In recent years Middle Tennessee, like many other areas of the country, has seen the decline and now the initial return of IT-related jobs and careers. According to the Nashville Technology Council (NTC), Nashville has experienced 90% growth in advertised IT jobs since February 2004. However, the returning jobs and careers are different from the ones that were lost due to the global sourcing of IT jobs and the convergence and embedding of technologies. Employers are searching for workers with high-level analytical and critical thinking skills who can adapt with rapid changes in technology and its applications.
The Center for Information Technology Education (CITE) at Nashville State Technical Community College (NSCC) has focused on some of the key aspects of reform needed to create the kind of workforce that employers are seeking - workers that possess both breadth and depth of knowledge. CITE has built on the results of two previous NSF/ATE project grants at NSCC related to problem-based case learning: the SEATEC Project and the Case Files Project. Through its Corporate Scholars Solutions (CSS) program, CITE has explored the benefits and challenges of using real-world, real-time problems as the basis for problem based case learning. CITE's Corporate Scholars Solution (CSS) program teams business and industry with faculty and students, providing students with authentic problems to solve that require the same skills and knowledge they will need in the 21st Century workplace.
Researchers have concluded that problem-based case learning, open-ended problems that arise from an actual business situation, produce powerful learning outcomes for students. The CSS program builds upon current research and the proven effectiveness of problem-based case learning, providing a win/win/win situation for students, faculty, and business. |
