I Education
A common man cannot tell the world anything useful. Media deliver stories of horrific acts by the guy next door-I get that, people do like dirty laundry.
Media will not tell us what is helpful except weather and sports scores. Let it be known the following truths about many technical programs found in community colleges: Many are subsidized by state tax revenue and are largely obliged to follow beauracratic statutes. This means programs are funded if certain performance goals are achieved. One goal is placement after graduation. Do not believe the statistics; they are stretched in every way. For example, school proudly advertises "90% placement, related" upon two years of 'education' a graduate gets hired as a clerk in a trade supply store at $9.00/hour selling toilets and valves. That grad is now in a career related field after two years of facility management. Why? Because facilities have toilets! Advice: ask Exactly Where graduated work and Exactly what their titles are.
Secondly, potential students are drawn to "hands on" training. B4 enrolling, ask to see course syllabi. Look at each technical course and pay attention to the details. Schools use Blooms Taxonomy and choose specific words that appeal to students and satisfy academic goals. Instead of 'memorize difficult and useless technical definitions' reword using Blooms to 'demonstrate working knowledge of plumbing code' and ask to look at the exact area and exact equipment that student hands will be on to learn how to do what students are paying to learn to do. Example: hands on course to troubleshoot and repair condensate towers. Go look at condensate towers in the room listed. If there is one or two 'training towers' located in the back of a room full of desks, ask yourself 'if cooling towers are used for industrial heat exchange mostly on rooftops and weighing 3-25 tons, what are 25 students going to observe, diagnose, and repair that prepares for what will be expected from employers?' Advice: make sure real equipment, actual size and actually installed exist in numbers so every student can really learn instead of simply watching instructor point to mock equipment. Most important: Do Not Listen To Anything the school brags about. Schools get a lot of mileage from a few greatly successful graduates. These graduates would have been successful with or without the school. Find returning students and ask them questions that are important to you. If the program boasts hands on, ask a returning student how much time was spent listening to lectures and test prep. Don't be surprised to hear 'we sat in class nearly the entire year' students stay because the time and money investment of the first year was very high and they anticipate the 'real stuff' will be during the last year. The sad truth is the second year will be more of the same, lecture and test prep.
It is far wiser to beg for a low paying job for a company actually doing desired technical work, learning by helping, watching, gophering, and...making money instead of borrowing from financial aid then two years later applying for the same job, no real skills, and $30K in debt. Believe it or find out the hard way.....school starts soon.
Media will not tell us what is helpful except weather and sports scores. Let it be known the following truths about many technical programs found in community colleges: Many are subsidized by state tax revenue and are largely obliged to follow beauracratic statutes. This means programs are funded if certain performance goals are achieved. One goal is placement after graduation. Do not believe the statistics; they are stretched in every way. For example, school proudly advertises "90% placement, related" upon two years of 'education' a graduate gets hired as a clerk in a trade supply store at $9.00/hour selling toilets and valves. That grad is now in a career related field after two years of facility management. Why? Because facilities have toilets! Advice: ask Exactly Where graduated work and Exactly what their titles are.
Secondly, potential students are drawn to "hands on" training. B4 enrolling, ask to see course syllabi. Look at each technical course and pay attention to the details. Schools use Blooms Taxonomy and choose specific words that appeal to students and satisfy academic goals. Instead of 'memorize difficult and useless technical definitions' reword using Blooms to 'demonstrate working knowledge of plumbing code' and ask to look at the exact area and exact equipment that student hands will be on to learn how to do what students are paying to learn to do. Example: hands on course to troubleshoot and repair condensate towers. Go look at condensate towers in the room listed. If there is one or two 'training towers' located in the back of a room full of desks, ask yourself 'if cooling towers are used for industrial heat exchange mostly on rooftops and weighing 3-25 tons, what are 25 students going to observe, diagnose, and repair that prepares for what will be expected from employers?' Advice: make sure real equipment, actual size and actually installed exist in numbers so every student can really learn instead of simply watching instructor point to mock equipment. Most important: Do Not Listen To Anything the school brags about. Schools get a lot of mileage from a few greatly successful graduates. These graduates would have been successful with or without the school. Find returning students and ask them questions that are important to you. If the program boasts hands on, ask a returning student how much time was spent listening to lectures and test prep. Don't be surprised to hear 'we sat in class nearly the entire year' students stay because the time and money investment of the first year was very high and they anticipate the 'real stuff' will be during the last year. The sad truth is the second year will be more of the same, lecture and test prep.
It is far wiser to beg for a low paying job for a company actually doing desired technical work, learning by helping, watching, gophering, and...making money instead of borrowing from financial aid then two years later applying for the same job, no real skills, and $30K in debt. Believe it or find out the hard way.....school starts soon.
By:
Rosiesex
Age:
46-50
,
Male
