Navigating Uncertainty in Automotive Technology Instruction
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Navigating Uncertainty in Automotive Technology Instruction: The Subjective Experiences of Automotive Instructors During Laboratory Activities John Martin Porter II ORCID Scholar ID # 0000-0003-3064-5240 A Dissertation Submitted to the PhD in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2017 This dissertation has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Leadership and Change, Graduate School of Leadership and Change, Antioch University. Dissertation Committee • Jon F. Wergin, PhD, Committee Chair • Elizabeth Holloway, PhD, Committee Member • Stephanie Davis, PhD, Committee Member Copyright 2017 John Martin Porter All Rights Reserved Acknowledgements I would like to thank everyone who assisted me in the completion of this dissertation. I would like to thank my colleagues in the automotive industry for helping me identify participants and the participants who allowed me to invade their laboratories and videotape them during their practice. Every participant was welcoming, open, and honest, which was an enormous factor to the success of this research. I want to thank my dissertation committee for agreeing to support my research and offer guidance through the process. I would like to thank my committee chair Dr. Jon Wergin for his guidance as my academic advisor during the past four years, as well as his guidance and support through the dissertation process. Furthermore, I offer thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Holloway for providing support as an unbelievable methodologist, asking all the right questions and leading me to the best method for this study, and Dr. Stephanie Davis for providing her expertise of career technical education and enthusiasm and support for the content of the study. The three of you kept me energized throughout the process. I am also thankful for Dr. Laurien Alexandre for her support and kindness throughout this program. She was a highly-motivating and supportive first-year advisor that gave me the momentum and direction that carried me through the program. I would also like to thank Deb Baldwin for assisting me with the management of the otherwise overwhelming amount of book chapters and articles that created the foundational knowledge for this project. She demonstrated over and over that there is no study outside of her reach. I would also like to thank my coding team of Chris Murphy and Brandi Allen for taking the time to analyze the data from the interview transcripts, the meetings that often went too long, phone calls, and emails that interrupted your busy professional lives. I would like to thank my PhD cohort members, especially Carolyn Morales, Trent Pinto, Katie Larson, and Holly Diaz, for i support throughout the program. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my three children, Lilly, Teddy, and Johnny for their kindness and patience throughout this project, and I would also like to express gratitude to Kris Drake who was a tremendous support both psychologically and spiritually throughout the dissertation process—a wonderful teacher, proofreader, and transcriptionist. I would like to express the utmost gratitude and appreciation to my late grandfather Willie Hicks, who modeled artistry in everything he did, to the late Steve Truax who mentored me through my early years as a technician, and Mike Taylor who mentored me through my early years as an instructor and still provides leadership and guidance to this day. They are all undoubtedly the best of the best and an inspiration to me every day. Thank you. ii Dedication I would like to dedicate this dissertation to a mentor, colleague, and friend, Duane Clark. Duane was one of the participants in this study and provided valuable insight based on a long and successful automotive career. Sadly, Duane passed away shortly after the completion of the research. Duane was a genuine spirit with the kindest heart, and I truly cherish our friendship. iii Abstract Educational researchers have conducted very few studies on the subjective experiences of both trained and self-taught auto mechanics (Barber, 2003, 2004; Nelsen, 1997, 2010). Further, no present studies explore the subjective experience of the automotive instructor as he or she experiences uncertainty in the automotive lab. This study addresses a gap in the current literature on career/technical instructor development. For this study, data were gathered by video recording automotive laboratory activities at three Midwestern automotive programs. Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) interviews were conducted with automotive instructors as they observed themselves navigating the lab environment. Data from the IPR interviews were analyzed using emergent thematic analysis. The research revealed that most instructors in this study were aware, after reflection, of the reasoning behind many of the intuitive and improvisational behaviors, and had an awareness of the nuances of skill assessment the importance of modeling behavior. This study also identified transfer of artistry as a concept of advanced skill attainment in automotive subjects. Transfer of artistry is the result of an instructor’s ability to manage several paradigms of the laboratory experience at once, to create the appropriate conditions for a student to develop the cognitive, spatial, and tactile skills necessary for performing advanced automotive diagnostics and repair. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ Keywords: Post-Secondary, Career/Technical, Automotive, Technology, Laboratory, Improvisation, Instructor, Mechanic, Technician, Reflection, Artistry, IPR, Interpersonal Process Recall, Thematic Analysis, Schön. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... i Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. x Chapter I: Introduction and Background ….....................................................................................1 Research Question and Rationale ............................................................................................... 5 Delimitations, Limitations, and Assumptions ............................................................................ 9 The Dissertation Outline .......................................................................................................... 11 Chapter II: Review of Literature ................................................................................................... 14 Philosophical Overview ........................................................................................................... 14 Global Cultural Perspective ...................................................................................................... 15 Dualism in Career/Technical Education ................................................................................... 15 Technical Rationality and Reflective Practice .......................................................................... 16 Reflective Practice in Other Professional Fields ....................................................................... 19 Reflective Practice in the Automotive Repair Profession ......................................................... 25 Research Goals ......................................................................................................................... 28 Application of Terms in Automotive Training: Reflective Practice and Tacit Knowledge ..... 31 Connections Between Professional Practice and Transformative/Reflective Learning ............ 34 Automotive Education as Professional Practice ....................................................................... 36 Understanding Automotive Technology Education ................................................................. 36 The Nature of Automotive Work ......................................................................................... 37 Technical Rationality in Automotive Skill Development .................................................... 39 Reflective Practice in Career/Technical/Adult Education .................................................... 45 Forces Working for and Against Reflection in Automotive Practice and Teaching ................. 45 Conclusion and Directions Forward ......................................................................................... 47 Chapter III: Method ...................................................................................................................... 51 Appropriateness of the Research Design .................................................................................. 53 Research