For one week every August plumbers and pipefitters from around the country take over the town of Ann Arbor. The entire week is devoted to a very serious educational endeavor: training hundreds of instructors who have the responsibility for training apprentices back in their home town. To become a certified instructor, a person needs to successfully complete five years of these one-week trainings.
Half of each day?s training is devoted to teaching methods.

The UA wants the University of Michigan to assess and improve the quality of the pedagogical training. Johnston is working with the School of Education to realize this goal. This three month planning grant will allow Johnston and the Ed School faculty to prepare a multi-year proposal to improve the Instructor Training Program. The full project will allow researchers at ISR and Education to develop and assess new strategies for the preparation of teachers.