The Role of Related Instruction in Apprenticeship Training. (A Pilot Study.)

This pilot research project analyzes the role related classroom instruction plays in training journeymen in three Boston area trades-machinist, electrician, and operating engineer. Information was gathered from apprentices, journeymen, apprentice coordinators, and others by means of personal interviews and/or mail questionnaires. The data were used to estimate the impact of related instruction on individual job performance. The principal hypothesis was that related instruction has multiple roles, varying by trade and the particular objectives of different sponsors. It was possible to identify the independent effect of related instruction on job performance. In all three crafts the primary objective of related instruction was to equip apprentices with the technical knowledge and manipulative skills to become versatile all round journeymen. Only in the electrical trade did related instruction seem to offer a significant explanation of the variation in individual performance. It was almost impossible to coordinate related instruction with on-the-job training in construction. In the machinist trade, the degree of coordination varied from firm to firm. (Author/SA)