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Answers to FAQs about Tech Prep
Back to Tech Prep home page Tech Prep, short for technical preparation, is a federal and state funded educational initiative designed to provide students with marketable skills. At first, the initiative targeted the "neglected majority" of students, the "general" high school students, not planning to attend college and not enrolled in vocational programs.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Tech Prep?What is Tech Prep at IVCC? What's in it for my students?
How do I fit a module into my class time?Major emphasis has been placed on integrating academic instruction with career or vocational instruction, on encouraging work-based learning such as internships, on working out articulation agreements with high schools, on developing partnerships with business and industry, and on providing training for instructors.
At IVCC, a group of instructors who had been through some Tech Prep inservice sessions decided to form a team to try out some of the techniques and strategies they had been studying. The group applied for and received funding and IVCCs Tech Prep Team was formed. The team decided to focus on breaking down the barriers between subject areas, on working together to deliver instruction, and the integrated module project was born.
What is a module? (or an integrated module?)
A module is a lesson from one subject area taught in a different subject area -- sometimes called guest teaching or team teaching. For example, a computer instructor may teach a module on Excel to a class of accounting students. Modules that qualify for Tech Prep funding integrate vocational or technical course material with academic course material: an academic topic taught in a vocational or technical course or vocational/technical topics taught in an academic course. For ideas about other module topics, click here.
A module can be any length, from part of a class session to a series of class sessions, although most modules are one class session (50 minutes to 75 minutes).
Yes, anybody on the IVCC staff can teach or host modules.
Yes. For planning and presenting a module, the first time, you will receive $75, and the instructor who invited you to present will receive $25. The full module pay schedule is as follows:
$75 to presenting instructor for a new module
$50 to presenting instructor for a repeat module
$25 to host instructor for a new module
$10 to host instructor for a repeat module$75 for exchanges - $50 for exchange repeats
Members of the non-teaching staff receive the same pay as faculty for modules taught outside of their regular hours. For modules taught during their regular hours, they receive a $25 prep fee. In addition to cash, the modules provide opportunities for variety, getting away from the routine, seeing different applications, learning about other subject areas, teaching across the curriculum, becoming part of an effective team, maintaining enthusiasm, and having fun.
Teaching familiar material to new groups of students and working with a colleague to teach that material can be very exciting and can provide you with ideas and techniques to use in your regular classes.
Your students will see that your course doesn’t exist in a vacuum; math is not just something we do at 9 a.m. Bringing in an expert to teach certain material emphasizes that material and relates to business and industry employing consultants on special topics. Students get a different perspective on the topic from a guest instructor, and the different teaching style of the guest instructor will address the different learning styles of the students. With teamwork stressed in many courses, seeing faculty members work like a team is beneficial. There’s also some benefit to seeing a new face in the classroom.
"Students have a different attitude (toward guest instructors). Sometimes they’re more respectful; they listen better." -- Dorene Perez
"The students look at them (guest instructors) as having more credibility than I have (on that topic)." -- Jim Gibson
How do I fit a module(s) into my class time?
The modules aren’t new or additional material. The modules cover material that needs to be included, but in a different or better way. Would a module taught by another faculty member enhance student learning?
"If my students need a skill in order to do what I want them to do, I’m kidding myself if I don’t take the time out of my busy schedule to see they get the skill they need." -- Alice Steljes
I'm already going to have to cancel class to attend a conference. How can I justify taking time for a module?
You don’t have to cancel class to attend a conference. An innovative solution is to arrange for a Tech Prep module to be taught when you are at the conference. Not only will your course material be covered by an in-house expert, but you’ll receive a stipend.
For more information, call or e-mail team co-leaders Dorene Perez (dorene_perez@ivcc.edu) or Rose Marie Lynch (rosemarie_lynch@ivcc.edu)
What do I have to do to be paid?
Host instructors submit a simple online form about each module. You will be paid at the end of each semester.
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