Building Foundations introduces students to the worlds of business, product development, and manufacturing while building a foundation of skills important for academic and workplace success--skills that are used throughout the Ford PAS curriculum. In Module 1, From Concept to Consumer: Building a Foundation in Problem-Solving, students learn to work in teams to solve problems related to planning, developing, and producing products. In Module 2, Media and Messages: Building a Foundation of Communication Skills, students develop communication skills through reading, writing, and role-play activities as they expand the product line of a fictional business. In Module 3, People at Work: Building a Foundation of Research Skills, students develop skills in research and analysis as they examine and compare the circumstances and lives of people working in different periods of United States history.
From Concept to Consumer: Building a Foundation in Problem-Solving introduces students to
various aspects of manufacturing, such as product design, product development, production planning,
manufacturing processes, and quality assurance. Students learn about the historical context in which
manufacturing occurs by investigating the evolution of everyday objects in relation to social and
technological change. Students also attempt to solve a variety of problems similar to the problems
people must solve in the various departments of manufacturing organizations. By the end of this
module, students will know what it takes for a product to make its way from concept to consumer.
In Module 1, students also learn that effective communication, collaboration, and compromise are
essential aspects of work in manufacturing organizations. Throughout the module, students develop
and practice these skills through role-playing, hands-on simulation, and team-based research activities.
This module relies heavily on guided Internet research and requires that student teams develop and
give several presentations, including one presentation that uses Microsoft® PowerPoint® software.
In addition to developing oral presentation skills, students also develop skills in communicating
ideas graphically through process flowcharts and tables.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
Students should be familiar with making slides in PowerPoint. If they are not, resources
on using PowerPoint are available at the Ford PAS Web site.
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Media and Messages engages students in addressing a variety of communication challenges encountered
by a fictional food chain called Quick 'n Tastee—a company that is expanding its product line through
a partnership with a company based in another country. As employees of Quick 'n Tastee, students
select a new line of food, decide on the best locations for introducing their new line, prepare to interview
potential employees, analyze styles of communication appropriate for different contexts, develop logos
and slogans, and plan an ad campaign. In an ongoing assignment, students analyze advertisements
to discover ways that the media communicate messages.
The goal of Module 2 is to introduce students to communication issues in the workplace. The Quick 'n
Tastee scenario provides the context in which students learn and apply a variety of written and verbal
workplace communication skills, such as summarizing and organizing written and verbal information,
giving and receiving feedback, writing and speaking persuasively, writing and then revising a short
report, and making oral presentations. Students develop an awareness of issues of diversity in
communication and the importance of shaping information for a specific audience and purpose.
Students also practice developing communication skills using presentation software.
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People at Work: Building a Foundation of Research Skills challenges students to trace changes in
the workplace by looking closely at key periods in United States history. Students learn how such
factors as immigration, the economy, technological innovation, and legislation affected people’s work
experiences in the past, shape working conditions today, and will affect the workplace of tomorrow.
Students researchdifferent periods of U.S. history by analyzing primary and secondary sources
of information, including documents, art, and photographs, that portray work life from various
perspectives. They also conduct interviews of present-day workers in order to collect information
about the workplace of today.
In Module 3, students learn and apply a variety of research and communication skills, including finding
and evaluating sources, paraphrasing, and citing sources appropriately. In an ongoing project, students
develop technology skills as they build a class Web site that explains how the workplace has
changed throughout U.S. history.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Finding Information: Students should have some experience with using a library catalog and finding books arranged according to the Dewey Decimal System or the Library of Congress system. Students should also know how to find information in newspapers, magazines, and journals; in a library reference section; and on the Internet.
- Creating Web Pages: Students should have some experience with developing Web sites, although an alternative is to create PowerPoint presentations or posters in place of Web exhibits.
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Adapting to Change begins with an exploration of evolving career, job, and intership possibilities and then engages students in a study of two issues that are driving change in business and industry today: environmental concerns and efficiency. Module 4, Careers, Companies, and Communities, gives students an opportunity to explore their own interests and values, as well as a chance to match these interests and values to changing employmnent opportunities in their communities. In Module 5, Closing the Environmental Loop, students explore how industry can respond to the challenge of becoming environmentally sustainable by changing products, processes, facilities and supply chains. In Module 6, Planning for Efficiency, students respond to another current-day challenge--making the most efficient use of time, human, and material resources in a customer-driven market.
Careers, Companies, and Communities, introduces students to three interwoven themes
that continue throughout this course. The first, “The Changing Nature of the Workplace,” is introduced through the Change in the Workplace assignments that students complete in each of the six activities. The second and third themes, “Interplay Between Industry and Community” and “Industry Clusters,” are explored through both in- and out-of-school activities, as well as through a Career Exploration Journal. Students are given a Career Exploration Journal assignment in each of the first five activities, and they use those assignments, and their new understanding of both industry clusters and the interactions between industry and community, to create a career presentation.
In this module, students learn about the businesses and industries in their region, the range of positions companies may offer, and the changing nature of the workplace. They gain information through interviews, classroom speakers, a worksite visit, and other resources. Throughout the module, students develop technology skills: working with databases, creating and delivering presentations, and doing Internet research. By the end of this module, students will have a better understanding of careers they may want to pursue, places they may want to work or intern, and the ways that people and companies adapt to change.
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In Closing the Environmental Loop, students investigate how industry is changing in response to today’s environmental problems and learn about a range of incentives for reducing the environmental impact of products and processes. They first look at how every stage in the life cycle of everyday products affects the environment. Then, through video, case studies, and Web research, they learn how industries are redesigning products for easier remanufacture or recycling, changing their production processes, improving their facilities, developing eco-industrial parks, and “greening” their product supply chains.
Module 5 introduces students to the use of data for monitoring progress toward environmental goals. Through a role-play activity, students develop the negotiation skills needed to build financially and environmentally sustainable business partnerships. Throughout the module, students apply what they learn about products and companies to a product of their own choosing. In a final activity, they present proposals for making their chosen products more environmentally sustainable.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
Students will use spreadsheets to calculate electrical energy usage at a conference center. Students should have experience developing spreadsheets, creating line
graphs, and using formulas.
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Planning for Efficiency focuses on how companies can make the best use of time, materials, and
human resources in the context of changing social, environmental, and market realities. Students
learn about historical changes in the way that people think about time and work, and explore how
these changes, along with advances in technology, have shaped the ways in which businesses
manage their resources. Through role plays, simulations, and case studies, students try out and
analyze various approaches to resource management and production planning.
In this module, students learn how to use resource management tools including the critical path
method and value stream mapping. Then they apply these tools to planning and scheduling tasks in
their own lives and in several business settings. Students also develop skills for conducting effective
meetings. In an ongoing project, teams research and observe a local business to see how it manages
its time, materials, and human resources.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
Students should be able to develop a flowchart of a multistep process.
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In Managing and Marketing with Data, students learn how businesses use data for a wide range of decision-making and strategic-planning activities. In Module 7, Planning for Business Success, students use data to run a successful marketing campaign and make effective business decisions. In Module 8, Ensuring Quality, they master statistical tools used in business to ensure high-quality services and products. In Module 9, From Data to Knowledge, students look at ways that information systems are used in business to manage and share the data needed to make informed decisions.
In Module 7, Planning for Business Success, students take on the role of manager of NoNaymz,
a local band trying to break into the national music scene, and, through case studies and computer
simulations, they learn about marketing and finance. Students apply their NoNaymz experience to
create a realistic business plan for a small business of their own. In a closing activity, students
present their plans to visitors from the community in an effort to recruit potential “investors.”
In this module, students develop a range of entrepreneurial skills. They identify a business’s target
audience, design market surveys and analyze their results, develop a marketing plan to reacha
particular audience, determine costs and revenues, calculate profits and losses, conduct a break-even
analysis, and analyze the effect of supply and demand on prices. Students also debate ethical issues
involved in marketing. The module utilizes Microsoft® Excel as a financial management tool.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Using Spreadsheets: Students will use and create spreadsheets to calculate budgets for
several business situations. Students should have experience with using spreadsheets and
creating formulas in spreadsheets. - Basic Statistics: Measures of Central Tendency: Students should be familiar with using
basic statistics to find measures of central tendency for a set of data.
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In Ensuring Quality, students face a series of challenges that show how business and industry use
statistics and data analysis to improve the quality of products and services. The goal is for students
to be able to apply statistical analysis in several business contexts in order to measure, analyze, and
control quality. To do this, they take on the roles of members of various departments in Xavier
Automotive Company (XAC) and use statistics to make business decisions that members of these
departments would make. Students learn how companies measure and control for quality and about
the role of dataanalysis in ensuring quality. In addition, students learn how dataare used to make
long-term business decisions.
In Module 8, students learn statistics concepts relevant to analyzing data and then apply these concepts
to a final company scenario, in which they create a status report for one XAC division. Students also
become familiar with a variety of ways to present statistical information visually. Using MINITAB®
Statistical Software,1 astatistical analysis software package, students analyze consumer information
to inform design and marketing decisions, make personnel decisions based on data about employees’
previous performance, and monitor production for the presence of defects.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Elementary Statistics: Understanding of experimental design, including variables, sampling,and data analysis, and the ability to calculate measures of central tendency and spread.
- Algebra: Algebra I.
- Statistical Tools: Use of MINITAB ® Statistical Software or Microsoft® Excel data analysis functions. Some assignments, such as those that involve stem-and-leaf plots, may need to bemodified if you use Excel.
- Marketing: Marketing a product or service to a target audience (taught in Module 7: Planning for Business Success).
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From Data to Knowledge introduces students to the purposes and uses of information systems,
and gives students the opportunity to create their own information systems. Considering the health
care industry as an example, students research ways that information systems, including geographic
information systems, are used by businesses. Through observation, hands-on projects, and case
studies, students find out how different types of information systems allow users to create, manage,
and share information for a variety of purposes.
In Module 9, students develop a solid understanding of information systems. They learn skills that
will help them analyze different kinds of data and make decisions using those data. They learn and
apply skills in database development and learn the pros and cons of spreadsheets and databases.
Students also grapple with ethical issues related to information systems as they consider the
potential benefits of and drawbacks to using information systems in business and explore and
evaluate new trends in the field.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Using a Database: Students should be familiar with the organization and function of a database.
- Making a Spreadsheet: Students should be able to create and understand the uses of a spreadsheet.
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Designing for Tomorrow engages students in the process of product design and focuses on key design issues of the 21st century. Students begin in Module 10, Reverse Engineering, with the challenge of reverse engineering--analyzing products from the perspectives of consumers and manufacturers. In Module 11, Different by Design, students experience the design process themselves, redesigning an existing product in order to meet specific needs or goals. Finally, in Module 12, Energy for the Future, students explore innovative technologies that may transform energy use in this century.
In Reverse Engineering, students analyze products, determining how they can be designed to meet
the needs of their intended users and considering other factors that influence product design. First,
students focus on using reverse engineering to make good products for the consumer by analyzing
features of existing products, considering design factors that determine the ease of product assembly,
and looking at the manufacturing processes used to create products from different materials.
Students then focus on reverse engineering from the perspective of product failure, and analyze
communication failures in written and visual instructions. Students also test different materials
as they explore engineering failures related to material choice. For their module project, students
analyze a case study and role-play its situation.
As students explore the process of reverse engineering in Module 10, they develop a number
of valuable skills. Students are introduced to logbooks and their use in scientific and technical
fields, and make log entries of experiment results, team meeting notes, and sketches of products.
In addition, students continue to develop their teamwork skills, focusing on meeting facilitation.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Drafting, Drawing, or Computer-Aided Design: Students should have some background in one or more of these areas.
- Chemistry/Earth Science: Ideally, students should take chemistry prior to or concurrently with this module. They should have basic knowledge of material properties and chemical bonds.
- Participating in a Meeting: Students should be able to take on the roles of recorder, timekeeper, and process checker in a meeting. Students should also be able to create a meeting agenda and take meeting minutes.
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In Different by Design, students take on the challenge of redesigning an existing product. They first
consider how the features and functions of a product are directly related to consumer needs. They
learn about the procedures that design teams use to develop products, including the screening and
scoring of potential concepts to find the one that best matches the team’s goal. Students then
complete a basic cost analysis of a product, addressing the economic factors that affect a product’s
development. They learn basic principles of industrial design and consider how suchfactors as
appearance and user-friendliness may influence both a company’s image and a product’s success.
Students are also introduced to the idea of intellectual property rights, and they conduct searches
for patents. Finally, students learn how to visually represent a design idea to different audiences,
from tradespeople to consumers, using technical drawings and illustrations.
Throughout Module 11, students work in teams to apply the design tools they’ve learned to a product
of their choice. Teams compare and contrast different brands and models of a similar product, exploring
how the products meet customers’ needs. At the conclusion of the module, teams present a complete
plan for a redesigned product. This module teaches students how to think and work like engineers: They
learn techniques used to turn customer feedback into useful design information and how the cre-
ative aspects of the design process can fulfill customers’ needs in unique ways.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
Students should have some background in drafting, drawing, or computer-aided design. If they do not
have these skills, emphasize to students that they will be expected to create and present sketches in
this module but that they will not be graded on their drawing skills.
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Energy for the Future introduces students to innovative ways in which renewable energy sources
and technologies are used to provide energy for society. Students become familiar with the different
forms and sources of energy and learn about renewable and non-renewable energy sources. They
analyze case studies to determine the pros and cons of several energy sources and analyze the
availability, practicality, safety, and environmental impact of different energy technologies. They construct
simple energy systems and learn to calculate work, power, potential energy, and efficiency. They also
learn about the principles of electricity and how to determine the energy needs of different systems,
such as homes or schools.
In Module 12, student teams further develop their Internet research skills as they gather information
about one energy technology. Teams share their findings with one another and consider the merits
and drawbacks of the different energy technologies for meeting the energy needs of a particular
building. In a culminating project, students design a plan to meet some of the energy needs of their
school with renewable energy sources.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Mathematics: Students should be able to perform algebraic calculations.
- Earth and Life Sciences: Students should have an understanding of what energy is and that the flow of energy begins with the sun.
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In Understanding a Global Economy, students learn basic economic principles while developing an understanding of the nature of our global economy. In Module 13, The Wealth of Nations, students become familiar with the varied resource bases of different nations and the impact of production, trade, and investments on the economic health of these nations. In Module 14, Markets Without Borders, students focus on the international movement of material and human resources, potential intercultural problems, and the effect of international agreements and regulations on businesses and industries. In Module 15, Global Citizens, they learn how companies are responding to a globalized economy and the challenges that such an economy presents.
In The Wealth of Nations, students analyze the factors that affect the wealth of different countries
and consider different ways to measure the health of an economy. They examine the consequences
of declining natural resources and learn how investments in resources affect a country’s productivity
and the standard of living of its citizens. Students compare standards of living among countries and
predict how current population trends may affect the workforce as well as the market for particular
goods and services. Students also compare the way that resources are used in different countries
and consider the potential economic, environmental, and social consequences of a declining natural
resource base. In an ongoing project, students become familiar with CleanWater Tech, a fictional
U.S. company that produces water filtration and disinfection technologies and is interested in opening
a facility abroad. Students apply what they’ve learned about the country’s economic health in order
to justify their decision about whether to expand CleanWater Tech into their chosen country.
In Module 13, students analyze and interpret data, such as real and nominal GDP, inflation rates,
and unemployment rates to better understand how economists measure the health of economies.
Students further develop their research and analytic skills in this module, using them as economists
do to analyze a country’s economic climate. Finally, students use their analyses of the various
indicators they’ve learned about to develop their own economic indicator for analyzing the economic
health of a country.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Making Charts and Graphs: Students should be able to use software, such as Microsoft® Excel, to create charts and graphs.
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In Markets Without Borders, students become familiar with the interdependence of different countries
in today’s global economy. They examine the role of trade in the global economy and analyze the
purposes and effects of quotas, tariffs, and trade agreements on businesses, governments, and
individuals throughout the world. Students analyze the challenges of conducting intercultural
business and trade, and they develop international agreements that balance the conflicting interests
of different nations.
Throughout Module 14, students participate in Global Economic Exchange, a Web-based international
relations simulation in which they take on the roles of policymakers for particular countries. In an
attempt to serve the best interests of their project country’s citizens, students propose and negotiate
trade agreements, set trade policy, and cast their votes on international regulations. Students create
a Country Briefing Handbook, a compilation of information about their project country’s economy,
trade relations, laws, and social and environmental issues related to globalization. (In Module 15,
students draw on the information and resources in these handbooks to make recommendations
to a fictional company that has recently located a facility in another country.)
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Economic Indicators: Students should have a working knowledge of the definitions and applications of GDP, inflation, and other economic indicators.
- Comparative Advantage: Students should understand the economic principles of opportunity cost and comparative advantage.
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Global Citizens introduces students to the concept of corporate citizenship—the responsibility that
companies have to enact policies and practices that address emerging social and environmental
issues around the world. Students also examine the effects these practices may have on the company’s
stakeholders, including shareholders and customers. Through case studies and role plays, students
learn about the different kinds of social and environmental issues—such as pollution, labor practices,
and worker health—that arise in different business contexts around the world, and look at how
companies have addressed these issues.
Throughout Module 15, student teams take on the role of employees in the corporate citizenship
department of a company. Each team recommends how its company can responsibly manage one
social or environmental issue in a particular country. As part of the module, students also examine the
potential impact that individual citizens can have on a company’s actions, and develop an experiment
and survey to determine if and how corporate behavior affects consumer behavior. This capstone
module allows Ford PAS students to demonstrate the variety of skills and breadth of knowledge
they have developed throughout this program.
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
Survey Design: Students should have a basic knowledge of survey construction and analysis.
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