Workshop: Sustaining Competitiveness through Lifelong Learning

在21世纪的全球知识经济中，我们正在见证科学和工程领域知识创造的步伐不断加快。这种指数式增长正在逐渐减少理工科的“半衰期”(S和安培)。发达世界经济体和发展中世界经济体都在寻找新的方法，以提高和维持其劳动力的技术能力和准备。美国在高等教育(本科生到博士后)方面投入了大量资金。但一旦进入劳动力大军，那些可以让自己保持在S发展前沿的机会就会大幅减少。尽管政策界普遍认为，美国有必要投资于为在职专业人士提供终身学习机会，但尚未对这一主题进行深入研究。没有任何系统的、正在进行的或最近的努力能够增进人们对终身学习作为科学和工程专业文化一部分的看法和作用的认识和理解。上一次关于这一主题的重点研究是在1985年关于“继续教育”的国家科学院报告中报道的。从那时起，教育和工作环境发生了戏剧性的变化，现在经常被描述为一个“平坦的世界”，在这个世界里，国家的繁荣能力取决于其劳动力的质量。2006年斯佩林斯委员会关于高等教育未来的报告呼吁“制定一项终身学习的国家战略，旨在让我们的公民和我们的国家走在知识革命的前沿。”拟议的研讨会旨在解决评估当前终身学习实践的迫切需要，并了解S和恩智浦在职专业人员尚未得到满足的需求。它将综合从2009年的一项研究中收集的关于终身学习的信息。它将为政策制定者制定建议，从而建立一个工程师终身学习的国家框架。

In the global knowledge economy of the 21st century we are witnessing an ever increasing pace of knowledge creation in the sciences and engineering. This exponential growth is gradually reducing the "half-life" of science and engineering (S&E) degrees. The developed and developing world economies alike are seeking out new ways to increase and sustain technical competencies and preparedness of their workforce. The U.S. makes substantial investments in higher education (undergraduate through postdoctoral levels). But once in the workforce, opportunities that are available for keeping oneself at the leading edge of S&E developments decline significantly. Despite widespread agreement in policy circles for the need for the U.S. to invest in lifelong learning opportunities for working professionals, an in-depth study on the topic has not been conducted. There are no systematic ongoing or recent efforts that would advance knowledge and understanding of the perceptions and role of lifelong learning as part of the culture in science and engineering professions. The last focused study on the topic was reported in the 1985 National Academies report on "continuing education". Since then dramatic changes have occurred in the education and workplace environments, now often characterized as a "flat world" in which nations ability to thrive depends on the quality of their workforces. The 2006 Spellings Commission report on the future of higher education calls for the "development of a national strategy for lifelong learning designed to keep our citizens and our nation at the forefront of the knowledge revolution." The proposed workshop is addressing the urgent need to assess current practices in lifelong learning and understand the unmet needs of the S&E working professional. It will synthesize information about lifelong learning gathered from a 2009 study. It will develop recommendations for policy-makers leading to a national framework for lifelong learning of engineers.