A HYBRID EXPERIENTIAL AND DISTANCE LEARNING MODEL FOR WATER AND WASTEWATER TECHNICIANS

Abstract

The Water Training Institute (WTI), establishedin 2009 with funding from the National ScienceFoundation's Advanced Technological Education program,currently offers an on-line associates degree throughWestern Kentucky University that integrates an employerbasedexperiential component for water and wastewatertechnicians. This Hybrid Experiential and DistanceLearning Model was developed to address a shortcoming oftraditional place-based academic programs that have oftenfailed due to the inability to maintain sufficient numbers ofstudents to be financially sustainable. WTI functions as a“back-office” service provider to member communitycolleges by developing partnerships that will allow theseinstitutions to offer the same core curriculum for inclusionwithin their local general education framework. Thecurriculum was developed to incorporate relevant state andindustry certifications and continuing education credits andis being evolved to a more modular, self-paced format. Thispaper will focus on the evolution of the unique curricularaspects of WTI.Index Terms ⎯  Distance Learning, Experiential Training,Water and Wastewater Technicians, CurriculumDevelopment.