The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), Gainesville, Fla., has revised both the structure and content of the Contren Learning Series “Core Curriculum: Introductory Craft Skills.” This full-color textbook contains nine modules on the fundamental skills of construction.
New features of the revised Core curriculum include two new modules—Introduction to Materials Handling and Introduction to Construction Drawings—featuring blueprints of the LEED Gold-certified Rinker Hall at the University of Florida. In addition, the BasicSafety module was aligned to the OSHA 10-hour course, so that instructors who are OSHA-500 certified can now issue 10-hour OSHA cards to their students. The Introduction to Construction Math module was also revised to include more applied math exercises to help make math more real for the students. Additional “Going Green” features were incorporated throughout the book, emphasizing energy efficient products and low environmental impact methods of construction.
NCCER worked with subject matter experts representing industry and academia across the country to include the latest technical hints and tips from the industry and present real-life scenarios similar to those one might encounter on the jobsite.
“The new revision of Core Curriculum is now more current and relevant to more entry level construction positions,” said Erin M. Hunter, carpentry instructor, River Valley Technical Center, Springfield, Vt. “There is a strong emphasis on real ‘need to knows.’ The text is a terrific resource beyond classroom training. Users of this version get the benefit of input from a variety of industry folks who have years of experience in construction.”
Other modules included in the Core curriculum are Introduction to Hand Tools, Introduction to Power Tools, Basic Rigging, Basic Communication Skills, and Basic Employability Skills.
To receive industry-recognized credentials through NCCER’s National Registry, students must successfully complete eight of the nine Core Curriculum modules. Basic Rigging is considered elective for this course completion since NCCER also offers a stand-alone Rigging Fundamentals course.
The revised version of the online Core Contren Connect will be available in August and will feature more robust media, including full action video and 3-D animation.
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