Since the award from the National Science Foundation for the Florida Advanced Technological Education Center (FLATE) in 2004, FLATE has focused its energy on providing services and leadership for our stakeholders to build capacity and excellence in manufacturing education across Florida in 2-year public institutions. FLATE’s broad success has had impacts locally, nationally, and internationally on all sectors of manufacturing. This article includes a summary of FLATE’s impact and service during its sixteen-year tenure. We’ve categorized these outputs under each of FLATE’s core goal areas of sustainability, curriculum development, outreach, and professional development.
Curriculum Reform and Development
Strong, rigorous, and relevant curriculum is foundational to the Engineering Technology (ET) Associate Degree (AS) program. FLATE has focused on many aspects of curriculum including authentic lessons for secondary students that embeds technical content of the ET AS degree program, Florida Curriculum Framework reviews for secondary and post-secondary levels, alignments to industry credentials, and articulations into the ET AS degree and out to bachelor level programs. FLATE has developed more than 47 industry-sourced, integrated STEM middle and high school lesson plans.
In 2016, FLATE began engaging with mechatronics faculty from around the country in a grassroots online community, the Mechatronics Community Exchange (MCE), to help better understand this emerging field and the subtleties of industry needs around it.
ET AS Degree Program - Grant activities capitalize on the FLATE built statewide-manufacturing education system with a convergent curriculum that optimizes technician preparation in manufacturing and its enabling technologies. This nationally recognized model includes: a single statewide ET AS degree program; completely articulated program structured on a set of core technical courses; alignment with stackable industry credentials endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and offered by the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC); and, for current Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) credential holders, degree completion with 45 credit hours rather than 60.
FLATE in collaboration with the Florida Department of Education’s Career and Technical Education team, Florida colleges, and Florida industries defined the new AS Degree program in ET currently with now 31 curriculum frameworks with 11 specialization tracks and 20 technical college certificates. The ET degree was rolled out in 2007 with three colleges adopting the program. Today, 24 out of the 28 Florida community and state colleges offer one or more specializations or certificates under the ET AS Degree; enrollment data from FDOE, indicates favorable long-term growth from 9 in 2007-08 to 2,027 in 2018-19. This strong and continued enrollment growth also indicates the degree’s popularity with employers statewide and its stable, college orchestrated, student outreach and recruitment platforms.
Outreach Initiatives
FLATE has effective outreach platforms for Florida’s industry, secondary and post-secondary educational facilities. Online dissemination channels include fl-ate.org, MadeinFlorida.org, flate.pbworks.com, and a monthly FLATE Focus online newsletter. The FLATE Focus Newsletter provides an important avenue to disseminate not only FLATE’s work but that of other manufacturing, STEM and technical education supporting organizations. The FLATE Focus Newsletter is an online blog with a significant expansion into social media over the past sixteen years. Since 2009, these online resources have provided over 234,000 visitors with free access to: information, news, events, educational resources, interactive lessons, outreach and recruitment tools, and Best Practice Guides that support teachers, industry, and the manufacturing education community.FLATE’s Made in Florida (MIF) industry tours has proven to be a very impactful outreach strategy to endorse a positive image of manufacturing, promote STEM education to a wide student demographic, and educate students, teachers, and counselors about pathways for STEM careers. Since the inception of national Manufacturing (MFG) Day and Month in 2013, a cornerstone of FLATE’s statewide outreach for MFG Day and Month has been its defining effort to promote broad, statewide participation, and to survey student tour participants. Over 47,095 Florida students and educators have been impacted by 1,432 MIF industry tour outreach campaign events. Tour attendees included 1,916 teachers, 1,080 parents and chaperons in events from 50 Florida counties.
Since 2005, FLATE processed surveys from more than 11,553 students who participated in MIF industry tours. Of the surveys received, there was an average of 47% increase in students’ consideration of careers in advanced manufacturing after the tour. Approximately 97% of surveyed students stated they would recommend other students have the opportunity to participate in a MIF industry tour. Nearly 95% educators and parents stated they found the tour helpful in understanding Florida high-tech jobs and career opportunities. These impressive numbers confirm the impact MIF Industry Tours have on students, educators and parents in creating a positive image of manufacturing and its multiple successful career pathways.
FLATE annually hosts and promotes summer camps as an additional supportive, sustainable, and effective mechanism to recruit and motivate students interested in STEM education. Since 2005, FLATE has collaborated with schools and sponsors to offer 1,712 high school and middle school students camps focused on robotics, mechatronics, alternative energy, and manufacturing related career pathways. By opening the doors to institutions and training faculty to deliver STEM-focused learning activities, STEM based camps have assisted in transferring similar lessons to classrooms which helps to sustain FLATE’s efforts in building interest in manufacturing education and careers.
The FLATE Awards recognizes the contributions of educators and industries in advancing technician education and training on a regional and statewide level. The FLATE Awards, presented in conjunction with the Florida Association for Industrial and Trade Education (FAITE), have grown in prestige for educators and manufacturers, and helps promote not only the dedicated people involved in manufacturing education, but the industry sector itself. FLATE has recognized 28 outstanding manufacturing educators and 14 industry champions in an annual awards program. Financially, the awards have always been underwritten by industry sponsors taking ownership of the awards. FLATE’s awards program have been hosted over the years by the Manufacturing Association of Florida (MAF), Florida Association of Career and Technical Education (FACTE) and FloridaMakes.
FLATE has published eleven best practices guides for educational curriculum, outreach and professional development. These guides are developed to share methods, techniques and resources that have consistently shown excellent results and outcomes. Best Practices booklets are available online in flip book format, PDF format and are available at http://fl-ate.org/best-practices.
Professional Development
The ET Forum, coordinated by FLATE, is the premiere Florida State College system faculty two-day bi-annual PD event. The FLATE model for curricula topic forum provides a viable means for industry and educators across the state to meet and discuss common interests and issues surrounding the education of tomorrow’s advanced manufacturing workforce. The ET Forum includes an ET Forum State College Faculty Leadership team, forum funding by the host college and vendor attendees which grants the forum's sustainability. Even with the significant disruption of education due to COVID-19, 80 participants representing 19 colleges actively participated in the forum. This model has been replicated at other statewide level programs.
FLATE’s ET and MSSC Summer Workshops, are popular and includes multiple day workshops for Florida educators. FLATE’s workshops include annual advanced manufacturing summer training programs on a variety of topics including 3D printing, alternative energy, robotics, STEM Problem based learning, MSSC CPT and many more.
FLATE’s success would not have been possible without the support of its partners: statewide industry partners, the Florida Department of Education, the state’s Regional Manufacturers Associations, FloridaMakes (Florida’s MEP), professional organizations, Florida’s community and college networks, school districts, local and state governments, vendors, students, workforce and economic development organizations as well as individual champions of manufacturing. FLATE's effective partnership strategies have been the key to the success of the FLATE center. We thank everyone, including the National Science Foundation, who has worked with us to build a strong community around manufacturing education in Florida.
For more information about FLATE impacts visit http://fl-ate.org/about-us/impact/or email Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org.
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