Field Testing Vocational Education Curriculum Specialist Materials. Summary Abstract.

A program for trained vocational education curriculum specialists (VECS), consisting of 16 modules, was written, revised, and field tested at 15 sites nationwide. The instructional materials were written to deliver the highest rated competencies based on a field survey of vocational educators and review by a national advisory panel of vocational education experts. VECS modules were designed to create or upgrade an individual's vocational education curriculum development and management skills. Additional materials developed were a guide for instructors and administrators and audio cassette tape for orienting potential users. For the field test a modified quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest, treatment group/control group design was used. Participants were undergraduates in vocational education teacher preparation, practicing vocational educators, and persons with occupational skills who wished to teach their specialty at 12 colleges/universities and two state departments of education. Field test evaluation forms were developed to measure cognitive and affective outcomes and to collect biographical information. Results of the national field test demonstrated that the modules increased knowledge of topics necessary to the successful performance of skills central to the VECS role. They also tended to increase peoples' confidence in their ability to perform these skills. (A technical report is available separately as CE 031 803). (YLB)