Industrial Arts

Industrial Arts is an umbrella term originally conceived in the late 19th century to describe educational programs which featured fabrication of objects in wood and/or metal using a variety of hand, power, or machine tools. Many also cover topics such as small engine repair and automobile maintenance, and all programs usually cover technical drawings—one or two semesters—as part of the curricula. Used as a definite educational term industrial arts dates from 1904 when Charles R. Richards of Teachers College, Columbia University, New York suggested to replace the phrase manual training.

In the United States Industrial Arts classes are colloquially known as "shop class"; these programs expose children to the basics of home repair, manual craftsmanship, and machine safety. Most Industrial Arts programs were established in comprehensive rather than dedicated vocational schools and focused on a broad range of skills rather than on a specific vocational training.

In New South Wales (NSW, Australia) Industrial Arts is still a key part of the high school curriculum. The term now describes a key study of technology that focuses on both engineering and industrial technologies. Additionally, design using the aforementioned technologies is now a key part of the Industrial Arts curriculum and has been since the mid 1980s when Technics was introduced into NSW high schools.

One of the most important aspects of Industrial Arts is still that while students design they ultimately realise a solution; learning the challenges involved with working with materials and also the challenges of small scale project management.

Some universities have doctoral programs in the Industrial Arts.