Showing posts with label manufacturing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manufacturing. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Six Sigma in Education - applying quality control systems in education




Six Sigma was first introduced in 1986 by an engineer at Motorola named Bill Smith. Six Sigma is a methodology that focuses on measuring quality and aiming for perfection. The techniques and tools used for process improvement and eliminating defects are the core of Six Sigma. While the methodology began in the manufacturing industry, today the Six Sigma techniques are used in virtually every type of industry.

Note - no one is saying that we should treat students like products. The intent of using some of these systems in education is to streamline processes and remove errors and issues. 

Six Sigma can also be used in Education. Back in 2012 I wrote an article entitled "Business/Manufacturing ideas applied to education" in which I detailed how United Technologies' "ACE" system could be applied to Education and Six Sigma is similar to that.

There are three primary elements in Six Sigma:
  • Process Improvement – Process improvement is used to eliminate root causes of deficiencies in the organization. 
  • Process Design (or re-design) – Creating entirely new processes or re-designing existing processes that do not work properly and are beyond the scope of simple process improvement.
  • Process Management – This element consists of tasks such as defining processes, measuring performance, analyzing data, and more.
These could be used in schools for all processes and procedures including:
  • opening of schools
  • discipline issues
  • tracking and supporting students
And much more.

DMAIC Cycle

Here is a great article on Six Sigma that explains each part of it and how it works: https://www.creativesafetysupply.com/articles/six-sigma/

And here are some more articles about Six Sigma in Education:

Six Sigma in Education

Using Six Sigma to Solve Issues in Public School System

And some more related articles:

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Free resource from Discovery Education about Manufacturing




Discovery Education has a new free resource: Manufacture Your Future, which has free STEM lessons and resources for grades 6-12 related to manufacturing.

This is an excellent resource. Manufacturing is a great career and there are a lot of openings in the field.


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Manufacture Your Future:
New Online Portal Offers Free, Dynamic STEM Lessons and Resources
Discovery Education and Alcoa Foundation are excited to introduce Manufacture Your Future, a new, online destination designed to inspire students in grades 6-12 to explore modern manufacturing careers through STEM-based exploration.
Manufacture Your Future's standards-based, cross-curricular resources include:
  • FOR TEACHERS: Comprehensive lesson plans including "Manufacturing in the 21st Century" and "Design a Robot"
  • FOR COUNSELORS: Career guide with job assessment tools
  • FOR FAMILIES: Discussion starters to extend the conversation beyond the classroom
COMING THIS FALL: A live virtual field trip from an Alcoa facility will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the manufacturing design process. Sign up for e-mail updates to hear when registration opens.
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    Related:


    Next Generation Manufacturing Center - this is a cooperative group of manufacturers, CBIA and CT's Community Colleges. They work to get more students interested in engineering and manufacturing. There are some great videos on the site, too. They have a lot of great programs, including the Engineering Challenge. They also sponsor summer externships for teachers. These externships pay teachers to spend the summer at a local manufacturing company learning about their industry and coming up with ways to get more students involved in engineering and manufacturing. I was able to participate about 5 years ago and found it to be a great experience.


    Great Free Resources from Discovery Education

    STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Resources





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