Infusing Emerging Nano and Green Technologies into Community College STEM Curriculum

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This project is developing, implementing, and evaluating an integrated approach to STEM teaching and learning for the expanding population of community college undergraduates in two emerging areas: nanotechnology and green technology. At its core the approach embeds a set of short nanotechnology and green technology modules within the introductory STEM courses of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Engineering. In addition day-long career workshops bring together all students from across the different courses using the modules. The student hands-on activities and faculty professional development sessions for each module connect discipline-specific concepts to practical applications from the two emerging technologies. The career workshops feature: 1) participation from industry speakers, 2) additional hands-on activities and interactive demonstrations exploring nanotechnology and green technology, 3) an in-depth discussion of STEM career options at all levels, and 4) a forum on the societal and ethical implications of emerging technologies. The intellectual merit of the project lies in the choice of content, the modular design of the materials, and the provision of follow-on opportunities to engage in deeper exploration, synthesis, and reflection on nanotechnology and green technology topics. Broader impacts are exerted through the strong partnership of a two-year institution with a leading public research university and its nationally recognized curriculum design and professional development center. Such collaboration offers not only a model for other flagship research universities, but also enables the project to reach important student audiences since the community college population has a greater percentage of students from underserved groups, and a faster overall growth rate, than the population of 4-year colleges. Furthermore, targeting introductory courses creates the greatest chance to reach a broad audience of both college students undecided about STEM careers and young faculty teaching STEM courses. In so doing the project is helping build the community college infrastructure needed for training the next generation STEM workforce in emerging technologies.