What's News @ ASE

Posted 1/14/2010
By Tony Molla

Since 1972, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) has listened and responded to the industry in developing the only nationally recognized certification for automotive professionals. Today, ASE is again responding to the industry, developing two new online programs built on the core concept of enhancing professionalism in the service bay. Both of these new products are the result of direct requests from technicians, shop owners and others for something from ASE to address a need within the repair industry.

The first is the ASE Maintenance and Inspection (M&I) E-learning Program. This groundbreaking product is designed to meet a unique set of needs for a significant number of service professionals who primarily perform maintenance and inspection tasks, rather than diagnosis and repair. The M&I program was developed based on workshops held around the country that identified the need for something from ASE aimed at the maintenance segment.

After careful consideration, ASE chose to harness eLearning technology as the solution for the new M&I Program. This approach allows the ability to not only develop and package the training and quiz, but to deliver and track it. Consisting of four training modules and a fifth quiz module, the program focuses on awareness of the tasks related to maintenance and inspection. As an added feature, an embedded and alphabetized glossary contains key terms related to the basics of maintenance and inspection. Upon earning a passing score on the quiz, the user achieves recognition in maintenance and inspection and may print out a mini certificate online. The credential from this program does not convey any sort of certification, as opposed to passing an ASE certification test.

The second line of new ASE products developed in response to industry requests are the Official ASE Practice Tests, similar to the ones offered at the Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) and the International Autobody Congress and Exposition (NACE). These provide technicians and other automotive professionals with the opportunity to take no-stakes online practice tests, with questions of the same content and format as those used on the ASE certification exams. The practice tests are half the length of the regular ASE tests and will provide useful feedback to the user in the form of a performance report and explanations for correct and incorrect answers. The Official ASE Practice Tests will help prepare candidates for the regular ASE certification tests through an independent, pre-certification assessment of their competency, giving them an opportunity to improve their skills in areas of weakness prior to taking the ASE certification test. The initial practice tests offered will be the automobile technician tests A1 through A8 and the parts specialist test P2.

The practice tests were developed with subject matter experts using standard ASE test-development practices. All practice tests are assembled using the current ASE test specifications and test assembly format, with ongoing question maintenance to keep the tests relevant and aligned with current specifications.

Both the M&I E-learning Program and the Official ASE Practice Tests are available online 24/7. For more information on these and other ASE programs, visit the ASE Web site at www.ase.com.

Tony Molla is the vice president of communications for the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) in Leesburg, Va. With more than 35 years experience in the automotive service industry, Molla has held positions at all levels, including technician, service manager, parts store manager, new car sales and automotive technical editor writing service manuals for the Chilton Book Company. He has authored more than a dozen technical and car care manuals. He can be reached at tmolla@ase.com.