20 48 No Highway Dep'f. 2| I5 36 ToTaI 49 35 84 Again, a summary of The four courses was made involving Twelve insTiTu- Tions whose faculTy had highway deparTmenT experience and nine wiThouT such experience. The value of chi-souared for This associaTion is 0.05. No associaTion exisTs. A Third comparison was made wiTh six insTiTuTions whose faculTy had consTrucTion and archiTecTuraI experience, wiTh ThirTeen whose faculTy did noT have such experience and These were compared wiTh The following consTrucTion relaTed courses: Experience Heavy ConsTr. ConsTrucTIon & 5 3 ArchiTecTure No ConsTrucTIon or 4 9 ArchiTecTure ConsTrucTIon I6 No ConsTrucTIon ll ToTal 27 LighT ConsTr. Resid. ConsTr. ConsTr. Organiz. 4 4 2 ‘ 6 5 3 2 II I l2 4 9 I6 32 4i 52 57 84 The value of chi-squared for This associaTion was 6.29, a significanT co- relaTion aT The one percenT level of significance. IIO The null hypoThesis ThaT There is no difference in The curricula of insTiTuTions having diverse faculTy experience musT be accepTed in The case of highway work and rejecTed in The oTher Two siTuaTions. Clearly This daTa does noT supporT a general sTaTemenT ThaT faculTy will Teach more exTensively in The fields of Their own experience. However, The high degree of correlaTion in The surveying courses and eXperiences would sup- porT a Special sTaTemenT ThaT specialized Tepics of surveying are TaughT in approximaTelv half of The ToTaI number of insTiTuTions reporTine. Those InsTiTuTions which have faculTy wiTh Two or more years of experience in surveying will include The more specialized Topics of cadasTral or land surveying, surveying law, phoTogrammeTry and colesTiaI observaTions for azimuTh. Courses in consTrucTion meThods and organizaTion are more likely To be TaughT In insTiTuTions whose faculTy has had Two or more years of experience in conTracT consTrucTion. Apparenle These faculTy members feel ThaT The Technician can assume many of The funcTions formerly assigned To engineers. The OpposiTe case is observed in highway work. AlThough The daTa is Too llmlTed To derive general conclusions, iT would seem ThaT The highway engineers who have joined Technician faculTIes feel ThaT bridg design is noT an appropriaTe subjecT for The Technician. This parTicular poinT was examined in more deTail by inTerviews wiTh Michigan STaTe Highway DeparTmenT engineers. They feel ThaT bridge design is presenle organized in such a way as To minimize The role of The Technician. ApparenTIy The geomeTric decisions are a maTTer of policy seT by The Bureau of Public Roads and oTher codes. There is liTTIe room for judgmenT or Technical knowledge in making decisions concerning wldTh, heighT, slepes and oTher geomeTric facTs. Decisions regarding maTerials are a managemenT decision, based more on economics Than on engineering. Decisions regarding sizing of individual members and sTress analysis are currenle being done Through a compuTer for Those rouTIne secTIons ThaT may oTherwise be assigned To The Technician. lnTervlews wiTh TwenTy-five supervisors wiTh The Michigan STaTe Highway ceparTmenT on all subjecTs proved inconclusive In several respecTs. These inTerviews are included in The abiliTIes and show ThaT The number of supervisors prefer a greaTer degree of specializaTion is jusT abouT The same as Those who prefer less specializaTion. The number who prefer more pracTical work is abouT The same as The number requiring more TheoreTical work. These inTerviews, coupled wiTh The correlaTion of highway experience and courses, presenT a dilemma. Apparenle There is noT a clear agreemenT and undersTanding by highwav engineers of The func- Tion and role of The Technician. AT The same Time highway deparTmenTs are ofTen The sponsors and driving force behind The esTablishmenT of civil engineering Technician programs. This has been The case in aT leasT five sTaTes, Michigan, MinnesoTa, Georgia, MassachuseTTs, and New York. The influence of The Technical faculTy on The exTenT of general educaTion was considered wiTh The hypoThesis ThaT Technical faculTy having MasTer's Degrees mighT have differenT emphasis Than ThaT of The faculTy wiTh Bachelor's Degrees. EiohT insTiTuTions whose faculTy had MasTer's Degrees in civil engineering were seiecTed and compared wiTh anoTher group of eighT noT having The MasTer's Degree. The Two groups were seiecTed To conTrol oTher variables, such as insTiTuTional organizaTion. The general educaTion curricula of These insTiTuTions were TabulaTed as follows: Speech PoliTIcal Sc. HisTory FaculTy wiTh M.S. In Civil Engineering 6 2 5 FacuITy wiTh 8.8. in Civil Engineering 6 4 3 II2 There is noT observable difference In The seiecTed courses and, Therefore, iT can be concluded ThaT The MasTer's Degree for Technical faculTy does noT Influence The exTenT of general educaTion courses in The curriculum. An efforT was made To deTermine wheTher such a correlaTion would exisT wiTh any oTher characTerisTics of The Technical faculTy and no associaTion could be deTermined. The insTiTuTional organizaTion has been proved To have llTTIe effecT on This and The only oTher possible force having a significanT effecT on general educaTion mighT be The characTerisTics of The general educaTion faculTy. This was noT sTudied In This paper. 6' II3 B. STudenT CharacTerIsTIcs General descripTIve informaTion abouT sTudenT bodies was obTained from The firsT quesTionnalre. IT Is, Therefore, represenTaTIve of civil engineering Technician programs In The UniTed STaTes. The lnsTlTuTions were asked To check prerequislTes for a sTudenT enTering The program from a lIsT of possible caTegories. The TabulaTion of These resulTs Is shown aT The end of This secTIon in Table XXV . The magnITude and direcTion of force exerTed by The sTudenTs in civil engineering Technology was measured. This parT of The reporT deals only wiTh sTudenTs In Three programs locaTed In Michigan. These Three pro- grams consTiTuTe a form of a naTional sample, since one InsTiTuTion, Lansing CommuniTy College, Is a public communiTy college; The second, Ferris STaTe College, Is a public Technical lnsTlTuTe; and The Third, Michigan Techno- logical UniversITy, Is a program run by a four year engineering college. Only a llmlTed generallzaTIon, however, can be made from This sampling of The acTual sTudenTs. ANALYSIS OF STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS High school graduaTion Is required for almosT all programs, regard- less of The Type of InsTiTuTion. Only one of The surveyed programs does noT require The diploma. IT Is quiTe possible ThaT some InsTiTuTions will accepT an older sTudenT who can demonsTraTe abiliTy on an equivalence TesT, buT This would be an excepTIon To The sTaTed policy. Previous work experience, relaTed To The civil engineering field, is noT required by any programs, as mighT be expecTed, and Twelve reporTed ThaT This is noT even asked. The elghT ThaT IndicaTe a desirabiliTy of II4 such experience probably do so in Theory only since iT Is noT reflecTed in any recruiTing brochures submiTTed wiTh The individual reporTs. RelaTed To This sTudenT characTerlsTic is The facT ThaT five of The TwenTy reporTs include work experience during The program. This co-op work is almosT always relaTed To The sTaTe highway deparTmenT; such organizaTions have been direchy responsible for The iniTiaTion of many programs. A ouT-off score of abiliTy is required in abouT half of The pro- grams, and seven have a required InTeresT or apTiTude TesT for enTrance. A furTher examinaTion reveals ThaT The TesTing Is noT resTricTed To any cerTain organizaTion paTTern. The communiTy colleges, and To a lesser exTenT, The privaTe Technical insTiTuTes, require some TesTs; IT is noT jusT These programs offered by unlverslTies ThaT have admissions TesTs. Male sex Is rarely required and iT is noT even IisTed as being desirable by more Than half of The schools. Since more Than nineTy-nine percenT of The sTudenTs acTually are male, iT would seem ThaT social pres- sures are responsible for The lack of female sTudenTs. An examinaTion of a Typical curriculum shows ThaT a few dIrTy experiences may be required, buT does noT show any need for unusual sTrengTh. ConcreTe mixing and TesTing ls dusTy, buT noT any more of a problem Than is encounTered in cooking a big meal or In cleaning up blood in an emergency room. The female sTudenT should also be able To do surveying, since There Is no in- herenT problem. Many girls successfully sTudy surveying in our engineer- Ing colleges. IT Is Too bad ThaT more female sTudenTs cannoT be persuaded To enTer a civil engineering Technician program; They would probably even have an advanTage in some of The areas, such as drafTIng and specialized TesTing. The I958 TabulaTion of graduaTes of such programs showed I7l male and a single (I) female. The more recenT sTudies did noT break down I|5 The enrollmenT by sex, buT some general sTaTemenTs IndicaTe ThaT The Trend is noT changing. High school counselors probably have enough difficulTy in recommending engineering for girls and do noT even aTTempT To recommend civil engineering Technology. In Table XXV a TabulaTion of four high school courses is made To geT some indicaTion of The Type of high school curriculum ThaT would besT fIT The requiremenTs of The Technology program. Drawing and shop courses, In comparison wiTh physics and chemIsTry, show ThaT a greaTer emphasis is placed upon The college preparaTory courses. IT Is noT likely ThaT a sTudenT would Take boTh seTs of courses, since The Time simply will noT allow boTh, because of The allied courses In each case. The American SocieTy for Engineering EducaTion recommendaTlons for any engineering Tech- nology enTrance IIsT a required physical science and enough maThemaTics ThaT would rule ouT The sTudenT's having Taken a Typical shop course in high school (wiThouT Taking addiTlonal courses before beginning The Technology courses). This policy sTaTemenT makes no reference aT all To drawing or shop courses. IT Is quiTe apparenT ThaT The sTudenT should come from The same college prep classes as Those of The engineering sTud- enT, alThough possibly having lower grades. This probably accounTs for some lack of enrollmenT In The civil Technician and oTher engineering Technician programs. Pride among peers cerTaInly could make iT difficuIT To choose The Technician program. This facTor would be lessened afTer a few years of separaTion and The consequenT opporTuniTy for oTher moTlvaT- Ing facTors, such as InTeresT In applicaTion To specific problems, To affecT The sTudenT decision. NeverTheless, IT Is quiTe clear ThaT The successful sTudenT will have Taken mosle academic courses In high school. ll6 TABLE xxv STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS CharacTerIsTIcs of STudenTs Number of lnsTlTuTions ReporTing Required Desirable NoT Asked High School GraduaTion l Previous RelaTed Work Experience Co-op Work During Program I.Q. or AblliTy TesT Score InTeresT or ApTITude TesT Male Sex High School Drawing Course n n Shop n N " PHYSICS n " " ChemIsTry " I 0 8 I2 kJO\C>k)h)\l€)U1C>I> CDK)O\\J\JUI&- TABLE XXVI CURRICULUM CHARACTERISTICS BY INSTITUTIONAL ORGANIZATION Type of InsTiTuTion Public 2 Yr. PrivaTe T.I. 4 Year Average LengTh of InsTiTuTion In MonThs I8.0 mo. I8.0 mo. I8.2 mo. Mean % of Curric. in Tech. Spec. CrediTs 52.5% 50.0% 55.7% Mean % of Currlc. In Gen. Educ. CrediTs l5.7 8.7 I0.5 Difference ln %'s 33.8 4|.3 . lI7 STUDENT MOTIVATION AND DIRECTIONS Appendix E shows The acTual responses of sTudenTs To The quesTion concerning Their reasons for enTering The program. The responses are sum- marized In Table XXVII. These represenT The answers of sTudenTs In The Michigan programs. A ToTal of nineTy-Two sTudenTs were InTerviewed. In order To geT a True feeling wiThouT providing leading quesTions, The resulTs are caTegorIzed from general sTaTemenTs. The open ended quesTion was used To Increase The valIdITy of responses. TABLE XXVII REASONS GIVEN FOR ENTERING MICHIGAN PROGRAMS MoTivaTion for EnTering Program: Number PercenT ImmedIaTe Needs of Money (Co-op Job Income) I5 l6% Transfer CredIT Towards 8.5. in Engineering 6 7 A Means To Any EducaTion Beyond High School I7 l8 Co-op, Needed a Job and an EducaTion 3| 34 Desire for FuTure EmploymenT as Technician 23 25 ToTals 92 I00% Only TwenTy-flve percenT of The sTudenTs clearly IndicaTed ThaT They desired To become Technicians. IT mighT be expecTed ThaT This would be The logical reason, and ThaT mosT sTudenTs should have checked This. The acTual reasons for sTudenTs enTering any college program are complex and conTradicTory aT Times. In spiTe of informaTion presenTed To sTudenTs and InformaTIon regarding any program, IT has been shown ThaT exTraneous reasons, such as proximiTy To a girl friend, are ofTen The real reason for sTudenT decisions. The facT ThaT only TwenTy-flve percenT of These Tech- nician sTudenTs In Michigan responded To The logical goal is a sTaTemenT II8 of facT. lT mighT be deplored as poor counseling, buT The reasons for sTudenTs enTering oTher programs, such as civil engineering or educaTion, could be equally complex. The shorTsighTedness of many sTudenTs is apparenT in The sixTeen percenT IndicaTing an immediaTe need of funds and The eighTeen percenT indicaTIng ThaT This was a means To any educaTion. In oTher words, The opporTuniTy was There, so They Took iT. The seven percenT indlcaTlng a desire for work Toward a degree in engineering would have desires for all Transfer courses. OTher sTudenTs reaching some success In The Technician program would decide laTer ThaT They would desire a four year college educaTion. The complex goals of sTudenTs in The programs would indicaTe ThaT They have conflicTing direcTions and Thus, Their resulTanT force on The curriculum Is nullified. A very compleTe sTudy of Technician sTudenTs' goals was reporTed in The book, "Managing Technician Manpower."| AlThough none of These sTudenTs were in civil engineering Technology, iT is inTer- esTing ThaT They also found a complex seT of goals. NUMBER OF STUDENTS Several sources of daTa are available on The number of sTudenTs acTually In such programs. However, The daTa does noT indicaTe a clear Trend. One of The reasons for This is In The naTional failure To accepT a given defInITIon of civil engineering Technicians and anoTher reason would be The difficuITies of making a ToTaI survey of all programs. Cer- Tain groups of programs, such as Those run by Specialized organizaTions, lTeamwork in Technology: Managing Technician Manpower, Brady eT al, TechniEian Manpower AssociaTes, T959, pp. 67¥77} I|9 are difficulT To conTacT. Table XXV shows a summary of These various TabulaTions. TABLE XXVIII a. SELECTED STATISTICS OF ENROLLMENT IN CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN PROGRAMS EnrollmenT of: In The Year Beginning SepTember L921 fl. £2.62 Full Time Civil Technician STudenTs I,599 I2,299 I2,699 Civil Technician GraduaTes 379 i,754 I,772 All Full Time Engr. Technician STudenTs 4i,032 86,780 92,255 n n n n n u 39,8I 5 GraduaTes of All Programs I2,985 l5,887 l4,977 " " " " l3,432 Sources: l. Michael, Bernard: DeparTmenT of Labor, ScienTific and Technical Person- neI In IndusTry,gI960, N.S.F., I96i. 2. The Lon Range Demand for ScienTific and Technical Personnel, N.S.F., |§60. 3. PaTrlck, Phillip, TenTh Survey of Engineer Technician EnrollmenTs, UniversiTy of DayTon,’T965. 4. Organized OccupaTIonaI Curriculums, Office of HealTh, EducaTion and e Tare, I959. 5. Or enized OccupaTionaI Curriculums, Office of HealTh, EducaTion and e fare, T9657T I20 The salaries of Technicians have been reporTed each year by The SouThern Technical lnsTlTuTe and The mosT recenT lisTIng for civil engin- eering Technician graduaTes' shows an average sTarTIng salary in I965 of $466 per monTh and a presenT salary of $559 per monTh for l960 graduaTes. These are lower Than The corresponding amounTs for oTher engineering Tech- nicians. C. InsTiTuTional OrganizaTlon A varbeTy of UniTed STaTes InsTiTuTions offer civil engineering Technology. Of The ThIrTy-flve insTiTuTions offering programs wIThin The sc0pe of This paper and having aT leasT TwenTy-five sTudenTs or Engineers' Council for Professional DevelopmenT accreleaTion, Thereen are public communiTy or Junior colleges, six are public Technical insTiTuTes, five I are privaTe Technical InsTiTuTes, and eleven are four-year colleges or unlverslTies. in addiTlon To These insTiTuTions, some oTher organizaTions conducT similar programs (such as highway deparTmenTs). In an efforT To deTermine wheTher The organizaTion paTTern has any significanT effecT upon The operaTion of The program, a deTailed analysis was made of The programs. Four leading InsTiTuTions were seiecTed To represenT The public Two year colleges: New York ClTy CommuniTy College, Oregon Technical lnsTlTuTe, Broome Technical CommuniTy College, and Lansing CommuniTy College. Four were seiecTed from The privaTe Technical lnsTlTuTes: WenTworTh Technical lnsTlTuTe, Cogswell PolyTechnlcal College, Milwaukee lnsTlTuTe of Technology, and Franklin lnsTlTuTe of BosTon. Finally, four IPaul V. SMlTh, "Salary Survey Shows Growing Value of Engineering Technician GraduaTes," Technical EducaTion News, February, l966, p. I. IZI of The universiTy connecTed programs were seiecTed: SouThern Technical lnsTlTuTe, lowa STaTe UniversiTy, Pennsylvania STaTe UniversiTy, and Michigan Technological UniversiTy. SouThern Technical lnsTlTuTe Is now The Georgia lnsTlTuTe of Technology. Table XXVI, Page ll6, shows The only significanT difference in The programs by caTegories. The programs affiliaTed wiTh four—year insTiTuTions have The greaTesT difference In efforT beTween applied specialTy courses and general educaTlon courses. The communiTy colleges have The leasT difference. Technical specialTy courses are Those relaT- lng To civil engineering, such as highway design and surveying. IT does noT Include manual skills, such as general drafTIng, and iT does noT in- clude engineering science, such as sTrengTh of maTerlals. General edu- caTion Includes English, social sciences, humaniTies, and economics, even If There is an applied slanT given To The course, such as in Technical reporT erTlng or human relaTIons In indusTry. An examinaTion of all oTher characTerisTics does noT IndicaTe any oTher consIsTenT and significanT variaTion. The enTry sTandard and requiremenT, The size, The accrediTaTion, and The Types of faculTy are similar. If should be noTed ThaT The privaTe Technical InsTiTuTes have more Engineers' Council for Professional DevelopmenT approved programs per number of insTiTuTions; however, In The group of insTiTuTions having True programs of saTisfacTory size, The accrediTaTion Tendency Is The same. The analysis of Individual courses and sTudy areas was TabulaTed in The preceding secTIons in such a way as To observe variaTions ThaT would correlafe wiTh insTiTuTional organizaTion. I22 CHAPTER V CURRICULUM RECOMMENDATIONS IT is considered necessary To include a summary of InTerviews and correspondence wiTh employers and educaTional consulTanTs. All of The commenTs, suggesTIons and recommendaTlons, excepT as noTed, were In open-end InTerviews. The IlsTing of sTudy areas (Appendix A) was used as The basic survey guide. These were all personal inTerviews, excepT Those noTed. Mr. George Langsner, AssisTanT STaTe Highway Engineer, California Division of Highways, was asked for a recommendaTIon on The relaTIve mer- iTs of highway and a general civil engineering Technician program. He noTed In answer, "We would prefer a civil engineering Technician as broader Than a highway Technician. The Los Angeles CiTy College has an excellenT civil engineering Technician program - even In highways." He preferred The broader Training even for specialisTs in The highway deparTmenT. In more deTall he recommended sTudy In anaIyTic geomeTry and aT leasT finy- four hours In calculus. He recommended a significanT amounT of Time In These oTher fields: compuTer programming, English, speech, general educa- Tion, porTland cemenT (buT noT asphalT), sTaTIcs, physics, sTrengTh of maTeriaIs, sTrucTurai sTeel design, reinforced concreTe design, highway design, hydraulics, drainage design, heavy consTrucTion, lighT consTrucTion and consTrucTion organizaTion, drawing and sTeel deTaIlIng, surveying, phoTogrammeTry, and some free elecTives. Various officials of The Michigan STaTe Highway DeparTmenT have I23 made recommendaTlons To This paper. In addiTlon, They conducTed a survey of Their own personnel and made The following recommendaTIons: Type of Training} (depTh of Training In subjecT) A quesTionnalre survey was made In The Road and Bridge Division To esTainsh which subjecTs The Technician should know. The resulTs of This survey are shown on The aTTached bar graphs. Taking six Terms as maximum in our Two year Training program and seTTIng Term values To The bar graph, The mosT ImporTanT subJecTs are offered for: .+ (D 1 3 ConsTrucTIon STrucTures MaTerials of ConsTrucTIon Applied Mechanics MaThemaTIcs Drawing Mapping Surveying Highways Soils Drainage CosTs ConTracTs English NUNUION——- U-—- Mr. William H. Wisely, ExecuTIve SecreTary of The American SocieTy for Civil Engineers, was asked wheTher The socieTy had Taken any posITion on The subjecT of civil engineering Technicians. He sTaTed ThaT They had noT done anyThing up To This year; however, he sTaTed ThaT a Task force was appoInTed aT Their lasT execuTive meeTIng (April, I966) To sTudy The subjecT. Mr. Norman Harris, of The UniversiTy of Michigan, had many valuable suggesTIons and opinions. He felT ThaT The program should be for elghTeen To nIneTeen monThs, wiTh co-op being desirable, buT noT absoluTely essenTial, and ThaT The faculTy should have a degree in engineering and significanT I24 work experience. He wenT Through The lIsT of sTudy areas and made The fol- lowing parTicular commenTs: ThaT archiTecTural design should noT be In- cluded, buT ThaT mosT oTher subjecTs on The firsT page of The quesTionnalre should be included and ThaT These should be combined inTo a basic core course. He had no commenTs To make on The second page of The quesTionnalre since civil engineering Is noT his field of specialTy. Douglas Libby, of WenTworTh lnsTlTuTe, and Raymond STITh, of The UniversiTy of DayTon, were InTerviewed aT lengTh. They were opTimIsTic abouT The fuTure of civil engineering Technology. They did noT feel ThaT The definiTlon should include The facTor of working direchy or indirecTIy for The engineer; They preferred a sTaTemenT abouT working in broad civil engineering fields. Mr. STITh made a very sTrong argumenT for having five or six specialTIes or epTions wiThin civil engineering Technology. He sTaTed ThaT one of The problems in geTTIng accepTance of Technicians Is Their lack of depTh In a specialTy and sTaTed, "i believe ThaT more would be accomplished by offering only one of The specialTIes Than by offering a combinaTlon of Them." Mr. KenneTh Fishbeck is a ConsulTing Engineer (Lansing, Michigan) and a member of The STaTe DeparTmenT of Public lnsTrucTIon and on The Advisory CommiTTee for EducaTion. Mr. Fishbeck had previously been an engineer for The CITy of Lansing for a long period of Time and is in The saniTary field of engineering parTicularly. His ThoughTs on The Training of Technicians are based on ThaT background, as well as his consuITlng engineering pracTice which he has been doing for The pasT five or six years. Mr. Fishbeck's primary inTeresT was ThaT a Technician have a Thorough grounding in maThemaTics and, secondly, In English grammar. The maThe- maTics could exTend inTo anaIyTical geomeTry or possibly inTo calculus. |25 He would hire Technicians To do drafTIng work and surveying work in his field and would expecT Them To be able To manipuIaTe maThemaTicaI func- Tions and To do rouTIne calculaTlons for eiTher The drafTIng or The surveying, boTh of which would Involve considerable use of TrlgonomeTry and algebra. The English requiremenT would be ThaT The person would be able To correchy undersTand given direcTions and make correcT reporTs, using proper grammar. The acTuaI composiTIon of final reporTs To The cllenT would be done by The engineer, noT by The Technician. A knowledge of drafTIng principles would be required, parTicularIy The fundamenTaI undersTanding of projecTIons and The abiliTy To help clarify surveying work ThaT was done by The Technician. Some possible building InSpecTIon work where The Technician would be required To InTerpreT The blueprinTs To The conTracTor would be Infrequenle required. A Technician hired To do drafTIng work would be required To know much more abouT The principles of drafTIng. However, mosT of The drafTIng work involved wiTh The consulT- Ing pracTice In saniTary engineering is apparenle done by The engineer. The work done by The Technician would be The rouTIne work wherein only The knowledge of Tools To be used and The scaling abiliTy would be required. The Technician should know someThlng abouT The properTles of maTeriaIs in order To be able To visiT a consTrucTion siTe as a represenTaTIve of The consulTing engineer and correchy InTerpreT whaT Is going on. A knowledge of physics is also of ImporTance. IT would give him The undersTanding of The principles Involved in The design of sTrucTures relaTed To saniTary engineering. lT would be very desirable for a Technician in This field To know someThlng of chemIsTry in order To do some chemical TesTs, buT again, This would be InfrequenT and possibly is done more now by The engineer Then by non-engineers who are working for him. The composiTIon of consulTing |26 The engineering offices of Mr. Fishbeck and Those similar in pracTice is Thus: I. Principal or parTner who Is regisTered engineer. 2. Two or Three graduaTe engineers To abouT one or Two high school graduaTes. 3. Two Technicians. 4. One clerical worker. He said ThaT iT would be desirable To have as much culTuraI background as possible, meaning poIITlcaI science or hisTory, buT ThaT This was cerTalnly To be held secondary To The basics of maThemaTics, English and physics. A consulTanT would be very lnTeresTed in geTTIng a Technician who Is Trained To be immedIaTer useful as a drafTsman insTead of having To do any on-The- Job Training. The consulTanT would parTicularly noT wanT To do any on-The- job Training of his Technical personnel; Therefore, applied courses, such as archiTecTural drafTIng and The like, would be very useful, buT noT im- porTanT as The menTloned basic courses. We goT off on a long discussion of The high school Training of These Technicians. High school graduaTes whom he has hired were noT able To perform rouTIne calculaTIons and undersTand direcTions properly. He also feiT ThaT There was noT a class disTincTIon beTween The engineers who work for him and The Technicians or high sdhool graduaTes Trained In some parTicular field, buT raTher ThaT The naTural apTiTude of a person deTermined wheTher he would be good In applied Things or wheTher he would be able To undersTand The Theory. He felT ThaT There - were quiTe a few people whom he had employed who would noT undersTand The Theory very well and, consequenTIy, would noT be able To geT a 8.5. in Engineering, buT who could apply The Technical knowledge very well and wiTh a high degree of skill. Of course, we would classify These people as Tech- nicians. Mr. John McDermoTT Is a ConsulTing Engineer, sTrucTural field, I27 (Lansing, Michigan) and a member of The Engineering SocieTy's EducaTion CommiTTee. The firsT Thing ThaT Mr. McDermoTT said in our inTervIew was ThaT he would like To be able To hire peOple who had a knowledge of maThe- maTics. In exploring This furTher, he said he would like To have non- engineers who knew how To apply TrlgonomeTry and analyTlcaI geomeTry and algebra wiTh rapidITy and accuracy. He was also lnTeresTed In having employees of Technician capaclTy who undersTood English. His inTeresT in English was along The composiTIon lines. He wanTed Technicians who were able To wrlTe reporTs To The engineer and, upon occasion, To The clienT. These reporTs would concern The sTaTus of The Job, resulTs or rouTIne TesTing, The summarizaTlon of compuTaTIons, and so forTh. He held every- Thlng else secondary To The knowledge of maThemaTics and English. In The sTrucTural field, or In The consulTing engineering field of highway design, There Is a sizeable need for Technicians To do The drafTIng work and The rouTIne compuTaTIons involved in such sTrucTural and highway design. There are many seTs of compuTaTIons done on calculaTlng machines which are rouTIne. They can_be done, under supervision, by someone noT undersTand- ing The Theory behind The calculaTlons. These calculaTlons represenT a large amounT of Time in The designing office and IT was suggesTed ThaT The Technicians be Trained To do This. This work is now being done To a large exTenT by graduaTe engineers. Mr. McDermoTT ThoughT IT would be fine To have Technicians who would be able To do This work. However, There are no such Trained people available aT The presenT Time. The Type of calcula- Tlons Involved use The knowledge of algebra, anaIyTicaI geomeTry, and Trigo- nomeTry and are based on parabolic curves and offseTs To highway curves, as such. Mr. McDermoTT menTloned ThaT There are probably very few Technicians In The field now because noT many have been Trained. However, There is an I28 opporTuniTy here for wider use In Technicians. Mr. Elmer Manson, of a Lansing, Michigan archiTecTural firm, is The pasT presidenT of The Michigan SocieTy of ArcthecTs. Mr. Manson was very lnTeresTed in The Technicians Theory, The idea of Training people To do applied work In The archiTecTural field. However, he explained aT greaT lengTh whaT would probably happen To people in This field: ThaT The consTrucTion IndusTry represenTs a large secTIon of our naTional economy, possibly fifTeen To TwenTy percenT of The gross naTional producT. AccounT- Ing for ThaT much money are a large number of people working in This field. In The designing or The archiTecTural end of This building indusTry, The number of people involved Is raTher small compared wiTh The number of people Involved wiTh The conTracTIon end. He menTloned ThaT a person work- ing as a Technician would very likely work for an archiTecT for a few years and noT, In mosT lnsTances, become a permanenT employee; raTher, ThaT person would have opporTuanies To go Info conTrachon as a conTracTor, or go To work for a conTracTor. He mighT also have opporTunITies To go To work for an equipmenT SUppller as a salesman or represenTaTIve or a manufacTurer. Since These OpporTuanles would be available To only one-Third or so of The Technicians working for an archiTecT, a small number would conTinue working for The archiTecT. His breakdown of his firm, which he suggesTed was probably Typical of mosT archiTecTural firms, was ThaT There would be abouT Three regisTered archiTecTs in charge of The firm, Two more graduaTe archiTecTs, abouT Three Technicians (people who would do some drafTIng and some InspecTion of con- sTrucTion and some rouTIne caiculaTIons) and abouT one or Two clerical work- ers. The Technicians, as he was visualizing Them, had been, in The pasT, older people who had worked in The conTracTing business and had accumulaTed |29 prachcal knowledge which They broughT To The archiTecTural firm. The poinT he wanTed To esTablIsh was ThaT he felT ThaT a person should be Trained To be useful in all fields. If There Then was Time, The individual could specialize In one field, say The drafTIng area. However, Mr. Manson felT There was Too much opporTuniTy for The person To do oTher Types of work In The building field To specialize him for only one parTicular opera- Tion, even Though The sTudenT or Technician would feel ThaT he wanTed To learn only archiTecTural drafTIng, for InsTance, and go rIghT To work. Mr. Manson felT ThaT The chances were very greaT ThaT This Technician would noT sTay In This one narrow field for longer Than Three or four years. In order To geT This person To be useful in all These fields, he sTressed a necessiTy for Teaching Them maThemaTics. The maThemaTics would poslTively include algebra and TrlgonomeTry. IT would be very desirable if IT Included analyTl- cal geomeTry. Mr. Manson also ThoughT ThaT one Term of calculus would be exTreMely helpful and should be required of any sTudenT who was capable of geTTIng a passing grade In IT. He felT The calculus would help Them To undersTand a number of physical Things In The building field. Knowledge of dIfferenTlaTlon and lnTegraTlon would be very helpful, noT in applying Them, buT oTher Things in The building field. The calculus in This sense would noT be a prerequIsITe for a more advanced course, nor would lT lead To fur- Ther maThemaTics for The person, buT lT would be a Tool To help him under- sTand physics parTicularly. The sTudenT should also have physics. These Two seemed To be The mosT ImporTanT subjecTs. Thirdly, chemisTry would be very desirable. English would also be a necessiTy. The English was noT as ImporTanT To Mr. Manson, however, as The maThemaTics, physics and chemisTry. A knowledge of drafTIng principles was fine; however, he did noT feel ThaT Too much Time should be spenT on drafTIng courses, excepT as an elechve ISO course for The few sTudenTs wiTh very high apTiTude in This field. A know- ledge of surveying principles would be required and The abiliTy To use sur- veying Tools. However, Training To become a proficienT surveyor would noT be JusTIfled for a Technician In The building field. Mr. Manson said he would be cauTIous of cosTs daTa and Trying To Teach uan cosTs aT The pre- senT Time. The basic principles of Taking off maTerial, making lIsTs of maTerlal and quanTITIes and how To esTimaTe would be very desirable. How- ever, he ThoughT ThaT The uniTs To be used mighT change and The uan cosTs would cerTainly change. AT any raTe, a person, To be proficienT In This field of cosT esTimaTIng, would have To be working In IT consTanle To deveIOp The necessary background of informaTion. Therefore, This could noT be efficienle TaughT In a course. Mr. E. B. Holden and Mr. HunTer are members of The Warren Holmes ArchiTecTuraI Firm, of Lansing, Michigan. Mr. Holden is The educaTional consulTanT for The firm and Mr. HunTer Is Their field represenTaTIve in charge of all InSpecTIon of projecTs. These genTIemen were lnTeresTed in The Technician and felT ThaT The archiTecTural profession could use such a person who would be Trained in applied building procedures. All ThaT was esTablIshed In This lnTervIew was ThaT There is a need for such a person, buT The acTual curriculum was noT covered. This will be done In a succeed- Ing InTerview. Mr. James Carr, of The Michigan DeparTmenT of AeronauTlcs, Is defi- niTely lnTeresTed In Technicians. However, Their ToTal work course is raTher small and The number of Technicians They would hire would probably be less Than Ten in a period of Two years or so. However, There was a need for This llmlTed number of people. These people would do rouTIne calcula- Tlons in The design of alrporTs and would do field InspecTions and some I3I surveying, some of The design (acTually of minor parTs of sysTems), some of The llgthng design and some of The soil sampling. An lnTervlew ls seT up In The fuTure aT an IndefiniTe daTe wiTh The DeparTmenT To cover The exacT curriculum desired. Mr. Harry Conrad, of Chrlsman Company, Lansing, Michigan, Is an educaTlonal liaison beTween The conTracTors and The engineering socieTIes. Mr. Conrad is very acTive wiTh The sTudenT chapTers of engineering socie- Ties aT Michigan STaTe UniversiTy and ThroughouT The STaTe of Michigan. He ThoughT ThaT This Technician field was very InTeresTIng To The conTracTor alThough aT The presenT Time very few conTracTors have In Their employ a person who would qualify under The usually accepTabIe defInITIon of a Tech- nician. The work ThaT could be done by a Technician would be Take-offs of maTeriaIs, planning of our equipmenT and maTerlal purchasing, buT noT The acTual purchasing. The planning of consTrucTion, The llmlTed amounT of surveying and coordinaTIng and expediTing, is a big IndusTry and The poTen- Tial for Technicians ls quiTe large. Therefore, since very few are being used aT The presenT Time, IT would seem ThaT This would be a good field for developmenT. As far as curriculum goes aT The presenT Time, In Mr. Conrad's Thinking, The maThemaTics would be very ImporTanT up To algebra and Trigo- nomeTry. MaThemaTIcs should apply and should exTend To arlThmeTIc In The way of rapid compuTaTion and rapid caiculaTIon meThOds. The oTher princi- ples of knowledge of building maTerlals and building procedures would be ImporTanT, Including conTracTing cosTs and specificaTIons, as well as drafT- ing. Draleng would be more imporTanT To The conTracTor Than one would generally suppose. The conTracTor does noT make many drawings, buT he has To InTerpreT Them and make many skeTches from The drawings provided To him. ‘V CHAPTER VI RELATIONSHIP OF THE TECHNICIAN TO THE ENGINEER Engineering endorsemenT of The Technician sTems from Three basic acTIvITies relaTIng engineers and Their Technical assisTanTs. Employ- menT sTandards and expecTaTions, accrediTaTion of Technician curricula, and The cerTlficaTIon of The sTudenT or graduaTe all involve The engineer To some degree. This relaTIonshIp, Therefore, is concerned dIrechy only wiTh The Technician who works for an engineer. There will probably be a lesser degree of lnvolvemenT wiTh The IndusTrlal Technician, as usually defined; possibly a negligible relevance To many self-employed Technic- Ians. Varying social and educaTional groups aTTrIbuTe differenT moTives for The endorsemenT ranging from aTTemst To conTrol The funcTions of The Technicians, proTechng The Job securITy of engineers, or sTraTlflcaTlon of socieTy, To desires of Improving sTandards, keeping Technicians abreasT of new developmenTs, or helping The Technician To advance and be recognized. The firsT Thesis of The paper Is a belief ThaT The overriding purpose of endorsemenT Is noT To lImIT The Technician, buT raTher To faciliTaTe more exTensive and significanT use of Technicians. This will have implicaTlons for The selecTIon of sTudenTs, cer- Talnly, buT IT Is noT clear now wheTher enTrance requiremenTs will generally encourage peOple wiTh more manual abiliTIes, older applicanTs seeking re- Trainlng, sTudenTs falling In science or engineering, or any ldenTIfied apTiTudes. The ImplicaTions for The curriculum will be a conTinuIng ques- Tioning and analysis, buT cerTaInly noT conTrol, since There is no such I32 I33 TighT conTrol of The engineering curricula. There Is even liTTle uni- formITy of objecTives or meThods In engineering colleges. The Theme of "Engineering EndorsemenT of Technicians" Implies ThaT There is lITTle concern wiTh The Technician who has no conTacT or relaTIonshlp wiTh engineers. IT is concerned mosT dIrechy wiTh The engineering Technician or The assisTanT To an engineer and noT wiTh The IndusTrIal Technician, who mighT be more closely relaTed To The skilled Trades, and probably will have no significance for The Technician who Is self eMployed (such as a Television repairman). The engineering Tech- nician, however, represenTs a caTegory ThaT oTher Technicians mighT enTer aT some fuTure Time. The indusTrial Technician can quiTe conceivably change his orienTaTlon In The fuTure more Toward The engineer. If This Is a poTenTIal shIfT for a Technician, Then This paper is concerned wiTh ThaT Technician. The endorsemenT of The Technician sTems from several areas of conTacT and relaTIonshIp beTween The engineers and Technicians. These are: The employmenT relaTIonshIp, advisory commITTees for Technical programs, The accrediTaTion of Technician curricula by agencies Involving engineers, and The proposed cerTiflcaTIon of The Technician now being sponsored by The NaTIonaI SocieTy of Professional Engineers. The mosT direcT reason for endorsemenT Is probably The employmenT sITuaTIon wherein The Technician will be working for an engineer and, Therefore, The engineer is quiTe concerned abouT The educaTion of The Tech- nician. He will probably seT some of The employmenT sTandards or crITerIa for employing The Technician and he cerTaInly will be The main source of Judging The Technician on his Job. This is also shown In The facT ThaT mosT advisory commITTees for Technician schools Include engineers, and engineers help in seTTIng up Technician curricula. The STaTe of Michigan, I34 in approving Technician curricula, specifies ThaT The need musT be demon- sTraTed. This Invarlably Implies ThaT The employmenT personnel or sources of Jobs for The Technicians be consulTed prior To seTTIng up The program, and ThaT They be used in a conTinuIng capaciTy In advisory commiTTees. This Is noT To say ThaT The engineers have The only voice in Tech- nician curricula. The educaTion socieTIes, professional educaTors, admin- IsTraTors, school boards, vocaTIonal people, and many oTher sources are used To seT up The programs, and are also represenTed on These advisory commiTTees. IT could noT be consTrued, Therefore, ThaT policies would be dlcTaTed by engineers. As a maTTer of facT, engineers and engineering socieTies are noT In a poslTion To dlcTaTe policy even on The engineering curricula. This Is demonsTraTed by an examinaTion of any universiTy caTalog and Is quiTe noTIceable In The engineering Journals, such as The American Engineer. The second area of inTeresT is The accrediTaTion of The Technician curricula. This accrediTaTion Is available from several sources, or raTher, There are several Types of accrediTaTion available for These programs. The regional, NorTh CenTral accrediTaTion Is soughT by mosT colleges, as well as secondary schools. This Is an accrediTaTion of The lnsTlTuTion, includ- Ing ITs Technician programs. These colleges ThaT are accredITed by regional accrediTIng agencies musT demonsTraTe ThaT They have cerTaIn minimums In Their faculTy qualITy, cerTaIn salary scales, cerTain schedules, cerTaln financial backing, avallablliTy of sufficienT library and laboraTory facili- Tles and meeT oTher check polnTs. This is noT Too dissimilar from accredi- TaTion by a STaTe associaTion of colleges. The accrediTaTion by The Engin- eering Council for Professional DevelopmenT is available for curricula, noT for InsTiTuTions, and The lTems To be checked by The E.C.P.D. would be I35 similar To Those for The regional accrediTIng associaTions. Of course, There Is also Informal accrediTaTion In The form of sponsorships or sTaTemenTs approving cerTaln programs or cerTain insTiTuTions ThaT would always occur for any insTiTuTion. These are usually based Upon The suc- cess of The graduaTes. All of The oTher accrediTIng sources also examine The success of graduaTes from an lnsTlTuTion or a curriculum. The Third area of endorsemenT Is The cerTiflcaTIon of The Tech- nician, proposed by The NaTIonal SocieTy of Professional Engineers, which would recognize cerTain sTandards of abiliTy and experience by Technicians. This Is noT InTended To be run by The engineering socieTy. They are sTarT- Ing IT because There is no Technician socieTy available now. This in The fuTure would be run by The Technicians Themselves. This Type of cerTi- flcaTIon does exisT In Canada aT The presenT Time. This is being done for many reasons. The main poinT seems To be ThaT The engineer wanTs To have some Idea of a Technician's abiliTIes when he hires one and also This would provide recogniTion and presTIge for The Technician. OTher moTlves have been ascribed To The engineers for Their InTeresT in Technicians, such as The idea of esTablIshIng lines of demarcaTion beTween The engineer- ing fechnlclan and The skilled mechanic or The InsTIlIlng of an aTTiTude of "professionalism" Towards unlonizaTIon. iT Is necessary To dIsTinguIsh beTween The conTrasTing moTlves here To deTermine The ImplicaTIons of This engineering endorsemenT for The edu- caTlon of The Technicians. WheTher The inTeresT lies predominanle wiTh esTablIshIng Technical abiliTIes or wheTher iT lies wiTh esTablIshIng pro- fessional aTTiTudes Is a major problem In The sTudy of Technician educaTion. Paul Robbins, execuTIve direcTor of The NaTional SocieTy of Professional Engineers, in urging The esTablIshmenT of a Technician commiTTee and cerTi- I36 flcaTIon, sTaTed: “There are many in The profession who feel ThaT The requiremenTs for engineering fall To disTIngulsh beTween work which requires four or more years of college educaTion and ThaT scienTIfic and engineering work which could be done wiTh less or more specialized Training. Many of The N.S.P.E.'s currenT acTIvITies have direcT bearing on concerns for The engineering-Technician. UnforTunaTely, There are Those ThaT see The developmenT of The engineering-Technician aT The level of The Trade school, while engineering and scienTIfic efforTs are becoming more complex requiring specializaTion in science for specific Tasks. OTher sTaTemenTs have been made recenle by sociologIsTs and educaTors ThaT The engineer InTends cerTiflcaTIon as a device To keep The Technician from ThreaTenIng The Job securITy of The engineer. AT a recenT conference of Technician lnsTrucTors, some sTaTemenTs were made ThaT The cerTiflcaTIon wIlI Tend To sTraTIfy socieTy furTher and To hold people in cerTain areas. Apparenle The quesTion Is wheTher or noT These meThods of endorse- menT are a means of IdenTIfIcaTIon or of sTraTlflcaTlon and cubby-hollng people. IT seems likely ThaT The same argumenT could be applied To any college-level professional curriculum or semi-professional programs In Tech- nical InsTiTuTes and oTher schools, as well as To any vocaTionai programs In high schools or communiTy colleges. There Is no evidence To IndicaTe ThaT There Is any more Tendency Towards sTraTlflcaTlon In our discussion of endorsemenT of Technicians Than There Is in any oTher professional or semi- professional programs. There is a much greaTer Tendency Towards sTraTlfl- caTlon in The vocaTlonal programs, such as The apprenTice Training and on- The-Job Tnaining programs using skilled labor. I37 American SocieTy of Civil Engineers The American SocieTy of Civil Engineers Is The basic founder socieTy in The civil engineering field. IT is The oldesT and mosT com- prehensive organizaTion of civil engineers and would be The logical organizaTion To Take a professional inTeresT In civil engineering Tech- nicians. The NaTional SocieTy of Professional Engineers was The organiza- Tion ThaT had The greaTesT inTeresT in engineering Technicians In general; however, maTTers of curriculum are noT wiThIn Their purview. A Thorough InspecTion of The publicaTlons of The A.S.C.E. showed no reference To civil engineering Technicians. NeITher The monThly magazine, 91!ll.§29127 225129! nor any of The fIfTeen regular Technical Journals of The socieTy made any reference To civil engineering Technicians. For This disserTaTIon, Therefore, The following quesTions were addressed To Mr. William H. Wisely, ExecuTIve SecreTary of The American SocieTy of CIvIl Engineers: Is There an official socieTy posiTlon or sTaTemenT of policy regard- ing civil engineering Technicians? Would civil engineering Technicians be slgnlflcanle differenT from oTher engineering Technicians in general phIIOSOphy of educaTion or uTIlizaTion? Do you Think ThaT The socieTy members have any parTicular concerns or quesTions regarding The uTIlizaTion or Training of such Technicians? Mr. Wisely responded for The socieTy wiTh The following sTaTemenT: II Your Inquiry is mosT Timely, as our Board of DirecTIon acTed only Three monThs ago To creaTe a Task CommiTTee on Civil Engineering Technology, which will, "...sTudy The programs exTanT for The edu- caTlon of civil engineering Technicians, and develop recommendaTlons covering a program by which ASCE mighT recognize and serve such sub- professlonal personnel." AT The same Time, a Task group in our CommiTTee on Engineering EducaTion Is sTudyIng procedures for ECPD accrediTaTion of civil Technology curricula... I38 The following commenTs will help answer your specific quesTions: I. There Is one documenTed Issue of policy acTed on by The Board of DirecTIon on civil engineering Technicians. This policy Is sTaTed In The enclosed leTTer on "Policy Regarding Training of Civil Engin- eering Technicians," adopTed by The Board of DirecTIon In l962. OTherwIse, There are no overall ASCE sTaTemenTs of policy on The sub- JecT. The lmporTance and need for These Trained specialisTs Is rec- ognized, however, and The desire To supporT The developmenT of These Individuals Is The reason for The presenT concern In ASCE. Of some assisTance may be The general breakdown of Technicians' grades ad- hered To by many firms which you will find IisTed in The enclosed copy of The "I963 Salary Survey." 2. ExcepT for emphasis on civil specializaTion InTeresTs, There does noT seem To be any reason ThaT a civil engineering Technician Train- Ing program should be radically differenT In philosophy from ThaT for oTher fields. We expecT ThaT This quesTion will be Thoroughly dis- cussed In The Task commiTTees. 3. One concern of several SocieTy members recenle has been why many Two-year programs are being exTended To four-year programs, and whaT makes The four-year programs differenT from presenT firsT-degree courses in engineering curricula. The Teplc of engineering Technology curricula received TreaTmenT In The ASEE "Preliminary Reporf of The STudy of Goals of Engineering EducaTion." Some discussion of This problem appears in The enclosed c0py of "CommenTs on The Preliminary ReporT," prepared by The ASCE CommiTTee on Engineering EducaTion for The February, l966 Board of DirecTIon meeTIng. These are being re- vised somewhaT and a new seT will become available following The May Board of DirecTIon meeTIng. 4. We have no specific commenT on The NSPE cerTiflcaTIon procedure for engineering Technicians. The concern of ASCE wiTh cerTiflcaTIon has been minor. ElTher Technician cerTiflcaTIon does noT cause a greaT deal of aTTenTlon among civil engineers or IT ls presenTIy well handled by NSPEJ' The socieTy Is apparenle JusT beginning To show a concern for The funcTions and role of The civil engineering Technician. They are more con- cerned wiTh The educaTlon of The civil engineer and deTaIls of This concern, as TransmiTTed In The curriculum, have an indirecT bearing on The educaTlon of The Technician. 'Wllllam H. Wisely, leTTer daTed May 4, l966. CHAPTER VII STATEMENTS OF EMPLOYERS AND TECHNICIANS IN MICHIGAN ForTy graduaTes of civil engineering Technician programs from Lansing CommuniTy College and from Ferris STaTe College were surveyed Through The cooperaTlon of The Michigan STaTe Highway DeparTmenT. The curriculum aT each InsTiTuTion Is near The average for all lnsTlTuTions. BoTh of These programs were esTablIshed as co-op programs, wherein The sTudenT would work for The Michigan STaTe Highway DeparTmenT. The epin- Ions of such Technicians on The Job, on curriculum maTTers, was obTained by open quesTions and InTerviews. In addiTlon, Thery-elghT employers of These Technicians were asked for curriculum recommendaTlons. A. STaTemenTs of GraduaTe Technicians Technicians who had compIeTed The Civil Engineering Technology Program aT Lansing CommuniTy College or aT Ferris STaTe College In Michigan and who were working as Technicians aT The Michigan STaTe Highway DeparTmenT were asked: l. Has your schooling provided you wiTh adequaTe background To accepT The responsiblliTy assigned To you on your permanenT assignmenT? 2. WhaT do you feel could be done To improve The program? The responses are given in Appendix C and IT is apparenT ThaT The graduaTes are generally saTisfled wiTh The educaTion They obTained. The suggesTIons for ImprovemenTs Include some desires for more pracTical work, such as I39 I40 "neaT drafTsmanshIp," and a similar number asking for more TheoreTical work, such as "more maTh and English." B. STaTemenTs of Supervisors The following quesTions were asked of The supervisors of boTh graduaTe Technicians and The sTudenT Technicians in The program: I. Would The graduaTe's early work performance IndicaTe ThaT his academic background adequaTer prepared him To grasp The duTies and knowledge of his posiTlon? 2. Did The graduaTe possess sufficienT experience In The performance of The pracTical skills To begin producTive work wlTh llTTIe or no addiTlonal Training? 3. How mighT The academic Training be changed To beTTer prepare The graduaTe for your area of operaTion? The responses To These quesTions are llsTed In Appendix D. The responses IndicaTe a general saTisfacTIon wlTh The academic background. The changes suggesTed by some respondenTs confllcTed wiTh changes suggesTed by oThers. The individual replies are shown in Appendix D. CHAPTER VIII CONCLUSIONS The TITIe of This sTudy, "A CompilaTion and STudy of Civil .Engineerlng Technology Curricula In The UniTed STaTes wiTh Analysis of The Forces Bearing on The Curricula," leads To Two areas for conclus- ions: I) Those consTlTuTIng The compIIaTIon of curricula and 2) Those analyzing forces bearing upon The curricula. The firsT seT of conclusions consTITuTes a curricular defInITlon of The civil engineering Technician In The UniTed STaTes. IT also In- cludes The relaTIonshlp of The Technician To The civil engineer and The exisTence of civil engineering Technicians as an IdenTlfled group. The second area for conclusions will bring ouT The variaTions In curricula and The relaTIve lmporTance of various forces affecTing The curriculum. A. CompliaTion of Curricula Conclusions I. The following courses are required In almosT all programs and are TaughT To a sufficienT exTenT To IndicaTe solid achievemenT and, Therefore, all graduaTe civil engineering Technicians have an operaTional undersTand- Ing of These fields: TrlgonomeTry, algebra, slide rule usage, English com- posiTIon, non-calculus physics and mechanics, geology or soils, sTaTIcs, non-calculus sTrengTh of maTeriaIs, mechanical drawing and leTTering, plane surveying and rouTe surveying. There Is an eIghTy percenT probabiliTy ThaT The graduaTe will have sTudied The following addiTlonal fields: some addiTlonal physics Topics, I4I I42 porTland cemenT and concreTe, elemenTary sTrucTural sTeel design, adjusT- menT of surveying InsTrumenTs and TOpographic surveying. There Is a fIny To elghTy percenT probabiliTy of The Technician having an undersTanding of The following fields: analyTlc geomeTry skills, use of desk calculaTors, speech, general educaTion in hisTory and poliTical science, asphalT cemenTs and concreTe, SpecificaTions and codes, hydraulics, elemenTary reinforced concreTe design, Timber design, highway design, drain- age design, consTrucTIon organizaTion, cosT esTimaTIng, descripTIve geomeTry, skeTchIng, inking, sTrucTural sTeel drawing and deTaiIIng, carTography, highway drawings, cadasTral surveying, use of sTadIa and law relaTed To con- sTrucTion. A wide dISpersion of efforT is recorded on many oTher subJecTs and, as a consequence, The employer cannoT be assured of reasonable probabiliTy ThaT The Technician has had such educaTlon. 2. Very IlTTIe research has been conducTed on The subJecT of curriculum for civil engineering Technicians of any deflanIon. The Technique of ask- lng for classroom hours spenT on Individual subJecTs has noT been previously used In engineering Technician research. This Type of quesTionnalre has proved To be somewhaT difficuIT To answer. Several commenTs received In wriTlng wiTh The reSponses have IndicaTed This difficulTy; however, The fac- ulTy In well esTablIshed programs have been able To provide This InformaTIon. IT gives a much beTTer pIcTure of The curriculum Than would simple sTaTe- menTs of wheTher or noT a subJecT Is included. For a sTudy of any larger size and scope, such a survey Technique would require processing by oom- puTers. This Technique has clearly IndicaTed The dispariTy and divergence of apparenTIy similar programs. WITh The excepTIon of a few subJecTs, such I43 as English, a large range in classroom hours exisTs in all fields of sTudy. This indicaTes ThaT The graduaTes of various programs mighT have large differences in The exTenT of Their undersTandings, abiliTIes and skills on any given subJecT. 3. All of The civil engineering Technician programs are equivalenT To Two college years In IengTh. Some of Them lasT longer because of co-op work experience and a very small number are less Than elghTeen monThs in acTual IengTh because of concenTraTion of Time. These are elghT hour a day programs, running for more Then Twelve monThs wiThouT vacaTion and sponsored by federal funds as a reTraining program or by a sTaTe highway deparTmenT. 4. The graduaTe civil engineering Technician has sufficienT skills and undersTanding of Technical SpeclalTles To JusTify placemenT In engin- eering organizaTions; however, he ls noT a highly specialized Technician. Some of The widely used definiTions of engineering Technician have called for a high degree of specializaTion In a narrow range of fields, making The comparison wiTh an engineer who has a high degree of specializaTion In a wide number of fields and wiTh The indusTrIal Technician who would have a shallow level of specializaTion In a large number of fields. The curricula In acTuaI use, Therefore, does noT lead To The highly special- ized Technician. In This sense The civil engineering Technician Is unlike The elecTrIcal engineer or chemical engineering Technician. The poTenTIaI employer musT expecT various levels of skills wiTh The probabillTies pre- viously described. The definiTions assumed for This disserTaTIon elimi- naTed some areas of SpecializaTIon, such as Those ThaT would be in building consTrucTion, buT This was done on The basis ThaT The Technician would be working as a conTracTor, a land surveyor or In some oTher fashion I44 for someone oTher Than a civil engineer. There are some excepTIons To This. Some lnsTlTuTions do specialize wiThIn civil engineering Technology To such an exTenT ThaT The Technician would know as much abouT The selec- Ted field as The graduaTe civil engineer; however, such programs are in The mlnoriTy. 5. Surveys conducTed by various agencies on The number of programs, sTudenTs and graduaTes lack clarlTy of deflanion. MosT such surveys conducTed eiTher by The UniTed STaTes DeparTmenT of HealTh, EducaTion and Welfare or by The American SocieTy for Engineering EducaTion have been primarily concerned wiTh broad groups of engineering Technicians. The acTual number reporTed does noT show a clear Trend or paTTern for civil engineering Technology. MosT of The work of The federal governmenT has combined several Types of Technicians under The heading of civil engineering relaTed pro- grams. 6. There has been no leadership providing unITy in The civil engineer- Ing Technician programs. The few specific lnsTances, such as The publicaTlon of The U.S. Office of EducaTion on curriculum for civil engineering Tech- nicians, were superficial. The NaTlonal SocieTy of Professional Engineers has been concerned wiTh cerTiflcaTIon of all engineering Technicians and The American SocieTy of Civil Engineers has appoinTed a commiTTee To sTudy The problem in l966. However, There Is no clearly IdenTifled relaTIonshlp beTween civil engin- eers and civil engineering Technicians aT The presenT Time. lnTerview responses of graduaTe civil engineering Technicians and The engineers They work for IndicaTe a relucTance on The parT of The engineer To assign much I45 Technical responsiblliTy To The Technician. This is furTher subsTanTlaTed In The general Tendency To InsisT ThaT surveying and rouTIne design are The proper fields for The engineers To sTudy. An examinaTion of various publicaTlons from The federal governmenT IndicaTes lack of undersTanding of some Specific aspecTs of civil engineer- lng. Examples of This are The assumpTIon ThaT such a program could possibly be TaughT In high school, The occupaTIons of chalnmen and rodmen being In- cluded, which are defInITely non-skilled, and The inclusion of archiTecTural drafTsman, an occupaTIon having llTTle To do wiTh The field of cIvIl engin- eering. 7. There is no evidence To IndicaTe aT The presenT Time ThaT civil engineering Technicians have a clear IdenTITy and role accepTed by all InTer- esTed parTles. 8. Conclusions Reggrding Forces AffechngThe Curricula l. Overall direcTion, as observed In maJor academic caTegories, ls given by The federal governmenT, consulTanTs, The American SocieTy for Engineering EducaTion and ECPD accrediTaTion, and by employers. 2. The Technical faculTy cerTainly develop and are responsible for deTailed organizaTion of assigned subJecTs and, consequenle, are The mosT imporTanT force in deTermlnlng deTail wIThIn a Technical subJecT. The Technical faculTy, however, have liTTle influence on The conTenT of general educaTlon courses. ¢ Some Technical faculTy groups have a significanT effecT upon The Technical curriculum, while oThers apparenle do noT. A highly significanT associaTion To The curriculum Is recorded wiTh Those having a surveying I46 experience, some Influence was measured wITh Those faculTy having con- sTruchon experience, and no relaTIonship was noTed wiTh The faculTy having highway experience. IT was noT possible To sTudy oTher Technical fields of experience. 3. The effecT of sTudenTs upon The curriculum Is apparenle noT sig- nificanT, excepT ThaT cerTaIn sTudenT characTerisTics are Taken InTo accounT in The curriculum planning. Male sex and high school algebra are expecTed of The sTudenT and The curriculum Is planned accordingly. lnTer- vlews wiTh sTudenTs IndicaTe a high degree of conflIcT In Individual goals and a neT componenT force ThaT is negligible. 4. The organizaTion of The InsTiTuTion offering civil engineering Technology has no recorded Influence on The maJor curriculum caTegories. A difference In The emphasis on cerTaIn Individual sTudy areas was noTed wiTh correlaTion To The InsTiTuTional organizaTion. These Included a heavier emphasis on calculus by universiTy programs, smaller emphasis on reinforced concreTe design and Timber design, and Indefermlnanf analysis by universiTy programs, heavier emphasis on economic and fiscal courses by Technical lnsTlTuTes and unlverslTies, greaTer emphasis on descripTIve geomeTry and Inking in communiTy college programs, greaTer emphasfs by communiTy college programs on plaT making and carTography. 5. RecommendaTlons of employers form no clear paTTern and, as a conse- quence, have IiTTle effecT upon The curriculum. I47 6. The TheoreTical framework of mechanics used To analyze The forces and direcTions was useful for Terminology and general undersTand- ings, buT all aTTemst aT quanTificaTlon were unsaTisfacTory. Therefore iT was noT possible To TesT The hypoTheses described on page Ten. Plans To calculaTe values of energy, force, and relaTed mechanical concest failed To be consisTenT. The problem Is essenTlally one of proper uniTs. As an example, forces for supporT were measured in Terms of dollars, and governmenTal forces could Then be compared buT The exTenT of faculTy force could noT be given an obJecTive value In These uniTs. Several conTrived devices would yield resulTs, however preconceived values were necessary. This JudgemenT facTor would lnvalldaTe The resulTs. Similar difficulTy was encounTered In The deTermlnaTion of direcTions. A conTinuum scale of goals Involving The Type of educaTion was also unsaTIsfacTory. A quanTITy of I.00 assigned To classical liberal arTs and l0.00 for manual skills, wITh InTermediaTe values for sciences, Thinking skills, and undersTandings, yielded resulTs ThaT reflecTed The values of The assigned numbers. This again was quiTe InTeresTIng buT hardly InformaTive. In order To use The mechanics caiculaTIons, an absoluTe scale Is necessary. IT musT be possible To deTermine The raTio of separaTe forces, and To derive The neT or resulTanT direcTion when differenT forces affecT a given mass. The TheoreTlcal consTrucTs would be of value when someone Is able To consTrucT objecTive scales. In The meanTime The sysTemis helpful To The person having familiariTy eiTher wITh force sysTems, or wiTh engineering. The Thesis should be more undersTandable To This audience In These Terms Than lT mighT be In psychological or socio- logical Terms. C. General Conclusion Regarding The FuTure of Civil Engineering Technology Civil Engineering Technology Is 221 esTablIshed as a sTable ldenTI- flable curriculum In The UniTed STaTes. Unless sTrong leadership Is soon demonsTraTed by The civil engineering profession, There Is a considerable risk ThaT such programs will dlsInTegraTe. This will be a severe blow To The efflcienT uTIlizaTion of Technical manpower In The counTry, To The abiliTy of The profession To conTinuously adopT Improved Techniques and knowledge, and To The posiTlons of many Technicians. This Is also a con- slderable problem for The civil engineers, since IT would be a sTep Toward The possible ellmlnaTion of civil engineering as a separaTe profession. This conclusion resulTs from several facTs documenTed In This sTudy. These are The confusion In role definiTIon as demonsTraTed In published sTaTisTics and definiTions, The facT ThaT some programs have been discon- Tlnued In The pasT four years, The lack of recognITIon of The Technician In IndusTry and civil service, The lower salaries of These Technicians In comparison wiTh oTher engineering Technicians, The relucTance of InTerviewed employers To assign specific Technical responsIbIIITIes sufficienle, and The almosT ToTaI disregard of The field by civil engineering organizaTions. RECOMMENDATION IT Is sTrongly recommended ThaT The American SocieTy of Civil Engineers Involve ITs membership In a campaign To define and gromoTe usage of civil engineering Technicians. No oTher organizaTion has The abiliTy To provide effecTIve leadership and accepTance of The Technicians. I49 Some oTher organizaTions have a degree of inTeresT and Influence, buT Their effecTIveness would be llmlTed by InadequaTe conTacT wiTh civil engineers, The employers of The Technician. The UniTed STaTes Office of EducaTion and The DeparTmenT of Labor have done some work In promoTIng The effecTIve uTIlizaTion of engineering manpower, buT have no direcT knowledge of The funcTional requiremenTs of The Tech- nician. Individual highway deparTmenTs and oTher employers know whaT Tasks mighT be assigned To The Technician buT cannoT exerT a naTIonal unifying Influence. OTher socieTles such as The American SocieTy for Engineering EducaTion would have less conTacT wiTh The users of Civil Engineering Technicians. This overall recommendaTIon can be broken inTo The following parTs: I. IT is urged ThaT The SocieTy Involve The enTire membership In preparing an accepTable deflniTIon of The Technician In Terms of required courses of sTudy, and any oTher required characTerisTics. 2. SocieTy promulgaTlon of The deflniTion is recommended so ThaT The various programs can be more predicTable In sTudies while mainTainIng a desirable degree of IndividualiTy. 3. The SocieTy should Then make a maJor efforT To promoTe The Increased use of Technicians, TogeTher wiTh oTher lnTeresTed organizaTions. IT Is suggesTed ThaT a series of conferences and publicaTlons could be parT of such a campaign. I50 BIBLIOGRAPHY A. BOOKS Barnard, Chester I. I_h_g Functions 9_f_' the Executive. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 19%. Brim, Orville G. Jr. Sociolog ;a_1_1_<_i_ _T_._1_1_e_ Field 9!; Education. Russell Sage Foundation, 1958. Ginzberg, Eli. m gngurce . Simon and Schuster, 1958. Harvard University, Graduate School of Business Administration. Mariam Technician Manm . Cambridge, Massachusetts: the University, 1959. Henninger, G. Ross. fI_'h_g Technigg Institute _I_n_ Anerigg. Carnegie Series in American Education. New York: McGraw-Iflll Book Co. , 1959. Medeker, Leland L. 1h; Junior College: Progr_e_ss gag Prosgct. New York: ”mu-Hill Bock COe, 1%e Civil w. (American Society of Civil Engineers, 1962). Technig Education Yearbook, m-fl. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Prakken Publications , Inc. , 513 Longshore Drive. B. PUBLICATIONS 01" THE GWERNMENT, LEARNED SWIETIES, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS Aruby, H. H., et a1, Orggzed Occuggtional Curriculum Enrollments gig (Edgtes, 1252- U. 3. Department of Health, Education and Welfare Circular No. 568, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1959. . Brandon, George L. flog-gums in m Desi : Gurrigu_lg .132 Techniciggs. College of Education E R - 1, Michigan State University, November, 1960) . Brunner, Ken A. Guide 39 W Occu tic Curriculum _ig H_i_.gher Education - Enrollments: October _]_., 1 2. U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, w 54012 2. (Washington: Government Printing om... 1965). hereon, Lynn A. Education £9; .a_ W World of Work. U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, (Laoo' 21. 7Was'hington: Government Printing Office, 1963). hereon, Lynn A. raging; m _1_q m United States. U. 3. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Gill-80023. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1963). . \Sl Emerson, Lynn.A. Vocational-Technical Education fgg.American Industgy. U. S. Department of Health, Education and welfare, Circular 530. (washington: Government Printing Office, 1958). Harris, Norman and Yenoso, William. Technical Education IgyMichigan Community Colleges. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Office of Research Administration, 1965). Michael, Bernard. Department of Labor, Scientific ggg_Technical Personnel .ig Indust , 126 . National Science Foundation, 19 1. Patrick, Phillip. Tenth Survey‘g£,Engigeer Technician Enrollments. University of Dayton, 19 5. American Society for Engineering Education. ghggggtggigtigg‘gfflggggllgggg ig_Engigeering Technician Education. (Urbana, Illinois: American Society for Engineering Education, 1962). Annual Report. (New York: Engineers' Council for Professional DevelOpment, 1965). Civil gag Highway Technolo . U. S. Department of Health, Education and welfare, OE 80018 ‘Washington: Government Printing Office, 1962). National Science Foundation. Scientific and Technical Personnel ig Indust , 1960. (National Science Foundation 61:75). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1961. Occupgtioggl Criteria gag Prepgratogy Curriculum.Patterns‘ig,Technical Education Programs. U. S. Department of Health, Education and welfare, OE - 80015 (washington: Government Printing Office, 1962). Organized Occuggtional Curriculums. Office of Health, Education and Welfare 9 .1959 e Orgggized Qggupgtional Curriculums. Office of Health, Education and Whlfare, 19 5. Your rtunities g§_g_Technician. (National Association of Manufacturers, 1957) Th2 En ineerin Technician. (American Society for Engineering Education, 1960). C. PERIODICALS Benson, F. J., "Highwgy Engineering Curricula.” American Road Builder, June, 1962’ pe 16e Brunner, Kenneth A. "The Federal Government and Technical Institute,” Technical Education NeWS, Special Issue, 1959, pp. 1-3. ‘- 152 Chadwick, wallace L. "The Civil Engineer and his Education," Civil En ineerin , V. 35, N. 9, September, 1965, p. 31. Desnoyers, H. B. "The Common Technical Curriculum," Technical Education News, January, 1961’ pe 10 Ives, Howard S. "Connecticut Boasts of a Unique Training Program," American Hi hwa 5, 41:4, October, 1962, pp. 11-15. Martorana, S. V. "Two Year Colleges," American Education, August, 1957, p. 57e Nordby, G. M., and ward, J. 3. "Where is Engineering Education Today?" Civil Engineering, V. 35. N. 2, February, 1965, pp. 56-59. Patrick, Phillip. "Tenth Annual Surrey of Engineering-Technician Enrollment and Graduation,“ Journal‘g£,Engigeerigg Education, 56:1, September, 1965, pp. 14-15. Radar, Lloyd F. "Where Should we Be Going In Civil Engineering Education?” Journal 2;,Engigeering Education, 52:5, February, 1962, pp. 327-335. Torpey, W. C. "The Engineering Technician," Th2,Michigan Professional m. May. 1960. pp- 19-21- Whipple, W. G. "What does Industry Expect of Technical Institute Graduates," Technical Education News, April, 1962, pp. 12-13. "Highwayigzgineering Technician Training," Public Works, November, 1962, p. e "Should Federal Funds Be Used to Train Semi-Professionalsl" Ameriggg Engigeer, July, 1962, pp. 19-24. ”Technician.Training Program," Better Roads, May, 1962, p. 24. D. UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS Beatty, Russell. "Report of the President to The Board of Directors," wentucrth Institute. Massachusetts: 1958. Crewfcrd, L. I. "Education and Practice Viewed by Consulting Engineers Council," Paper read at the Wbrld Congress on Engineering Education, Chicago, Illinois, June, 1965. Pachuck, Chester. ”A Junior College Core-Concept of Engineering Technologies." Paper read at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for En eering Education , Chicago, Illinois, June, 1965. (Mimeographed. 1573' Stith, Raymond J. ”Curricula in Civil Engineering Technology," Term paper at The University of Michigan for Professor Norman Harris, 1962. (Mimeographed.) Wisely, William H., Executive Secretary, American Society of Civil Engineers. Letter dated May ll, 1966. "Syllabus of Examinations for Engineering Technology,” Toronto, Ontario: The Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, 1961. . 154 APPENDIX "1.5.5 1 APPENDIX A Responses to this questionnaire were received from the following institutions: 1. Mahawk Valley Technical Institute, Utica, New York 2. Staton Island Community College, Staton Island, New York ' 3. New York City Community College, Brooklyn, New York 4. 'Wentworth Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 5. Cogswell Polytechnical College, San Francisco, California 6. Southern Technical Institute, Marietta, Georgia 7. Oregon Technical Institute, Klamath Falls, Oregon ' 8. Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 9. Ferris State College, Big Rapids, Michigan 10. Vermont Technical Institute, Randolph Center, Vermont 11. Brooms Technical Community College, Binghamton, New York 12. Franklin Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 13. Lansing Community College, Lansing, Michigan 14. City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, California 15. Pennsylvania State University, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania 16. Pasadena City College, Pasadena, California 17. Pueblo College, Pueblo, Colorado 18. 'Worcester Junior College,'Worcester, Massachusetts 19. Chowan College, Murfreesboro, North Carolina 20. iMilwaukee Institute of Technology, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 21. Arlington State College, Arlington, Texas 22. Hillyer College, Hartford, Connecticut The following institutions responded with the indication that they did not have a program fitting the definition: however, they provided some valuable information: 1. 2. 3. a Long Beach City College, Long Beach, California Pensacola Junior College, Pensacola, Florida Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Utah State University, Logan, Utah In addition to these twenty-six institutions, questionnaires sent to four other programs were not returned. Therefore returns were made by twenty-two of twenty-six: eighty-five percent of the twenty-six eligible programs in 1962. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO .‘u-h. ' l56 What is a Civil Engineering Technician? A Highway Technician, or a Surveying Technician? What jobs can he do, or what is he good for? Where doesthisTechnicianfit, sndwhatishisfutm-e? . An answer to these kinds of questions will help define the Technician in the family of occupations related to Civil Engineering; This definitive information is needed for counse prospective students, and to encme more students to enter this type 0 curriculum. Planning and legislation are _sometimes hampered by need for more specific information about. the§e programs, and above all the Civil Engineer could make more effective us___g of Technicians ifheknewwhat canbe expected of the graduate. In an effort to help answer these questions, and to compile doctoral dissertation data, I am asking you to contribute information. I will send you a copy of the results of this stunt hoping that it-willbe of value. to you. The information will. be helpful to the societies andinstitutiens interested in advancing the cause of engineering technicians. Lfleasefilloutandfetmthisquestiomire. 2. Please send with the reply any catalog, brochure, or other material describing your curriculum related to civil technology. 3. let me know for the report, of am developments or facts that promote this field of technology. A stamped return envelope is enclosed for your reply. I hope to hear' from you soon, before we all. get involved with fall classes, family plans, and football. Thank you for your attention. Richard L. W, P.E. Department Head - Civil Technology Lansing Community College September a, 1962 Civil Engineering Technology and Related Cmicula Study ' R. L. Rinehart, Lansing Community College, 1419 N. Capitol Ave., lensing, Michigan Name of responding Institution: - » ‘1 Address: 5 Name of person directly supervising civil related technology { How nary months of fulltime classroom student status are needed to complete the curricillum, assuming a student has all entering prereqirisites? months How may months of other requirements, such as co-op, are there? months 0 Please check the prerequisites for a student entering your programs Required Desirable Not: Asked High School Graduation Related work experience LQ. or ability test score Interest or aptitude test Male sex High School Algebra " " Geometry " " Trigonometry n :1 Drawing " " Shop Courses " " Physics " " Chemistry I: :1 English ,4 yr. Other, please list: Approccimately how mam graduates do you expect from this program between now, September 1962 , and August of 1961; ? Since teachers are as important as curriculum and books, it will be helpful to have a brief description of the technical instruction staff. Please estimate the following information for teachers of technical courses and planners for this curriculum: Years of Teaching Experience Years of Work Experience Related College License 8: And Field of Specialty To Program and Specialty Field Degrees Certificate Please list any developments or facts that will promote this field of technology : a '157 Please indicate the to__t_al_ number of hours of class meetings that you expect to require of the civil related” technician student for the next w or so, in each of the study areas shown. One course might contain several areas, or several courses might apply to one area. An effort has been made to establish M eccclusive categories. Some overlap certainly remains, but please do not: include am hours in duplicate. The total number shown should equal the total number of actual class hours in the curriculum. Area Of Study Classroom Hours In: lecture Lab, Practice Algebra, notation, manipulation 8: solving equations Geometry, Plans and Solid Trigonometry, Plane and Spherical Analytic Geometry Differential and Integral Calculus Differential Equations and Advanced Work Statistics and Probability Computer Programming and Appreciation Sliderule flsage and logarithms Use of Desk Calculators and Related Machines English Composition and Technical Report Writing Public Speaking and Speech Improvement Reading IMPROVEMENT and Other Language Work Political Theory, Political Science, Internet. Relations Local State and' Federal Government Social Sciences, Sociology, Anthropology, etc. Psychology, Social Psycholog, Human Relations Economics Theory, Not Business Economics History, Geography, Humanities Chemistry, General Inorganic and Organic Atomic and Molecular Structure and Forces Portland Cement. and Concrete Properties Asphalts, Tara, and Bituminous Concretes Properties Geology, Aggregates, and Soils Study Phtallurgv, Heat Treat , Preoperties of Metals Timber Properties, Grading, 'Characteristics Stucv of Ceramics, Plastics, Glass and Other Phterials Statics Theory and Graphics, Forces Dynamics Study and Kinetics or Kinematics Thermodynamics Electricity and Electronics Light, Sound, and Other Physics Topics Strength of Materials and Other Applied Mechanics Steel Structural Design Principles and Practice Reinforced Concrete " " Timer I! I! " Indeterminate Structuaal Analysis, and Structures Architectural Design, Not Drawing, Buildings Design of Bridges and Engineering Struatures Highway and Geometric Design Specifications, Codes, Understanding and Interpretations Other Design Areas, Not Construction Methods and Not Included on the Next Page lllllllll llllll llllllll IIHIIHI HIHIHH lllllllll HHII llHllll lllllllll IIIIHHH has of Study Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics Hydrology, Ground Water and Surface Water Meteorology Drainage Design, Sewers, Culverts, Ditches etc. Biologies, Bacteriology, etc. Water Supply and'Treatmcnt, Distribution Systems Sewage Treatment, Collection, Testing Public Health and Sanitation Heavy Construction Methods, Earthmoving, Highways Light Construction Methods, Architectural Construction Residential Construction Methods, Carpentry Construction Organization, and Planning Welding Principles and Practice Law Related to Construction, Contracts, Agency etc. Other Construction Practices and Skills Mechanical Drawing, Lettering and Principles Descriptive Geometry Sketching, Renderings, Perspectives Inking, Use of Lettering Machines Scribing and Etching, Work on Plastics Structural Drawing, Steel, Detailing Structural Reinforced Concrete Drawings, Bar Sched. Architectural Drawing Topographic and Hydrographic Drawing Cartography, Map Making, Projections Making of land Plats Highway Plans and Profiles Drawing Drawing Pass Diagrams Making Charts and Diagrams and Display Graphs Plane Surveying, Use of Conventional Equipment Adjustment of Transits and levels, Minor Repairs Geodetic Surveying, lst or 2nd Order Surveying Use of Optical Micrometer Instruments, Auto. Levels etc Rpute Surveying, Curves, Slope Staking etc Topographic and Hydrographic Surveying, Cadastral, Prpperty Surveys, land Description Systems Law Related to Property Rights Photogrammetry, Ground and Aerial, Procedures and Princ. Celestial Observations, Techniques and Theories, 8: Cale. Other Surveying such as Construction Staking Use of Stadia Economic Analysis, Interest, Amortization, etc Planning Principles and Devices for Programming Cost Estimating, Direct and Indirect Accounting and Business Management and Control Ethics, Professional Practice I-hilosoptw, Theology ’ Individual Study, Thesis, Projects or Reseafch Other Fields of Engineering such as Traffic, Specify Type Other Required Course Areas, Please Specify Hours of Free Electives Not Included Above If you are contemplating amr changes of emphasis from the above curnic um please indicate here the changes that are possible. IIH llll IIIHHHHI llllllllllllll HIHH HlHngi HH HH HIIHIIIIII llllllllllllll HHIH IIIHIIIE a1 158 APPENDIX B Responses to this questionnaire were received from the following institutions: 1. Boise Junior College, Boise, Idaho 2. Chaffey Junior College, Alta Loma, California 3. Skagit Valley College, Mount Vernon,'Washington h. Purdue University, Indianapolis, Indiana 5. San Bernardino Valley College, San Bernardino, California 6. University of Heuston College of Technology, Houston, Texas 7. Erie County Technical Institute, New Ibrk 8. Chicago Technical College, Chicago, Illinois 9. Hartford State Technical Institute, Hartford, Connecticut 10. Ohio College of Applied Science, Cincinnati, Ohio ll. North Dakota State School of Science, wahpoton, North Dakota 12. Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 13. Farmingdale Technical Institute, Farmingdale, New York In addition, questionnaires were sent to the twenty-two institu- tions listed in Appendix A. The following institutions were identified with civil engineering technology in the Guide to Organized Occupational Curriculums in Higher Education, 1962 - 65, and responded that they did not have a civil engin- eering technology program, as such: 1. Mason City Junior College, Mason City, Iowa 2. Grand Rapids Junior College, Grand Rapids, Michigan 3. Perkinston College, Perkinston, Mississippi Number Per Cent Institutions, with defined programs, responding: 27 77 fl Institutions, with defined programs, not responding: a 23 % Total of institutions having a defined program in 1966: 35 100 % Institutions responding: "No defined program". 3 Total of Questionnaires sent out: 38 '.lqrv ' Aprll 6, I966 Deer Slr:.,..' What Is a Clvll Englneerlng Technician? A nghway Technician, or a .S_urveylng Technician? What Jobs can he do, or What Is he good for?. Where does thIs Tech- n clan flt, and what ls hls future? - « ,. An answer to these kinds of questlons wlll help deflne the Technlclan In the famlly of occupatlons related to CIVII EngIneerlng. Thls deflnltlve lnformatlon Is needed for counsellnp prospecthe'students, and to encourage more students to ontor thls type of curr culum. Plannlngéandzleglsletlon are someIImes hampered by need for more spcclflc Informatlon about these programs, and above all, the CIvII Engineer could make more effectlve use-ff Technlc.lans If he knew what can be expected of the graduate. ' In an effort to help answer these quostlons and to complle doctoral dlsserta- tIon data, I am asklng you to contrlbute Informatlon. l wllI send you a copy of the results of thIs study, hoplng that It wIlI be of value to you. The Informa- tlon wlll be helpful to the socletles and InStItutlons Interested In advanclng the cause of engIneerlng technlclans. * . Please fllI out and return thls questlonnalre. A stamped return envelope Is enclosed for your reply. Please fIIl out and return It toda . Thls wlIl allow me to tabulete and return a summary to you by AprII 30, T5331' I plan to submlt the Informatlon to the A. S. C. E. and the A.$. E.E. to promote an offlclal soclety posItIon encouraglng Increased utIIlzatIon of Clvll EngIneerlng Technlclans. jl «.F/ IP'.’ ’ ' -‘ / I!" , Rlchard L. RInehart, P. E. —;3L Preeldent ‘ Name of Reporting Institution J__. t ‘1 n 1 wt _ w ' w v— ‘- -— w— ——v - 0W1 WW. ......— -. ‘— WOuId you please indlcate the general characteristlcs of the faculty responsible for the civil engineering technician curriculum by checking all approprTate boxes (deschIbing the fabulty as the Single person most representing the group Involved: Educatlon:‘ ' h 8.5. Degree In CIvII Engineering (& I.) an~ ,,B.S.-Degree In other erIdS' . ”.0”... {1‘3 M.S..Cegree In clvilenglneering ' - g.$. Degree In other fields Journeyman or equivalent education IRegistered Engineer. _ Registered Land Surveyor Experience: Contract Construction (More than, ._. 2 yr.) ' 'HIghway-Department ~o IOther Government Departments “Teaching 5 Education & Research I Industry,,Manufacturing ‘SurveyIng Prtvate Practice, Consulting Engr. Architectural ‘ Railroads ——-— —-—— -I----F —— .-———— —_ —— __._— .— ———. —— -——- m. c.- w .— Sanltary Engineering i .160 APPENDIX 3 Elkease—cheek these courses on study areas that are requlred of students and those that tare optlonal. Several.subJects may.be lncluded ln 3 slngle course, and all of those resultlng ln a measurable and demonstrable sklll or understandlng should be checked. In case of doubt, It may be assumed that at least 20 classroom hours are usually re- cqulred for such a level of sklll or understandlng. Area of Study Requlred Optlonal Trlgonometry, Plane and Spherlcal Analytlc Geometry leforentlal and Integral Calculus leforentlal Equatlons and Advanced Work Statlstlcs and Probablllty Computer Programmlng and Appreclatlon Sllderule Usage and Logarlthms Use of Desk Calculators and Related Machlnos Engllsh Composltlon and Technlcal Report ertlng Publlc Speaklng and Speech Improvement Readlng IMPROVEMENT and other Language Work Polltlcal Theory, Polltlcal Sclence, Internat. Relat. Hlstory, Georgraphy, Humanltles Chemlstry, General lnorganlc and Organlc Atomlc and Molecular Structure and Forces Portland Cement and Concrete Prepertles Asphalts, Tars, and Bltumlnous Concretes PrOpertles Geology, Aggregates, and Sells Study Metallurgy, Heat Treat, Properties of Metals Tlmber Propertles, Gradlng, Characterlstlcs Study of Ceramlcs, Plastlcs, Glass and Other Materlals Statlcs Theory and Graphlcs, Forces Dynamlcs Study and Klnetlcs of Klnematlcs Thermodynamlcs Electrlclty and Electronlcs nght, Sound, and Other Physlcs Toplcs Strength of Materlals or Other Applled Mechanlcs Steel Structural Deslgn Prlncfllples and Practlce Relnforced Concrete " " T I "Iber- 9! H H lndetermlnate Structural Analysls, and Structures Archltectural Deslgn, Not Drawlng, Bulldlngs Deslgn of Brldges and Englneerlng Structures nghway and Geometric Deslgn Speclflcatlons, Codes, Understandlng and lnterpretatlons Other Deslgn Areas, Not Constructlon Methods lllllllll llllll llllllll lllll llllllll lllllllll llllll llllllll lllll llllllll ;' i6i '; ‘_ APPENDIX C RESPONSES OF TECHNICIAN GRADUATES WORKING AT THE MICHIGAN STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT - I964 Has your schoollng provided you with adequate background to accept the responsibTiity assigned togyou on your permanent assignment? Apparently not, for it is now possible to become a technician without completing the program. So it is questionable whether this background is necessary, but i do feel that a graduate tech- nician is more qualified to do the work. Yes, but more attention could be given to inspection phases and final- ing of a job. Yes, except possibly in the practical field of construction. Schooling gives you a broad background Into your work and the knowledge needed in it; however, i feel that experience in the particular job assignment is the best basis of Judging one's ability to accept reSponsibility. The knowledge of procedures and all of my schooling have been very valu- able in my permanent assignment. i worked one summer after completion and the training was adequate. The schooling was somewhat short in the area of cost analysis of the earthwork, etc., but our surveying skills were ample for our work. Formal education is a background for learning not for accepting respon- sibility. it did serve its purpose. As far as Instrument work the training was adequate, but it was not adequate pertaining to inspection work. Yes. Yes, according to service ratings, etc. given by superiors. Yes, it has and it also provided me with adequate knowledge to pass examinations at the I level. Yes, the schooling provided me with the background i need. Yes. Yes, my schoollng provided adequate background for my permanent assign- ment back in l960. Yes. Yes and no. Yes. No, because i was assigned to a chemistry lab. The schoollng is hinged around surveying and drafting. Yes. Yes. Yes. 2. 462 Yes it has. Yes, but working half days and going to school half days did not leave enough time for study. More than adequate. Courses in reinforced concrete and structural theory would have been highly beneficial.’ Yes. Partially yes. As i was one of first to graduate some courses were inadequate. Believe they have been adjusted now. Yes. Yes. i feel i can research any subject or math problem that i can- not remember. Yes. Yesl the math and surveying have been very helpful. Yes. Yes. The program prepared me in my permanent assignment by giving me the educational background necessary to meet the assigned responsi- bilities of my position in the section. Yes, except a better course in structural design. Yes. Yes. ' Yea, the schooling was more than adequate for the job i am doing. The only trouble i had was from the lack of experience. Yes, although more field work while in school should be required with closer supervision. Problems in the book and problems in the field differ to a great degree. Basically, yes. Particularly we should have covered more specific traf- fic considerations. Perhaps two terms of courses related to all problems of highway design. i also feel more basic English is needed. What do you feel could be done to improve the program? Offer chemistry, physics as an alternate to surveying or structural drafting. Have three ways or fields a student could go into. More emphasis could be placed on figuring research volumes and grades. The curricula is very good as far as the program is concerned. Satisfactory. i think that the curriculum i had was fine except i think more empha- sis shouid be put on architectural drawing. i believe the curriculum in college is very good. Confine drawing to civil engineering drawing. At LCC two entire terms were spent drawing nuts, bolts, gears and machinery parts and were entirely useless for a civil technician. Teach technical courses so that they can be accredited and transferrable. Make the following courses transferrable by adding calculus: Physics, strength of materials. Not qualified to answer, as i am not familiar with present curriculum. i 163 M More surveying equipment is needed. Time and equipment is dominated by those with better than average ability. Often, these in the class who need the help more are not getting it. Have unit heads of the various departments outline a curriculum for their unit. Let student select his third year (last two terms) curriculum on the basis of this outline and talk with depart- ment or unit heads. Have a class in which you start at the beginning of a Job and follow it through in its entirety (staking, inspection, finaling). i feel the program should require more mathematics. Calculus and analytic geometry should be required for two or three terms. A good engineering type physics at Ferris State for the program. Other- wise quite thorough. Not acquainted with present curriculum. The curriculum could be improved by giving the technicians training in computation of costs not only in equipment but also in earth- work, drainage, and all other related items. More math and less English would aid in understanding the engineens as well as the work in most fields. inform the student technicians about inSpection work and Its responsi- bilities. Make more of the required courses transferrabie to a four year engin- eering degree. Good, although i believe courses such as intermediate Algebra, Trigo- nometry, etc. be completed by potential participants so that the student would be able to grasp certain first year courses, that is, survey, etc., readily, which require a fore knowledge of this type of math. ‘ i think the curriculum was very satisfactory. A more varied choice of C.T. courses. Like classes in Traffic. Very adequate. No changes. Fine. The curriculum since i went to school has changed a lot, so i can't say whether it could be improved or not. Have more courses in the areas of traffic engineering, route location and planning. More work related courses. i believe the current curriculum is very good and much improved than the program in its infancy. However, more practical knowledge in some courses of study would be advisable. Possibly add a little math. i personally feel that the courses offered are O.K. but the faculty at LCC could be improved. The training i received at Ferris was very good and i do not think it should be changed. After the first three or four terms, specialized courses should be on the agenda, because by that time most know which department they are going to enter and could then take the preparatory courses. Not enough expected from the students. More thorough courses should be offered in the natural science field. 164' Greater emphasis on neat draftsmanship. To be more beneficial to the department i would require more intensive drafting classes, route surveying, since 90% of graduates will be using these talents to a large degree. Was adequate. Add more courses dealing with traffic, such as traffic operations, signs, surveys, standards and designs. 165 ' APPENDIX D RESPONSES AND SUMMARIES OF SUPERVISORS OF TECHNICIANS INTERVIEWED AT THE MICHIGAN STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, I964 Did the_graduate' s earlygwork performance indicate that his academic beekground adequately prepare him to grasp the duties and knowledge offihis position? Yes - Student Highway Technician B Yes - as Junior lnstrumentman Yes - as Junior lnstrumentman Yes - with normal guidance - lnstrumentman A Yes - Junior lnstrumentman or road constructor Yes - lnstrumentman A Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes - Draftsman in Bridge Design Yes - Engineering Draftsman Yes - Engineering Draftsman Yes Yes - He was mentally alert and quick to learn. Yes - Student highway Technician A or lnstrumentman A Yes - Technician with traffic dIvISIon In District Office No - Bridge Constr. Aide A. Yes — Graduate started out on a survey crew working under an experi- enced lnstrumentman. As he gained in experience he was given more responsibility. At present he Is senior lnstrumentman on five miles of expressway. He deomonstrated immediately that the choice of Highway Engineering Drafting was his selection for a future vocation. Student Highway Technician A. Required above normal SUpervision. Academic background appeared to be adequate for the field of photogrammetry. He graduated In l959 and was transferred to my squad in November, i96l. He handled the position of Engineering Draftsman i very well. lnstrumentman I - His academic background was suitable except for practical seasoning, which is as expected. Only portions of his academic background were of value in his new position. Preperty Technician A. Right of Way terminology a weak point. The graduate's present position Is Lab. Aide A and his academic back- ground is more than adequate to perform the required duties. Yes, as a Highway Laboratory Technician i In charge of field work for our Roughometer Program. He was well prepared for his position as Junior lnstrumentman aca- demicaliy. Yes - Bridge Construction Aide l. i66. Not quite enough preparation. Fundamentals started to sink in in about 9 months after start of work. Yes - Junior lnstrumentman The employee's academic background, together with previous experi- ence in this position during one working period, made him very capable as a Highway Laboratory Aide. Yes ' Yes - Highway Laboratory oide A on a resistivity crew. (Bridge Construction Aide A). Employee was able to perform the duties for this position and learned new routines quite rapidly. The graduate was well prepared for Road Construction duties. He was able to handle the instruments, take neat notes and had the engineering knowledge. In a few weeks he was able to handle a construction crew and slop stake a roadway. During the summer I had occasion to use him as a bituminous street Inspector in which he adapted readily and kept neat and accurate notes. He was also able to work on the final computations of the project and did an excellent Job. The graduate was quick to learn his duties as lnstrumentman and inspector on Bridge Construction - Indicating a good academic background. It was hard to tell, since the employee acting as a Junior lnstrument- man depended too much on being told what to do instead of taking the initiative and doing things on his own. He performed his duties adequately under these conditions. This man has worked as an inspector since leaving the training program. Service ratings and personal observation indicate a good back- ground. Yes - Student Highway Technician A or lnstrumentman A. Traffic Technician - No. Perhaps courses In traffic work should be taught in the program. 167 APPENDIX E RESPONSES OF STUDENTS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN PROGRAMS ON INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED AT THE MICHIGAN STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT In order of importance to you at that time, list the reasons why you entered the program. Money (lack of). Education, dependable Job with a future, was seeking a Job where my education would benefit both myself and my job. To continue schooling. An Interest in road and bridge deveIOpment. It gave me a goal; nothing better In sight; couldn't afford full time. Because I like construction work and hoped i might get into it. It was a Job with a chance to gain some knowledge along with a chance to go to school, In addition to helping me get some of the courses for pre-engineering. i felt that everyone needed a college education. I decided to go into engineering. I could not get a scholarship, so I investigated Into different programs because i didn't have the money to at- tend past high school. My brother discovered the program so he and i took the exam. i wanted to go to college and I just didn't have enough money. This program was my big chance to get a good start in life. It was to get a partial college education. Because i like construction work. It looked like a good Idea at the time; to better myself. Needed a Job; I wanted to go to school. Chance for an education; needed a Job. I entered the program because i felt that It would be hard for me to find a better paying Job while I was going to school. Needed a means of employment and to better future outlook. Needed the money and a steady Job; didn't want to go Into military ser- vice. Job security; further my education. It offered a Job and some chance of advanced schooling. interest in civil engineering; Insufficient funds to acquire a degree on my own; a desire to go to college. To gain further education In work i was interested in and to gain money for that education. Practical training In engineering, salary, working with state engineers. i wanted to further my education and I liked engineering; therefore, I took the test. And without this program It would have been a little more difficult for me to enter college on account of funds. To get more education, to have a Job. Good chance to further my education, chance to pay my own way through school, good future. To further my education; as a means of working my way through college, the program ends in a permanent position; i wanted to work for the State. The education, better working conditions, more chance of advancement. i68 Getting Into college, earning more money to get through school. I needed a way to finance my education. An opportunity to make some money while attending school. Learning valuable through experience, plus the cycles in school. Educational advancement, Job security and on-the-job training, un- limited future for construction work, broad field open after graduation. To obtain experience; for further schooling; for the money. Desire to continue my education and financially unable. Good way to get education, sure Job when not in school in summer or fall, pays good for not having experience. The program allowed me assurance of Income to finance my education; being state employed seemed to be a secure Investment In the future. A good place for employment; Job security and advancement; fair wages. To return to the State Highway Department. l was on land surveying with the Conservation Department and was frozen in my position. More promotional potential. I wanted to begin to get a college education when I graduated; i needed financial help to go to college; i believed engineering would be my vocation. it gives me a chance to earn my education; it offers a secure future; it does not obligate me in case i find I don't like the work. i liked to work out of doors and I was always interested in surveying. It sounded like an interesting Job and it was out of doors. It was a Job that would give a person a lot of security and he could advance according to his own skill. A Job opportunity, a college opportunity, chance to get Into design work, salary offered, interesting work. i'm interested in this type of a career; the work cycles are a way to pay for the schooling, etc. it was a way to be able to go to college as soon as I graduated; it was the only way I could afford to go to college other than working for one or two years before entering. Interested In surveying; program offered a plan to pay my own way through college. The program offered a chance which I might not have had otherwise to get an education in a field of study that i am interested In. I didn't like the school I attended last year; I figured that I would like the outside work; a government Job Is always a secure one. I wanted to use my abilities in this field and to give all I've got to it and one day make something out of it. I also might add that i can express and bring out my ideas. Job security (Immediate); college education (especially base for further college work); long range Job security. Appeared Interesting. Means of work experience along with an education. i want this type of work but I really didn't know if i wanted to be an engineer. Money. _ It was a good opportunity to make money and to go to school at the same time; the program Is In a field I like. A secure job for life, an education. I had no other plans; i like outdoor work. I wanted to be in an engineering program, but could not afford and didn't want to be an engineer. i69 1 Interested in possibilities of program; wanted to further education; like types of work offered. More education; working and studying give a person more experience. i was Interested in civil engineering; I needed a job for the summer; It sounded good. As security before going into engineering; needed job for money. interesting field, chance to earn money while going to school. Education; expense (cost of going to college); for the job with MSHD. A need to finance the greater part of my education; a strong interest in outdoor work; at the time I was interested in only a two year program. Sounded like a good job; removed any doubt as to what I would be doing; gave me a good chance to go away to school. To get an education at my own expense; to gain some technical skills which would provide future security. Work periods provide means of financing education; i wish to work in some engineering field; I feel that field experience is very valuable to an education. Since I was supporting myself fully while in school, I needed a reliable source of income when on vacation from school and It wouldn't hurt to try the program. Also I wanted to try a different than what i was interested in. Job security; furtherance of education; practical experience. Financial reasons; engineering field; security. At the time, I was interested In an engineering position rather than a job where the same routine occurs day after day. The student Highway Technician program gave me an excellent Opportunity. I wanted to go to a college. The Highway Technician Program provided a financial solution; i enjoy mathematics and math Is an import- ant part of our program; therefore, it sounded as though I would enjoy the subjects. Something different. I wanted to test my ability In college; i wanted to try a new line of work to see if I liked physical or mental work. i prefer a combination of the two. Education; to see If i would be Interested In civil engineering. it offered a job In a field that i was interested In; It provided a chance for me to continue my education. Financial reasons; desire to get an education. Didn't have the money to attend college; like outside work. Educational opportunity; an opportunity to select the most interesting of a choice of jobs. income to help pay school expenses, etc.; a start of a college education; on the job training - an asset to learning. I liked to work with math; I liked outdoor work; i saw a chance of a good, secure job; I was told of the good chances of advancement; l was Interested in surveying and engineering; did not have the money for a four year program. I wanted more education; i had to work my way through; i felt that the work was close to my interests; i had nothing else going for me. Because i thought I would better myself with more education and improve my job opportunities. I70 Better job; job security. Earn enough money to go to school. The program was ideal in fitting my education and finances together. Also the fact that it was possible to work outside on construc- tion work. Recent failure In pre-engineering; FSC's more liberal enrollment require- ments; enjoyed work as rodman; needed the work-school feature to finance the education; thought credits might transfer to engineer- ing school if successful at FSC. Outside work; interesting work. It was a good job; interesting. A chance for higher education; Opportunity to earn money; desire to leave my father's house. My primary Interest for a vocation was drafting; state employment offered a good secure future; i had been rejected for Induction at GMI and, In view of my desire and upon my counselor's advice, there- fore, applied for entrance into this program. Interest; security. I didn't know what else to do, but wanted to accomplish something worth- while; chance to go to college; chance to pay for my own educa- tion; good job opportunity. Job opportunity; education; money to invest. To get some kind of an education; to obtain a permanent position upon graduation, because i thought that working for the Highway Depart- ment would be interesting; to have a job in the Lansing area. I I7I 2. Did the raduategpossess sufficient experience in the performance of . thepraciicai skills tobeng_productIve work with little or no addi- tionaT’trainlngT ' No - But this is not expected. He could understand instruction and absorb the training readily. This justifies the Technician Program. No Yes - He came with previous experience in our work. Yes - The graduate was not given a great deal of responsibility at the beginning. As explained above, he worked under a more experienced lnstrumentman. However, his work was fully productive. Natur- ally, like any academic training, he required considerable assist- ance to fully understand and use the basic instruction received in the program. In our type of work any new employee must under- go an extensive training period. Yes Yes Yes i believe so, and they also seem to require less supervision In the performance of the duties. Yes - See statement made in question #I. (Graduate was well prepared for Road Construction duties. He was able to handle the instru- ments, take neat notes and had the engineering knowledge. In a few weeks he was able to handle a construction crew and slepe stake a roadway. During the summer i had occasion to use him as a Bituminous Street Inspector in which he adapted readily and kept neat and accurate notes. He also was able to work on the final computations of the project and did an excellent job. Because the graduate had spent no time during his schooling in Bridge Construction, he required-some additional training. The graduate seems to possess sufficient experience in the performance of the practical skills but did not readily show it. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that the technician was not the "take-charge type individual." Specifically no, as he had experience only In Traffic. Generally I believe the reverse would hold true. Yes On drafting work - yes; on other types or classes of work - no. Noi Experience was needed to gain confidence In his own abilities and talent to organize and perform the work. He was not In my squad when he started. All technicians and college graduates require additional training. This employee's potential or value was not real until his academic skill was related to a practical outlook to highway survey work. Yes - but the majority of the practical skills can't be used without a knowledge of right-of-way terminology. Yes - the graduate, in addition to experience gained from on-the-job training, possessed valuable skills acquired outside of the Depart- ment, which considerably increased his ability to perform the assigned work without additional training. He was a good rodman. However, he did not display qualities of leader- Sh‘po ' in rodding yes, in instrument work, no. 3. 172 How might the academic training be changed to better prepare the graduateforyour area of operation? No suggestions. Better correlation Of related subjects. For example, the relationship and application of land surveying with the theory of route sur- veying. Present arrangements appear to be satisfactory. As much work In computation as practical. Seems good now, just keep up to date. More emphasis on reports and notes. More emphasis on reports and notes. Need at least one Traffic course. i cannot suggest any Improvement. I would like to emphasize the know- ledge Of mathematics and structural engineering fundamentals makes him a valuable asset. Training in drafting alone is vir- tually worthless. If all the graduates were of the same caliber as this one, there should be no change at all. This employee is an excellent one. More strength of materials. Fine as is. Emphasize the importance of accuracy and correctness. By placing less emphasis on fast promotions. It seems to me that these technicians expect to be promoted too quickly. More training in principles of concrete. Based on one graduate, the academic training appears adequate. Perhaps a little more concentration on deveIOping drafting skills. Consider It satisfactory. Seems to be sufficient. Encourage the men to go to college four years and get an engineering degree. NO change. I would like more information about the curriculum being followed by the Technicians' Schools before i can comment on it. Engineering and surveying and math should be stressed more. By placing less emphasis on fast promotions. it seems to me that these technicians expect to be promoted too quickly. it appears that a lot of material that could be used, especially If one were preparing for the registration exam, is touched on only slightly. Material that actually applies to our work is too frequently only vaguely touched. Photogrammetry is a highly specialized field and requires specialized training with courses designed accordingly, such as surveying, design and math. i would give them drafting every term. By permitting him to gain his skill with field relationship. Cover administrative and right-of—way terminology In more detail. No change necessary, at least as shown by the work of this employee. Stress that, as a technician, he will be expected to direct others. More emphasis on practice and theory of standard practice of note keeping. More academic training in traffic engineering would better prepare the graduate for this area of Operation.