Industrial plastics technologist's duties and tasks to meet employers needs in the greater Dayton, Ohio area

This 2008, descriptive survey research explored and identified duties and tasks on the demand side of what industry needs in a plastics technologist. This occupational study was initiated with the endorsement of five professional organizations and covered 29 plastics manufacturers in the greater Dayton area. The occupational analysis method called DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) was used to identify the duties and tasks and related core competencies (Norton, 1997). An expert panel for the DACUM process consisted of experienced practitioners working within the plastics manufacturing field. In the two day event the DACUM expert panel identified the duties and tasks. These duties and tasks were then organized into a DACUM Research Chart containing 11 duties, 78 tasks and 72 enablers. Finally the duties, tasks, and enablers were verified by the DACUM expert panel. The DACUM research chart was used to develop a task verification survey chart for plastics technologists. The task verification survey consisted of enablers, demographics from responders, processes used in manufacturing, and the three most important research questions. The questions are as follows: (1) Does an entry level plastics technologist PERFORM this task? (2) How IMPORTANT is this task in the performance of your job? and (3) How DIFFICULT is it to perform this task?;The population of plastics companies in the Dayton, Ohio area was determined to be 29 and one survey questionnaire per company was administered. The task verification survey was mailed to the qualifying and volunteer plastics technologists employed in the manufacturing of plastic products. The survey data collection period of 30 days yielded a response rate of 93 percent. The survey responses led to the following findings: (1) the DACUM process has resulted in information useful for plastics technology curriculum development for a two-year community college; (2) the differences in the tasks percentages and standard deviation shows small gaps for possible curriculum improvement for entry level, tasks importance, and difficulty to learn job; (3) the respondents with post secondary degrees tended to rate certain tasks and enablers higher than the responders with less education; (4) the recommendation for Sinclair Community College's plastics technology program is to address each high task percentage or mean and determine if it is being taught, analyze how the task could be integrated seamlessly into the curriculum, and balance classroom time around the needs of the plastics manufacturers.