How Hands-On Simulations can Improve Student Success for Certification and the Workplace

Abigail Hess

Associate Product Marketing Manager • Career & Technical Education • National Geographic Learning | Cengage

November 20, 2019

Click here to see available CTE Hands-on online simulations across the career clusters.

Simulation and virtual reality as a means for professional training is becoming more common each year, especially in businesses that want employees to practice real-world professional communication, team training, and test how they handle stressful situations. For example, NPR had a story this past October that described the Virtual Human Interaction Lab software that Walmart has since purchased to train over a million employees.

But simulation technology isn’t only available for multi-billion dollar companies and doesn’t require hundreds of VR goggles. In secondary Career and Technical Education classrooms, simulations can offer students the chance to experience real-world scenarios and procedures in a safe environment before they get in the lab or shop with limited equipment.

Safety Training

The American Red Cross has introduced simulation training for students to practice safety standards during real-world scenarios. Other educational simulations can be used for technical trades training that is typically learned during shop time.

While many trades require students to get plenty of time completing skills in-person to build muscle memory and feel comfortable on the job, simulations can help prepare students for other aspects of job. For instance, welding students need to be in the shop to practice the weld, but simulations can offer practice in the pre-work like reading blueprints and setting up safe workspaces, as well as post-weld activities like analyzing welds for mistakes.

Troubleshooting Practice

While some CTE programs may be lucky to have multiple computers in PC Repair programs or furnaces, air conditioners, or automobiles to work on in the lab or shop, most don’t have the chance to house all examples of equipment for students to practice all of troubleshooting scenarios they need for certification or to do the job. Simulations are able to give students practice with many more possible faults and scenarios in real-time.

Professional Software Training

Many career pathways and potential jobs require that students are either certified in, or can use professional software to solve problems. Traditionally, step-by-step projects and screenshots can give students some practice using software, but with cloud versions of software many teachers find it difficult to keep up with new software updates and changes in the interface.

These kinds of assignments often take an extremely long time to grade or are difficult for teachers to see where students may have made mistakes throughout the assignment. Simulated experiences in professional software allow for student attempts at even multi-part assignments. Thus, making it easier for the teachers to be recorded or even offer a report that breaks down all the steps the student took within the assignment, making it easy for teachers to find where students went wrong and help them correct the skill.

Simulations may be the most cost-effective way to provide students access the wide variety of experiences they need to be prepared for real-world situations. As simulation training and testing becomes even more prevalent in the professional space, using simulation training appropriately can also be a career skill we can focus on in high school.

Click here to see available CTE Hands-on online simulations across the career clusters.

Learn more about simulations for Career and Technical Courses

Click below to visit our website and explore more CTE resources!

Click Here

3 Ways to Build Student Confidence to CTE Concentrator Status

Abigail Hess

Associate Product Marketing Manager • Career & Technical Education • National Geographic Learning | Cengage

November 20, 2019

There is plenty of data that proves students in CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs who make “Concentrator” status are more likely to graduate high school and enroll in secondary education or accept a job after graduation. “Concentrator Status” used to vary depending on your state, but is now defined by Perkins V as students who complete at least two CTE courses in a single career pathway. While 94% of all high school students are served by CTE, only 20% of high school students become CTE concentrators. And while it’s expected that two-thirds of all new jobs will require some kind of credential in addition to a high school degree, most certifications and credentials students can earn in high school require skills that will be learned in 2 or more courses within a career pathway.

So how can we encourage MORE students to take the second, third, and even fourth course in a high school career pathway so that they are prepared for an industry credential?

Market how CTE courses offer the same creativity, practicality, and social benefits of other electives offered at your school.

Ultimately, most CTE courses are electives. So students have to choose to take not one, but multiple courses in a career pathway to become a concentrator. And CTE courses often compete with other electives that may be creative, like Art, Theatre, and Music. They compete against courses that earn college credit or steer students toward secondary education like AP courses, as well as courses and organizations that engage with the community.

But we know that a Career Pathways in Arts, Audio/Video Technology, and Communications, Marketing, Sales, and Service, or Business, Management, and Administration Career Clusters offer many opportunities for Art and Music students to thrive. Likewise, dual-credit courses with local institutions often found in Business, Management, and Administration pathways or work-based learning programs for Technical Trades and Health Science pathways offer experience and sometimes credit for students who know they are college-bound. And CTSO organizations in all clusters offer the same social benefits and chances for community involvement that students seek in other “fun” electives and clubs. Think about advertising CTE pathways offered at your district in earlier courses or with advisors for student organizations in middle school and even elementary that relate to your career pathway.

Require that students begin a portfolio from their very first CTE experience.

Portfolios of student work are often Capstone requirements once a student gets to the end of their career pathway, but incorporating a portfolio from the very first CTE experience catalogs tangible examples of career-related skills students are learning in every CTE course.

Ask your students to create an empty folder in their portfolio, one for each core skill they will learn throughout the Career Pathway. As they see their folders fill up, they will be encouraged that they can continue until their portfolio is complete. Sharing student examples in higher-level courses in the career pathway—videos or images of work—can make students excited about what they can achieve in related classes they can take in the future.

At National Geographic Learning, a part of Cengage, all MindTap courses provide access to Pathbrite, the online portfolio tool that students can keep throughout their high school experience and beyond. Students organize video, images, project files, and earned credentials by industry skill, and can share these visual portfolios with their peers, teachers, and even future employers.

Offer stackable certifications that can be obtained from the first CTE course.

Most industry-backed certifications cannot be taken until the very end of their career pathway or even post-high school. When they are offered in high school, teachers don’t usually get much information on how their students did and where they made mistakes. Like AP courses, many students may work all year or several years for one shot at passing certification, with content they may have learned a year or two before.

Offering stackable certifications with a pre and post-test for every single course in your career pathway provides test-taking experience throughout the program, and gives students confidence that with each course they are learning skills that they will need to get a job. National Geographic Learning, a part of Cengage partners with Precision Exams to offer course-level industry-backed certifications across the 16 Career Clusters. With over 180 certifications, teachers can offer pre and post exams for every course and receive robust, standards-level reporting that makes it easy to see where the class and individual students need more practice. All knowledge standards are written in conjunction with national and local industry and are updated every 2-3 years to ensure direct contact with the skills that students need for today’s careers.

Students also receive a printable certificate when they pass their post exams, that are backed by partner organizations and include the passed knowledge standards on the back, making it easy to add the certification and proven skills in a portfolio and resume.

Students will take more CTE courses in their high school career if they can:

See how they already relate to their strengths, interests and experiences they’ve had in elementary and middle school
Get excited about future courses in a career pathway by building a portfolio that shows how far they have to go.
Feel confident about capstone-level and post-secondary certifications by earning industry-backed credentials at the course level

We know that CTE courses prepare students for career, the key is to give students the resources to prove their knowledge and experience to future employers and institutions, no matter where their next step is in their Career Journey.

Learn more about Pathbrite Digital Portfolio and Precision Exams Certifications!

Click below to explore more Career and Technical Education resources available on our website.

Click Here

Daily Archives: November 20, 2019