Incorporating Adult Learning Methods and Project Based Learning in Laboratory Metrology Courses | NIST

Measurement scientists work in calibration laboratories throughout the world. Yet, there are few university level courses available that cover the critical topics needed for performing and analyzing precision measurements – at the desired level. Many continuing education courses of this nature are taught by National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of precision measuring equipment and measurement standards. What often happens in the measurement community is that subject matter experts and scientists who best know about measurements are asked to teach courses and tutorials, but most do not have a background in educational models or adult education principles. Over the past 3 years, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) has been providing train the trainer and adult education courses and opportunities to our subject matter experts to help them better analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate our technical training content. The goal has been to enable students to achieve a higher level of cognition on the Bloom’s Taxonomy scale (e.g., application versus knowledge). Highlights of the key resources that have been incorporated into the instructional design process are presented as potentially useful for the professional development of instructors this is particularly useful for instructors without a background in educational theories and models. Some highlights of instructional design concepts are covered in one section to provide value added for those who do not have formal training or education in educational concepts. This paper also provides case study examples focused on laboratory metrology. The case study design integrates learning objectives, activities, assessment methods, and adult learning to create effective project based learning activities and a case study in a Fundamentals of Metrology course. The activities and examples used in the course and shared in this paper illustrate some of the essential knowledge and skills needed by measurement professionals and those engineers who interact with calibration staff to better perform and/or analyze precision measurements. These examples, and portions of the case study, have been implemented in a training laboratory, as well as in non-laboratory conference center classrooms, and could easily be implemented with varying and limited resources in engineering courses. Course Description and Background The Fundamentals of Metrology course is a 40-hour, team and project based course. It includes approximately 60 percent of the time spent in activities related to the main case study. Appendix A includes a table that shows the course topics and key knowledge, skills, and acronyms that are covered and provide a foundation of knowledge needed for more specific courses that are taught on various measurement parameters (e.g., mass, volume, thermometry, forensics, etcetera). As determined during the needs assessment and reassessments of the prior course structure, it was observed that the topics from this course were integrated into each of the other measurement courses and resulted in redundant and overlapping content. The Fundamentals of Metrology seminar now introduces the participant to measurement foundation concepts such as measurement systems, units, measurement uncertainty, measurement assurance, metrological traceability, basic statistics, and how each topic fits into a laboratory quality management system that complies with the ISO/IEC 17025 documentary standard. Many calibration and testing laboratories are accredited to this particular documentary standard throughout the world. Additional topics that are covered include overall laboratory management and laboratory quality management systems and specific discussions of the laboratory requirements for proficiency testing, calibration report generation, software verification and validation, and management reviews. Topics are covered in the course using a variety of measurement disciplines and case studies so that the participants will be able to apply the concepts to any measurement discipline upon completion. Each module is presented using a mixture of training approaches including lecture, hands-on exercises, team projects and presentations, case studies, and discussion (among others). In subsequent courses on Mass Metrology and Volume Metrology, we are now able to build on concepts that were covered in the Fundamentals of Metrology course without completely covering each topic again, eliminating much of the previous duplication. Prerequisites for the course include having a demonstrated knowledge of basic mathematics and completion of a number of reading assignments. It was also determined during needs assessment that OWM instructors were spending excessive time helping students with remedial mathematics tasks. Successful completion of mathematics pre-examination is often required in the continuing education environment; however, course titles or numbers with designated passing levels could be used in a university setting. In the metrology career field, most professionals already have a scientific, mathematics, or engineering degree. It has been found through instructional experience that most working professionals, even in these fields, have historically not been adequately exposed to the concepts covered in this course. This situation could change in the future through sharing these concepts among university professors. At this time, application of these concepts or case studies into an engineering curriculum could be done at either an introductory or advanced level, depending on the prior knowledge of the students. Pre-reading assignments given to the students include the following materials:  ISO/IEC 17025, General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories;  Beginner’s Guide to Measurement; and  Introduction to Measurement in the Physics Laboratory, a Probabilistic Approach. Students are assessed throughout the course based on active participation in the group projects, question/answer responses, discussions, presentations, measurement results, and projects that are turned in for review. Follow on workplace assignments are given to some students (based on NIST OWM requirements for laboratory recognition.) These workplace assignments are part of a laboratory auditing program, where problems include analysis of measurements made in their own laboratories based on concepts covered in the course, plus demonstration of measurement proficiency, and preparation of formal calibration reports. The successful completion of the OWM courses and follow on problems is often an employment requirement and is also required for laboratory recognition by NIST Office of Weights and Measures. Instructional Design Concepts Note: Information in this section on instructional design concepts is provided as background on OWM’s course evaluation and development process. It will be of most use for readers or professors who have a science and/or engineering background and limited formal educational background. Based on experience and observations working with subject matter experts, it is value-added for the scope of this paper to include this information for metrology instructor audiences. However, if this section is overly obvious, the reader might consider skipping to the section on Fundamentals of Metrology – Course Activities. The NIST Office of Weights and Measures training program has invested in a number of educational and training efforts for technical staff as a part of a strategic effort to become an Authorized Provider of continuing education units through the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). A number of formal instructional design concepts have been and are being incorporated into continuing education courses for working measurement professionals. Some key concepts include the assessment and use of the ADDIE instructional system design model, Bloom’s Taxonomy, project based learning, adult learning concepts/facilitation techniques, and the use of worksheets during learning event planning to ensure matching of learning objectives, activities, and instructional assessment methods in courses. Each of these topics has an abundance of literature available freely on the World Wide Web, therefore, only a brief description and is made here, with some specific assessments of measurement instruction, along with reference sources. ADDIE Instructional System Design Model “The instructional system design approach is a behavior-oriented model that emphasizes the specific skills to be learned and the learner’s abilities to demonstrate these skills.” The five steps of the ADDIE model are analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Through experience with continuing education opportunities in metrology, it has been found that many subject matter experts often prefer one-on-one mentoring. Because they are experts and know the technical content quite well, they often think they can easily translate that knowledge to instruction. So, if asked to teach a course, they usually begin by developing a set of presentation slides without adequate consideration of analysis and design steps, and later during the course, they often miss evaluation of the student’s learning. Many copies of the ASTD Info-Line handout Teach SMEs to Design Training have been provided to the OWM program’s metrology instructors. This publication provides quick, easy to understand guidance on each of the five phases of the ADDIE model. 1. Analysis – the audience is identified during the analysis phase. The essential outcomes of the training are identified in this phase, sometimes in conjunction with the participant, but more importantly the employer.