Ask Us Anything: Workforce ROI, AI Hallucinations, and World-Class CTE
Matt Kirchner - Host & Melissa Martin - Producer of The TechEd Podcast
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After the feedback on our first Ask Us Anything episode, we put the call out again and were overwhelmed by the volume (and quality) of questions that came in. So in this second installment, producer Melissa Martin is back on the mic to tee up the best and brightest audience questions for host Matt Kirchner, with everything from university curriculum design, to AI in the classroom, to what employers actually expect when they invest in education.
This one moves fast, but it’s focused: how do you build programs that truly prepare students for modern work? How do you keep education from falling behind as technology accelerates? Along the way, Matt and Melissa break down what universities need to change, how to raise the bar in the age of generative AI, why ethics can’t be an afterthought, and how to help HR teams understand the value of credentials and new pathways.
Listen to learn:
- What university programs should teach (in one course) to better prepare grads for modern manufacturing work
- How educators can help students identify when AI is wrong and why we need to level-up our homework in the age of AI
- The role of ethics in modern CTE
- The five components of a world-class, modern advanced manufacturing high school program
- How educators can measure program effectiveness and show ROI to industrial partners
- What HR teams need to understand about changing credentials, degrees, and how to evaluate technical candidates
Watch the Episode on YouTube:
3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:
1. have to teach applied industrial skills, not just theory. Matt argues that a four-year program can cover a lot of “cool stuff in the lab,” but it still needs authentic manufacturing equipment and technology so graduates understand what they will actually see in industry. He frames this as an employer expectation problem: even when budgets are tighter at the four-year level, universities still need to build around the same core technologies students will encounter on day one in manufacturing.
2. AI changes the standard for student work and makes ethics a core requirement. Melissa and Matt point out that AI is designed to produce an answer even when it doesn't know (causing a 'hallucination'), which means students must learn to question outputs and verify accuracy instead of treating AI as a sole source of truth. From there, the conversation moves from classroom integrity into broader ethics: what it means to do original work, and how humans should think and behave as AI becomes more capable and more embedded in decision-making.
3. Industry and HR and educators must understand each other's needs to build a successful partnership. Education and Industry both have a responsibility to do their part in a partnership. HR departments must understand the changing landscape of certifications, 3-year degrees and other credentials that students are gaining to demonstrate their technical competency. Likewise, educators must adopt industry practices of tracking metrics to show employer partners the ROI of their investments in the program.
Resources in this Episode:
- Great episodes for university programs to model:
- Moving from “Just-in-Case” Education to a Demand-Driven, Industry-Led Model — Paul Lavoie, VP of the University of New Haven
- The 50/50 University Model that Leaves Grads with 2.5 Years of Work Experience and $75k - Dr. Robert McMahan, President of Kettering University
- Groundbreaking Automation Leadership Degree is a Fast Track to Industry 4.0 - Chancellor Katherine Frank and Dr. David Ding, UW-Stout
- Other episodes mentioned:
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