Blog Post #2 Discipline Specific Reading

Blog Post #2 Discipline Specific Reading

Standard text books are the typical texts in Technology Education.  Not much has been done in any of my classes to stray from the textbook.  When we do read something else it has always been technical journals or magazines.  I remember an article for a statistical process control (SPC) class that had to do with quality manufacturing in diesel engines.  This article helped the understanding of how the entire company needed to be SPC literate and totally onboard for the company to progress.  The best article I read was for one of my CNC programming classes about The Harley Davidson Corporation.  This article explained how using quality control took Harley Davidson from financial ruin and one of the worst motorcycle producers on the planet to one of the top five.  This was done bit by bit, until each person was trained and had become totally SPC literate and every department was working together toward a common goal. Today Harley Davidson is able to compete with Japan’s quality standards and is more financially secure. 

One class I struggled in was VAX Pascal Programming.  The teacher went very fast and the textbook was very hard for me and most of the class to understand.  I got behind and when I went to the teacher for help he said the same things the same way as he had in class and I was no better off.  The really good teachers in my discipline were able to state things in my terms and build on knowledge I already had.  That I believe is the key to being a good teacher.  Knowing who your students are and being able to build on what they know.

In helping my students to understand and enjoy texts in technology.   The best thing I can do is speak of the texts and reading in a positive manner as well as the usefulness of the texts.  This way they will want to know the information that is in it.