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Training the trainers: How to develop a top-notch curriculum

Robert Norton

12-5-11

When you know something works, you not only stick with it, you share it.

That's Robert Moyer's mantra when it comes to giving back. As CEO of Rexarc International Inc., and a student in workforce development and education, he is also a recent donor to EHE's Center on Education and Training for Employment.

Moyer's positive experience in the college's two-day job-analysis workshop, called DACUM (Developing a Curriculum), inspired him to provide $25,000 in scholarships for future students to attend through the Rexarc International Inc. Professional Development Student Fund. The benefits yielded by DACUM make it evident why Moyer chose to give.

Identifying tasks

DACUM is an effective method first brought to the U.S. in 1976 from Canada by Bob Norton as a fast and reliable way to identify job tasks for training curricula. Norton, professor emeritus and DACUM/SCID program director with the Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE), said the process taps the expertise of a small group of skilled workers to determine what duties, tasks, knowledge, skills, traits, tools and worker behaviors are required to perform a specific job and develop curriculum standards.

During brainstorming sessions, a trained DACUM facilitator works with the experts to reach a consensus on general areas of competency called duties, and meaningful units of work called tasks.

At the end of a five-day DACUM Institute, facilitator trainees are certified to conduct two-day DACUM workshops at their own schools, organizations or companies.

The center has conducted more than 350 weeklong DACUM Institutes and certified more than 5,000 facilitators from 50 different countries. To date, Norton and his CETE colleagues have conducted weeklong DACUM Institutes in 26 other countries. Given this record of performance, CETE is considered the world's most prominent DACUM International Training Center.

Universal results, unique situations

In the past, DACUM was mostly used by community colleges and universities for career-technical education. "Since its inception at Ohio State, business, industry and government agencies have also worked with us for corporate and training programs," Norton said. The list of companies is impressive, including AEP, Boeing, Disney, GE, Honda, John Deere, United Airlines and Marathon, among others.

The DACUMs process is unique in the sense that expert workers are used to determine what should be taught rather than having curriculum selected by instructors or college professors. "We believe expert workers can describe and define their jobs better than anyone else," Norton explained.

According to Norton, DACUMs can be used to conduct job and occupational analysis in every field imaginable. "We've helped update and create tasks for aircraft technicians, network administrators, church administrators, paralegals, paramedics, radiologists and wastewater treatment operators," he said.

The benefits are many.

In addition to providing clear, concise job duties and tasks, facilitators gain the information they need to improve job performance within their organizations. Companies better educate the future work force as well as potential employees. When used by career-technical schools and colleges, the information keeps curriculum focused and current. The approach is very effective, quick, low cost and can be conducted in almost any venue.

Setting the standards

Linda O'Connor, assistant director, career-technical education, for the Ohio Department of Education, has worked many times with CETE's DACUM process. She used it to align state and national curriculum standards and to discover what competencies need to be taught and when at career-technical education programs statewide.

At an August workshop focused on technician skills for biomedical manufacturing, experts discussed occupation specifics with facilitators in training from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Marathon Oil.

O'Connor was on hand to learn what tools teachers need to help graduates find a job in the field. "This information will help us add a new robust course to the statewide secondary education manufacturing curriculum," she said. Her work with DACUM will help her update six career paths this year.

As a facilitator in training at the same DACUM, William Dardick, a psychometrician with the Food and Drug Administration, says his certified training will help him develop new and support existing job methods for his staff. "It's about reinvigorating the people already in place to do work at a higher, more specialized level," he said.

Next steps

As a complement to the DACUM workshop, CETE offers a follow-up program called SCID, Systematic Curriculum and Instructional Development. The five-day workshop prepares educators and trainers to teach the content they've gathered through the DACUM process most effectively. Through five phases, including curriculum analysis, curriculum design, instructional development, training implementation and program evaluation, the SCID method helps participates develop competency-based instructional materials for education and training.

According to Norton, SCID answers the question, "How can you teach most effectively what needs to be taught?"

After 35 years of directing the DACUM International Training Center, Norton is still amazed at the simplicity of the approach. "We learn what tasks are needed to perform a specific job from experts and then share that information with teachers and instructors, who in turn, share it with their students and trainees," Norton said.

Writer: Melanie C. Tracy, Office of Advancement, College of Education and Human Ecology

The Ohio State University

www.osu.edu