Skip to content. Skip to navigation
Navigation

About CIMC

CIMC Newsletter

Download the CIMC Update to find out what's going on behind the scenes!

Spring 2008 Update (PDF file, 861 KB)

 

What is CIMC?

CIMC is a division of the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education (CareerTech). Our primary function has always been to develop quality, competency-based instructional products and services for career and technology education. This mission is fundamental in the belief that quality, industry-endorsed curriculum and related instructional materials are essential to quality occupational education programs in Oklahoma and the nation.

CIMC has customers in all 50 states and around the world. High school programs, area technology centers, junior and community colleges, proprietary schools, and government agencies are current users of CIMC products. Business and industry customers are also learning of the training and cost advantages of using CIMC instructional systems. Several industry groups and trade associations have participated in the development of CIMC products and services.

What makes our products so special?

By responding to special industrial and educational needs, CIMC is influencing the growth of career and technology education programs throughout the nation. CIMC products are special because they:

  • Address the basic skills needs of students
  • Identify industry training needs
  • Use professionals from industry in the development process
  • Are up to date on new instructional trends and methods
  • Can customize programs to serve business and industry
  • Address basic employment skills
  • Are cost-effective
  • Use a proven instructional process
  • Are accepted by industry
  • Are currently used in many career and technology education institutions around the U.S.

 

Exhibit Schedule

Visit the CIMC booth at these conferences in 2008:


Oklahoma FFA State Convention
April 29-30
Oklahoma City, OK

International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence
May 25-27
Austin, TX

Skills USA National Leadership and Skills Conference
June 24-26
Kansas City, MO

Career College Association Annual Convention
June 25-27
Las Vegas, NV

FCCLA National Leadership Meeting
July 13-17
Orlando, FL

SREB High Schools That Work Conference
July 9-11
Nashville, TN

Oklahoma Association of Career and Technology Education
August 4-6
Oklahoma City, OK

National Career Pathways Tech Prep Network Conference
October 22-25
Cincinnati, OH

National FFA Convention
October 21-14
Indianapolis, IN

Association for Career and Technical Education Convention
December 4-6
Charlotte, NC

 

If you have any questions about the CIMC exhibit, please contact marketing manager Kathleen Kincaid.

How Do You Use Our Materials?

Each unit of instruction is based on the performance needed for successful employment in an occupational area. Unit components are tied to measurable and observable learning outcomes. Instructors are encouraged to supplement unit components with other resources to make units as responsive to local conditions and student needs as possible. Most units of instruction are designed for use in more than one lesson or class period. Instructors should determine the following for each unit: amount of material that can be covered in each class period; skills that must be demonstrated; supplies and equipment needed; amount of class time needed for demonstrations; amount of class time needed for student practice; supplementary materials to be ordered; and resource persons who must be contacted. A complete unit will contain most or all of the following components:

Profile of Training Mastery

The Profile of Training Mastery documents student performance. Each profile lists the specific competencies covered in the book, and provides space for recording information about the student and the student's mastery of each objective. Space is also provided for recording pre- and posttest scores, modified gains, and instructor comments. A blank Profile of Training Mastery is included with the instructor components of each curriculum. It can be duplicated by the instructor to produce individual student records.

Objective Sheet (Student Workbook and Instructor's Manual)

The Objective Sheet summarizes each unit for the student and the instructor. The Objective Sheet includes the following sections:
  • Introduction - This section introduces students to the unit topic and its importance to them. The Introduction also relates the unit to students' experiences and their "need to know," it helps capture their interest and focus their attention on the specific topic.
  • Prerequisites - This section is included if any of the units in the book have prerequisites. A prerequisite may be one or more units from the same book or from other books which must be completed before beginning the unit. (If no prerequisites exist for any of the units in the book, this section is omitted.)
  • Focus Assignments - The focus assignment may require the student to use a Handout, textbook, unit references, magazine, newspaper, web site, or CD-ROM. It may also require the student to complete a short written activity. Because the focus assignments help promote the use of basic skills, they include appropriate basic skill icons and enablers.
  • Unit Objective - The unit objective states the overall goal of the unit. It identifies what the student will be able to do after successfully completing the unit, as well as the standards used to measure student performance.
  • Specific Objectives - The specific objectives outline the teaching sequence of the competencies required to reach the unit objective.The specific objectives on the Objective Sheet should be emphasized to all students at the start of each unit and throughout the teaching/learning process. This will help answer student questions about performance requirements for each unit. Specific objectives can also assist instructors in determining teaching strategies and instructional methods. Instructors should prepare for each unit by deciding how each objective could best be taught. Instructors should modify, delete, or add objectives to meet the needs of students and the community. When objectives are added, the instructor should remember to provide the needed Information, Assignment and/or Job Sheets, and criterion-referenced test items to cover the new objectives.

Instructor's Guide (Instructor's Manual)

The Instructor's Guide leads instructors step by step, objective by objective through the unit. It recommends instructional strategies for the focus assignments and for each of the specific objectives. Resources and activities are labeled "R for "required" or "O" for "optional." Optional and required resources (publications, videos, computer software, and other media) are listed, as well as unit references. These resources can be used to supplement the instructor's knowledge of the subject area and to help students with particular interests or occupational objectives. In addition, the Instructor's Guide provides guidelines for evaluating student performance.Instructors should study the Instructor's Guide before introducing the unit, allowing enough time to obtain supplemental materials, prepare audiovisual materials, and to contact outside resource persons. Specific tasks of the instructor will vary with each unit.

Answers (Instructor's Manual)

This component lists the answers to all of the Assignment Sheets and the Written Test questions.

LAP Sheet (Instructor's Manual)

The LAP (Learning Activity Package) Sheet for each unit allows the instructor to individualize instruction for some or all students. The LAP Sheet guides the student through each unit step by step, ensuring that the student receives the necessary instruction.

Transparency Masters (Instructor's Manual)

Transparency Masters are provided so that instructors can make transparencies to accompany specific units. Transparencies allow students to see as well as hear the information being presented, thus reinforcing the learning process. They also direct attention to the topic under discussion. Transparencies should be left on the screen only when the related topics are under discussion. A small reproduction of each Transparency Master also appears in the appropriate unit in the Student Workbook, at the location where the information is referenced, such as a figure on the Information Sheet.

Written Test (Instructor's Manual)

The Written Test provides criterion-referenced evaluation of the specific objectives from the Information Sheet (Assignment Sheet and Job Sheet objectives are not evaluated by the Written Test). If instructors have added, deleted, or modified any objectives, appropriate changes should be made to the Written Test as well. The Written Test serves as both a pretest and a posttest. In order to measure and document student competency gains as required by the latest Carl Perkins regulations, and as outlined in the Oklahoma-developed system of standards and measures, it is essential that the same test be used as a pretest and as a posttest. If instructors choose to use tests other than the Written Test, they should make sure that the same instrument is used for each activity, pre- and posttest.

Handout (Instructor's Manual)

Handouts are not tested directly, but may be used to supplement objectives or to provide readings for focus assignments. Handouts may also provide extra practice for Assignment Sheets or Job Sheets.

Information Sheet (Student Workbook)

The Information Sheet provides the "must know" content essential for meeting the cognitive objectives in the unit. Information is usually presented in print on the Information Sheet, but may also be presented in other formats, if appropriate, such as on videotape, software, or other media. (Additional formats for presenting the Information Sheet objectives allow this component to be interactive.) Many objectives on the Information Sheet begin with a "Words You Should Know" section. This boxed item identifies terms relating to the objective, and gives a definition for each. Terms in the "Words You Should Know" boxes are tested only indirectly with the objective information and not on the Written Test as a matching exercise.The Information Sheet may include clarifying NOTES and EXAMPLES as needed. In the left column, students and instructors are reminded of the optional and/or required activities and resources available for a particular objective. Students should read the Information Sheet for each unit before it is discussed in class. Space is provided in the margins for both students and instructors to add notes that clarify and/or expand upon the information presented.

Assignment Sheets (Student Workbook)

The Assignment Sheets address the learning levels at or above the application level of Bloom's taxonomy. They allow students to perform non-psychomotor activities related to occupational tasks. Assignment Sheets also provide students with an opportunity to use higher-order thinking skills, such as problem-solving, synthesizing, analyzing, and evaluating. In addition, they may provide opportunities for cooperative learning and more detailed oral/written communication activities. Assignment Sheet activities can be "paper and pencil" activities, as well as those using computer software, videotapes, models, handouts, or other resources as appropriate.

Job Sheets (Student Workbook)

Job Sheets give students step-by-step procedures for performing manipulative or psychomotor occupational tasks or jobs. The Job Sheet also functions as a Skill Test Record, facilitating the instructor's evaluation of each student's performance. Both the process and the end product are evaluated. Diagrams, illustrations, and photographs are included, as needed, to assist students in completing the job.

 

Updated 04.15.08