WAUNAKEE, WI, October 15, 2008
/24-7PressRelease/ -- The national Career Clusters, developed by States' Career Clusters Initiative, are now included in the Worldwide Instructional Design System (WIDS) Software External Standards Library. Licensed WIDS users can download the latest version of the software, from http://www.wids.org, to gain access to the Career Clusters.
The Career Clusters illustrate which skills are required to perform 16 different professions. Each Cluster represents an occupation and includes technical, academic and employability knowledge and skills learners must achieve to be successful in a chosen career.
WIDS makes it easy for instructors to design courses that link competencies to the Career Cluster for a given profession. WIDS users simply select the Career Cluster from the Software's External Standards Library and link it to a course or competencies within a course. The design of a program can also list the Career Clusters addressed. "Not only does a consistent curriculum design process make it easier to incorporate industry-validated standards and simplify articulation between schools, it takes the guesswork out of 'proving' that you are actually teaching to the standards," according to Robin Nickel, WIDS associate director. "The sheer volume of data - from programs, to individual courses and competencies, to Knowledge and Skill statements within the Career Clusters - requires a robust tool like WIDS, which physically links one design element to another. This means a teacher designing a syllabus can document external standards, and the dean or department chair can produce a matrix showing where these external standards are addressed across courses and programs."
The 16 Career Clusters include: agriculture, food and natural resources; architecture and construction; arts, a/v technology and communications; business, management and administration; education and training; finance; government and public administration; health science; hospitality and tourism; human services; information technology; law, public safety, corrections and security; manufacturing; marketing, sales and service; science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and transportation, distribution and logistics.
About WIDS
A nonprofit division of the Wisconsin Technical College System Foundation Inc. (WTCSF), WIDS offers advanced tools and personal support to help clients design effective learner-centered curriculum. To find out more about WIDS, and the organization's many successes, visit http://www.wids.org or call 800-677-9437
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