Engineering Manufacturing and Industrial Technology
Engineering, Manufacturing and Industrial Technology
Engineering, Manufacturing and Industrial Technology

Automotive Technology

Locations:

Brandywine High School
Buchanan High School
Coloma High School
Lakeshore High School
Niles High School

Career Opportunities Include:
 

  • Air-Conditioning Repair
  • Brake Repair
  • Front-End Mechanics
  • Transmission Technician
  • Tune-Up Technician

GRADES: 11-12

Class Description

The automotive course is broken up into lab time and classroom time. The areas covered will help a student become more independent with his/her own auto repairs. The basics of repair and maintenance will be discussed. This course focuses on employability skills, manuals and data, tools, batteries and electrical systems, tires, lubrication, ignition systems, cooling systems, disc brakes, drum brakes, steering and suspensions, and fuel systems. This course will help prepare students for a career in the automotive trade.

This course is two semesters long for two hours each day and focuses on two major areas of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). The first semester covers brake systems; the second semester covers steering and suspension. Both areas follow the tasks set forth by NATEF which is an organization established by ASE. This will give students the opportunity to obtain a job in these areas and pursue certification after high school, allowing them to test out of certain college courses in the pursuit of a degree in Automotive Technology.

Students could also choose to take Automotive Technology two years in a row. In the second year, this class is another two semesters long for two hours a day. The course focuses on the other areas of excellence offered by ASE: engine rebuilding, electrical and electronics, tune-ups, heating, and air conditioning. This class is 20% book work and 80% lab activities. The student will work on cars that enter the shop for repair and use lab stations set up by the instructor. All jobs have to be approved by the instructor before acceptance to the course. This course builds on prior information and prepares the student for future training in automotive technology. Students are required to complete two major projects.

This vocational auto mechanics course is designed for the automotive student who intends to make auto service his career. The student will use skills learned in Automotive Technology to diagnose and repair automobiles. The student will be informed of changes taking place in the automotive field; strong emphasis will be on computer diagnostics. The student will be encouraged to take the certification test and pursue a career at the post-secondary level. Course content will be approximately 20% theory and 80% hands-on work.

Content Areas

n/a

Career Outlook

Automotive service technicians and mechanics use their high-tech skills to inspect, maintain, and repair automobiles and light trucks that have gasoline engines. The increasing sophistication of automotive technology now requires workers who can use computerized shop equipment and work with electronic components while maintaining their skills with traditional hand tools.

Opportunities should be very good for automotive service technicians and mechanics with diagnostic and problem-solving skills and knowledge of electronics and mathematics.

Median hourly earnings of automotive service technicians and mechanics were $20.24 in 2019.

Source: United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019-20: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/

Updated 11/20/2020