Curriculum
Industrial Supervision Degree Curriculum
Penn Foster's Industrial Supervision Degree curriculum consists of 61 credits over four semesters that are designed for those looking to advance their current careers or join the workforce in supervisory roles. Your classes will cover principles of management, supervision, leadership, industrial safety, and more.
Industrial Supervision
Industrial Supervision Degree Curriculum
- 4 semesters
- 61 credits
- 40 exams
- 6 submitted projects
Estimated completion time per semester:
- Fast track = 3 months
- Average time = 5 months
With Penn Foster, you can learn at whatever pace works best for you. Some learners will be more comfortable moving faster, and dedicating more time, and the fast track estimate will apply to them. The average track will apply to most learners who can dedicate a few hours per week to completing their coursework.
Semester 1
-
In this course, you’ll develop the necessary skills to ensure your success in the program. You’ll learn how you can improve your study skills, so you’re able to use a number of tools that will help you to be successful.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Identify skills needed to be a confident and independent online learner.
-
(3 CREDITS)
Leading teams is a mix of many skills for supervisors to master. For example, to be a good supervisor, you’ll need to understand the importance of communicating with others. Effective leadership also involves a deep understanding of interpersonal and problem-solving skills to be able to supervise the employees under your management. This also means that critical tasks, like personnel and performance management as well as team building, need to be practiced in the workplace under your leadership. This course outlines all of these topics and will help you hone these skills for the industrial workplace.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Communicate effectively in a supervisory role
- Develop effective leadership and interpersonal skills to succeed in a supervisory position
- Develop the skills required to successfully hire, manage, and terminate employees
- Discuss how to create successful working relationships among team members
- Define the significance of a supervisor, including key opportunities available in the industrial sectors
- Practice problem-solving steps to help overcome obstacles and ensure your team’s success
-
(3 CREDITS)
In this course, you’ll describe the process of writing, as well as the parts of speech and how to use them. You’ll then explain various types of punctuation, rules for capitalization and spelling, and documenting sources for research. You’ll construct complete, correct sentences and well-organized, coherent paragraphs and recognize how to plan, develop, revise, and present your work. Finally, you’ll prepare for the various kinds of writing most likely needed for a job.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Describe the process of writing, as well as the parts of speech and how to use them
- Explain various types of punctuation, rules for capitalization and spelling, and documenting sources for research
- Construct complete, correct sentences and well-organized, coherent paragraphs
- Recognize how to plan, develop, revise, and present your work
- Prepare for the various kinds of writing most likely needed for a job
-
(3 CREDITS)
In this course, you'll learn the essential math skills necessary for future success in an AS technology program. The course of study includes a review of basic math functions, including trades-based examples, the metric system, formulas, introductory algebra, applied geometry, and some practical applications of trigonometry.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:
- Define basic math skills to solve real-world skilled trades–related problems
- Illustrate your ability to effectively use the metric system
- Identify your knowledge of formulas to solve problems
- Identify algebraic concepts to solve problems
- Solve perimeter, area, and volume for a variety of geometrical shapes
- Define basic trigonometry functions such as sine and cosine to perform trades-related calculations
-
(3 CREDITS)
This course will introduce you to concepts that affect your daily life, including applications and devices you encounter throughout your day. You’ll review various types and properties of bodies in motion, how things move, the rate at which they move, and items affecting their motion. You’ll learn how to describe these properties and relationships through both text and calculations. You’ll also explore properties and sources of heat, temperature changes, and modes of transmission. You’ll be tasked with calculating unknown variables for heat-related problems and investigating heat-related substances and devices, such as engines. After you complete this course, you’ll better understand musical sounds and how sound waves work. You’ll also be able to classify matter while looking at laws that govern how matter interacts. The technology and products you use every day result from nuclear and organic chemistry. You’ll review the development and properties of electricity, magnetism, currents, and circuitry.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Explain mechanics and properties of matter
- Describe heat and its effects on matter
- Analyze sound
- Apply the principles of chemistry
- Describe light
- Determine what scientific principles apply to electricity and electronics
-
(3 CREDITS)
Microsoft Office allows people to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and databases. This course will teach you how to use three popular tools from the MS Office Suite— MS Word, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint. In this course, you’ll learn how to use MS Word to create and edit text documents, insert figures and tables, and format pages for a variety of uses. You’ll then learn how to use MS Excel to organize and format data, including charts, formulas, and more complex tables. Next, you’ll learn how to use MS PowerPoint to create and deliver slideshows. Finally, you’ll complete a computer applications graded project, which will test the skills acquired in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Identify how to create various Microsoft Word documents
- Write a sound Microsoft Word letter
- Identify how to create various Microsoft Excel documents
- Produce a thorough Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
- Identify the basic skills needed to use Microsoft PowerPoint
- Create a well-constructed memo, spreadsheet, and presentation
-
(3 CREDITS)
This course is designed to help industrial workers to know why safety is so important as well as to alert them of probable hazards and dangers associated with their workplaces. You’ll be familiarized with accident prevention techniques, fire safety methods, and the use of personal protective equipment. You’ll be provided with sound, practical knowledge about the hazards and safety measures associated with the handling of chemicals, pressurized gases, molten metals, and electrical equipment. This course enables you to perform safety practices involved with the handling of manufacturing materials, industrial machinery, and various other electrical installations.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Analyze the structure of workplace safety and the methods to curb them
- Point out the types of chemical hazards, their safety measures, and prevention processes
- Distinguish between the various catastrophes caused by fire and the methods used for stopping them
- Categorize the safety measures and equipment associated with welding and cutting systems
- Report the various safety measures involved in working with electricity
- Show the various safety measures required in the handling of materials
- Point out the various hazards associated with machines and the importance of control equipment
- Categorize the importance of using quality electrical equipment and its related safety measures
-
(1 CREDIT)
Information literacy is a fundamental skill of writing and recording research. In this course, you’ll learn what it means to formulate correct and effective research questions. You’ll also learn how to go about conducting and refining that research for any given project.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Identify how to formulate focused and specific research questions and the need for information
- Explain the different types of research tools, how they’re used to conduct different searches, and how to evaluate the quality and usefulness of the information found
- Explain how to cite sources properly using various citation styles in consideration of academic integrity, plagiarism, and ethical use of resources
Semester 2
-
(3 CREDITS)
Throughout this course, you’ll learn how to perform many of the duties a materials management technician performs daily on the job. You’ll also learn about production scheduling and material planning and how each factors into production management and control. You’ll be introduced to purchasing, ordering, and inventory control procedures that can be incorporated into your daily work routine.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Analyze the stages of production scheduling with emphasis on material management, production, MPS, and MRP
- Recognize the importance of CRP and PAC in relation to MRP
- Categorize the uses and applications of an inventory management system
- Show the functions of advanced processes in inventory with importance to distribution, production, and JIT
- Analyze the importance of quality management and product control in determining the success of businesses
-
(3 CREDITS)
This course teaches the skills and techniques of effectively developing, drafting, and revising college-level essays toward a specific purpose and audience: active reading, prewriting strategies, sentence and paragraph structure, thesis statements, varied patterns of development (such as illustration, comparison and contrast, and classification), critical reading toward revision of structure and organization, editing for standard written conventions, and use and documentation of outside sources. Students submit two prewriting assignments and three essays (process analysis, comparison and contrast, and argumentation).
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Use writing skills to construct well-written sentences and active reading skills to understand and analyze text
- Develop paragraphs using topic sentences, adequate detail, supporting evidence, and transitions
- Describe the outlining and drafting steps of the writing process
- Contrast the revising and editing steps of the writing process
- Create an outline for a process analysis essay
- Write a process analysis essay using prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing skills
- Recognize how to determine the reliability of secondary sources and to give proper credit to sources referenced in an essay
- Create an outline for a comparison-and-contrast essay
- Write a comparison-and-contrast essay by using persuasive writing techniques to defend a claim
- Summarize the need for citations and documentation in research writing
- Create a sound written argument using techniques of drafting and evaluating sources
-
(3 CREDITS)
This course will provide you with a basic understanding of the principles of financial accounting. Topics covered include analyzing transactions; completing the accounting cycle; merchandising businesses; inventories, assets, and liabilities; and corporations, stocks, bonds, and cash flow.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Solve important accounting principles and concepts by creating four types of financial statements: balance sheet, income statement, statement of retained earnings, and statement of cash flows
- Explain inventory systems, the inventory process, and the role of ethics in accounting
- Explain cash and receivables, assets, current liabilities, and debt
- Analyze stocks and the statement of cash flows and financial statements that are used to assess the value of a business
- Solve accounting problems using knowledge of accounting forms and functions
-
Economics 1
(3 CREDITS)
This course will provide an overview of macroeconomics and the modern market economy. Law of supply and demand, cost of living, monetary systems, international factors, and short run economic fluctuations will be examined and discussed.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Explain economic systems and the economic perspective
- Identify the key factors in macroeconomics and how economists use them to study the economy as a whole
- Explain the macroeconomic models and fiscal policies
- Explain money, banking, and financial policy
- Explain the extending analysis of aggregate supply, current issues in theory and policy, and international economics
- Analyze foreign exchange and investment and the effects each nation’s economy has on another nation’s economy
Essentials of Psychology
(3 CREDITS)
This course covers the psychology of biology and behavior, consciousness, memory, thought and language, intelligence, personality and gender, stress, and community influences.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Describe the science of psychology, basic structure and function of the human nervous system, and basic structure and function of the sensory system
- Explain various states of consciousness, learning theories, and thought processes and development
- Summarize the nature of human motivation and development, the human development cycle, and approaches to understanding and assessing personality
- Prepare an essay on the topic of conditioning, memory, or motivation and emotion
- Recognize psychological disorders and available treatments
- Explain social psychology as it relates to attitudes, influences, behaviors, and stress
- Use critical thinking skills to determine the likely causes of behaviors of individuals and groups discussed in case studies
World Civilizations
(3 CREDITS)
This course serves as an introduction to many of the major events of the fifteenth through twenty-first centuries. It also examines the causal relationships between events and trends all across the globe.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Identify the causes and consequences of global trade and its conflicting worldwide impact
- Describe the impact of social and industrial revolutions, fifteenth century onward, on various nations
- Recognize the conditions that led to the World Wars, decolonization, and the Cold War
- Summarize post–World War II effects on the economic and political structures around the world
- Discuss an event that occurred after the fifteenth century and had an impact on a world civilization
- Explain the effects of World War II on the world population
Introduction to Sociology
(3 CREDITS)
This course begins with an introduction to the field of sociology and discusses social structure and social interaction through groups, networks, and organizations. It also discusses deviance, crime, and social control; describes the effects of stratification, racial and ethnic inequality, sex, gender, and sexuality; discusses the role of health, family, education, and religion in sociology; and concludes with the topics of politics, the economy, population, social movements, technology, and social change.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Examine foundational concepts and theories of sociology and recognize how they inform research
- Analyze the ways in which culture, social structure, and power influence daily life
- Evaluate the effects of socialization, interaction, deviance, and social control on human behavior
- Develop an essay reflecting on the importance of cultural traditions amid increasing globalization
- Examine the ways in which class, race, gender, and sexuality influence identity and inequality
- Distinguish the various social institutions and issues in the current global system
- Develop an essay examining the ways in which social inequality informs social change and movements
-
(3 CREDITS)
This course will help you learn the fundamentals of quality control. You’ll learn how to perform many of the duties that quality technicians perform daily. You’ll also learn about quality systems and quality philosophy, which should help you in communicating quality issues. You’ll also understand how quality control statistics are collected, charted, and interpreted. You’ll apply your knowledge of measurement and data collection every day as a quality technician.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Analyze the methods used by technicians to manage, maintain, and inspect total quality
- Categorize the elements of engineering drawings and the methods involved in them
- Point out the basic measuring tools used in the industry
- Categorize the basic measuring methods used in the industry
- Differentiate between the ways in which the various advanced methods and tools help the industry
- Point out the ways in which a sampling plan benefits an industry
- Analyze the ways in which technicians use SPC to control the output of a process
Semester 3
-
(3 CREDITS)
In the business world, people are sometimes put into management situations when they really don’t understand what management is about. Although some can step into a management position and handle it naturally, others find the responsibilities to be overwhelming. Management courses are a must. For those handling a management position well, management courses help them polish their skills and gain a better understanding of their new responsibilities. For those who are overwhelmed by a new management position or who strive to secure a management position, management courses help by presenting concepts and ideas to build new skills. This course discusses the foundations of principles of management, planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. As you read the textbook, try to relate the material to your own experiences. If you don’t have any management experience, try to put yourself in the place of your manager and relate the material to those experiences.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Summarize the functions of management and the basic steps in various planning processes
- Explain how to make effective decisions as a manager and a leader
- Describe the fundamental elements of an organization’s structure and the components of an organization’s competitive environment
- Explain principles for setting goals that motivate employees, why companies develop control systems, and why teamwork is beneficial
- Analyze why diversity is a critical organizational and managerial issue, and describe the criteria for technology decisions and managing change
-
(3 CREDITS)
This course takes you into a practical world of analysis, interpretation, and problem solving. You’ll have to work through transactions, complete calculations and financial statements, and analyze and interpret your results to answer the questions. You’ll also need to keep your eye on the goal of sound decision making. Understanding how to apply what you learn in this Managerial Accounting course to everyday business situations can help make you a more effective decision maker.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Analyze the various concepts related to managerial accounting and cost accounting
- Explain the different tools of management used for the decision-making process
- Identify the various budget analysis processes and the performance measurements for decision making
- Analyze the various components of capital budgeting, cash flow statements, and ratio analysis
- Solve examples of real-world accounting problems using knowledge of accounting forms and equations
-
(3 CREDITS)
Learn about the various methods of organizing material for a professional setting. Compose business documents using the ABC method such as memos, emails, outlines, reports and proposals, descriptions, and organizing materials. Discover how to improve your grammar skills.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Recognize how to use words correctly and effectively
- Produce a well-constructed interoffice memo, workplace email, and business letter
- Produce a brief business report based on findings obtained using research techniques and methods of documentation
- Produce an informal report that lists findings of an investigation and provides recommendation for issues raised in the findings
- Describe procedures for creating proposals, descriptions, instructions, and manuals for the workplace
- Create a detailed proposal designed to solve an internal human resources issue
-
(3 CREDITS)
In this course on lean manufacturing techniques, you’ll describe the history of lean and continuous improvement, including the Toyota Production System. You’ll learn about the history of continuous improvement in the United States and how it’s used today. You’ll also discover the foundation and principles, methods, and tools used in lean manufacturing. These include standard work, 5S, the visual workplace, direct observation, value stream mapping, team-based continuous improvement, mistake-proofing, and Gemba walks.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Define the basics of lean manufacturing
- Describe a history of lean and continuous improvement (CI) based upon the Toyota Production System
- Define the key lean and continuous improvement (CI) fundamental principles and philosophies and why it’s critical to get everyone aligned
- Identify continuous-improvement methods and tools and when to use them
-
Art Appreciation
(3 CREDITS)
In this course, you’ll gain an understanding of artistic media, historical periods and artistic movements, the roles of the artist and the viewer, and the principles of art criticism.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the liberal arts, natural sciences, and social sciences
- Define the language, visual elements, and principles of design of art
- Identify two-dimensional media
- Identify three-dimensional media
- Explain the evolution of art from ancient Mediterranean cultures through eighteenth-century Europe
- Identify features and popular examples of art throughout the history of African, Asian, Pacific, and American cultures
- Compare the genres of the Modern and Postmodern eras of art from around the world
Music Appreciation
(3 CREDITS)
In this course, you’ll practice the skill of active listening. Learning to listen differently will allow you to experience all kinds of music in a new way. You’ll identify what the composer might have been trying to convey and listen for the way elements of musical composition and performance make each piece unique.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Identify the building blocks of music a composer can use to create a piece, such as rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, form, and timbre
- Differentiate between the music of the Baroque era and the musical styles of previous time periods
- Recognize the major characteristics of classical music, including form, melody, and instrumentation
- Describe the musical trends and innovations that occurred during the Romantic era
- Relate musical styles of the early twentieth century to comparable movements in art and literature
- Explain the evolution of American popular music in the twentieth century
- Recognize the influence of world music on modern western composition
- Write an essay researching composers’ influence in their respective genres
Introduction to Literature
(3 CREDITS)
Every piece of literature is simply a story. If you think about it, life is just a series of stories. We ask questions like “How was your weekend?” “How did she fall?” “Why did they travel there?” The impulse to share information, to tell a story, and to explain what happened is as old as humankind. You can read literature to escape, to travel to a far-off land, or to participate in a time and life now gone forever. Moreover, reading increases your vocabulary. Reading improves your ability to write because the more you read, the more good writing you’re exposed to; it helps you learn and it can also help you communicate better with those around you. No matter what your job or situation in life, literature can enrich your experience and understanding, add to your vocabulary, and help you to grow as a person.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Explain how to effectively read fiction for both knowledge and enjoyment
- Identify different styles and forms of poetry
- Use what you’ve learned in this course to discuss, write about, and understand literature
- Prepare a critical interpretation of fiction or poetry based on what you’ve learned in this course
- Discuss how literary dramas differ from fiction and poetry
- Identify different strategies of critical literary analysis
-
(3 CREDITS)
Customer service is presented as an integral part of any career, in terms of understanding what customer service encompasses and why it’s essential, recognizing, understanding and meeting customer’s needs, and communicating with customers, including verbal and nonverbal messages, active listening skills, dealing with hostility and necessary skills in various mediums such as internet and telephone.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Explain why customer service matters and best practices for customer service
- Describe how customer feedback and expectations can help with customer service
Semester 4
-
(3 CREDITS)
This course is designed to introduce you to the Human Resources Management field. Your textbook’s learning objectives, found at the outset of each chapter, are meant to introduce you to basic concepts, theories, and perspectives related to effective human resources management. Further, your text includes a wealth of case studies and features that will help you understand practical problems and applications of human resources management principles. If you’re seriously thinking about a career in human resources management, you should take advantage of these extra features, even when they aren’t assigned.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Describe the elements of human resources management, including labor considerations, regulation, and management of workflow
- Explain how companies should prepare for and implement HRM to hire new employees and create training programs
- Identify the aspects of employee, career, and turnover management
- Summarize how employees are paid, including legal requirements, performance-based pay, commissions, salaries, and benefits
- Describe other HRM functions including collective bargaining, labor relations, global HRM, and building a high-performance organization
- Explain key aspects of the field of human resource management
-
(3 CREDITS)
Communication of all kinds is the cornerstone of our society. Communication allows you to form connections with the world around you. It influences your decisions and motivates change. And yet one of the most common forms of communication—public speaking—is one of the most common fears people have. To communicate well in public forums is one of the most important skills you can possess. How you speak and present yourself in public can say a lot about you. This course will help you hone these vital speaking skills.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Analyze the different methods and principles required for effective public speaking
- Point out the principles, methods, and skills required to rehearse and deliver effective public speaking
- Prepare and record a narrative or speech on personal experience
- Prepare and record an informative podcast for a website
- Create and record an infomercial by using one of the mentioned methods
- Prepare and present a motivational or reasoning speech to persuade your audience
- Produce a vivid speech by employing proper speech preparation and organization
-
(3 CREDITS)
The process of leadership involves much more than having a supervisory title or a managerial position. This course will teach you that leadership is a complex process involving many facets. Leadership involves methodology, psychology, evaluation, and influence. This process can occur anywhere in the chain of authority, regardless of the position. The most successful organizations integrate these leadership elements throughout the workforce to achieve maximum business goals.
This course will give you an understanding of relevant leadership issues, theories, and principles with real-life examples. This course will also provide you with the latest supervision and leadership research, in addition to illustrating the evolution and development of modern leadership principles. The course is broken down into four lessons, each with individual assignments and examinations to be completed and submitted for grading at the completion of each lesson.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Analyze the fundamentals of four major approaches to leadership
- Point out the intricacies of path-goal theory, leader-member theory, and transformational leadership theory
- Categorize various principles of advanced leadership as well as the importance of morals and ethics in leadership and followership
- Analyze the role of leadership involved with gender, culture, and globalization
- Prepare responses to the essay questions about your results from the Leadership Behavior Questionnaire
-
(3 CREDITS)
This course of study will help you become familiar with the various factors that influence the behavior of individuals and groups within an organizational context. This course examines key principles and challenges associated with the evolving arena of business and organizational management. Its particular focus is on how people behave—as individuals and in groups—in organizational settings. Your course begins with a review of the ways in which previous generations of researchers, theorists, and business leaders have regarded management, as well as current trends in management theory and practice. A genuine examination of organizational behavior must consider the factors that influence individual behavior and those that shape organizational goals. To strike an optimal balance between individual motivations and the needs and goals of organizations, effective management requires a solid understanding of both of these issues.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Analyze the fundamentals of organizational behavior, culture, and individuality
- Differentiate between the stages of perception, attribution, stress management, motivation, and engagement
- Point out the methods of fostering creativity, innovation, and decision making
- Distinguish between the concepts of effective communication, group making, and team development
- Categorize the elements of conflict, negotiation, and leadership
- Analyze the structure of organizational working and its associated elements
- Prepare a report on emotional labor perspectives at various workplaces by utilizing your findings
-
Labor Relations
(3 CREDITS)
In this course, you’ll examine the interactions between organized labor unions and company management. These interactions between unions and management include rights and responsibilities, negotiations, and collective bargaining.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Analyze the role played by labor unions and the impact of labor laws
- Explain labor relations management and bargaining strategies, structure, and constraints
- Discuss empowerment, partnership, globalization, and financialization
- Analyze various labor relations standards and considerations and what’s expected of the union
- Analyze the successes and challenges facing ALPA
Supply Chain Management
(3 CREDITS)
As global markets have increased in size and competition, firms are paying more attention to how they create and deliver their goods and services. Therefore, firms are investing time and resources into making their supply chains more efficient. This course covers the skills and techniques needed to become a supply chain manager and gives you the tools needed to succeed.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Identify the foundations and design of a supply chain
- Describe the quality management and control functions of the supply chain
- Define integrated business planning and its role in considering the financial impact of supply chain decisions
- Respond to case studies concerning supply chain management issues
Marketing
(3 CREDITS)This course covers the principles of marketing. Topics covered include assessing, analyzing, understanding, and targeting the marketplace, as well as the creation, capture, delivery, and communication of value. Students will learn how to develop a marketing plan, use social and mobile marketing effectively, integrate ethics into marketing strategies, influence the consumer decision process, perform market research, perform SWOT and STP analyses, make decisions
concerning branding, packaging, and developing new products, price products and services fairly, set advertising objectives, and more.By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:
- Analyze marketing plans, strategies, and the aids needed to catalyze them
- Analyze the foundation of the marketing model and its emergence
- Point out the targeted strategies and plans in marketing and globalization
- Formulate a plan of valuing production, innovation, and product marketing
- Develop the valuing strategies for products and services in marketing
- Categorize the strategies for supply chain management and retailing
- Distinguish between the various domains under IMC strategies
- Design a marketing plan for an existing business
Note: We reserve the right to change program content and materials when it becomes necessary.
Want more information about this program?
We're here to help.