Many of our programs are delineated and regulated by the industries or governmental agencies with which they are affiliated. In the absence of such pre-existing curriculum guides, however, TSTC utilizes the DACUM (DAY-kum) occupational analysis process to obtain industry's input into the College's new program development and curriculum updating procedures.

Subject departments are required to file a valid DACUM chart (the objective and result of the workshop) on a regular cycle for each option or specialization. Each department must also verify the workshop results by submitting them in survey form to a wider sampling of select workers and/or immediate supervisors in the industry at large. Finally, all the research is used to integrate the current requisite skills, knowledge, tools, and worker behaviors into TSTC's curriculum for that technology.

This curriculum evaluation and updating activity is required to ensure that the College's instructional programs remain accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and approved/financed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and the Texas State Legislature.

DACUM allows TSTC to establish a relevant, up-to-date, and localized curriculum base for instructional programs--a curriculum base that is developed with input from the businesses and industries which will or already employ the students.

1. Expert workers are better able to describe/define their job than anyone else.
2. Any job can be effectively and sufficiently described in terms of the tasks successful workers perform in practicing that occupation.
3. All tasks have direct implications for the knowledge and attitudes that workers
   must have in order to perform the tasks effectively.

With the help of the sponsoring department and its Advisory Committee, a carefully chosen group of eight to twelve expert workers from the occupational area under consideration form the DACUM panel. Panelists are under the guidance of a trained, certified facilitator for up to two days in creating the DACUM chart. Modified small-group brainstorming techniques are used to obtain the collective expertise and consensus of the panel. Almost without exception, DACUM workshop participants find the activity to be a professionally stimulating and rewarding experience.

The DACUM workshop normally results in the identification of 8 to 12 duties and 50 to 200 task statements that outline what a successful worker in a particular job or cluster of related jobs must be able to do.

The profile chart developed from the DACUM analysis is a detailed and graphic portrayal of the duties and tasks involved in the occupation or job under scrutiny, as well as the tools, materials, and equipment. The tasks that are verified as important become the research base for developing modules or other units of instruction for the educational program. Information resulting from the task analysis is subsequently incorporated into modules, learning guides, or other types of learning materials for student and instructors.

The DACUM analysis can be used as a basis for (1) curriculum development, (2) student recruitment and counseling, (3) assessing training needs, (4) worker performance evaluations, (5) worker competency test development, and (6) job descriptions.