Introducing Research Experiences at Community Colleges

社区大学越来越成为未来STEM专业人士的切入点。华盛顿州几乎一半的大学生上社区或技术学院。虽然每年有更多的学生从社区学院转到四年制的大学STEM项目，但大多数社区学院无法为学生提供“动手”的本科研究经验。这使学生在转学到大学时处于不利地位。作为回应，绿河社区学院（GRCC）和华盛顿大学（UW）将“探究实验室模块”（ilm）整合到高级社区学院的科学课程中。ilm专注于前沿的跨学科领域，如有机光伏和有机电子。学生们在研究团队中工作，提出研究问题，进行实验，分析结果，并与同龄人分享他们的发现。GRCC教师正在实施两个物理领域的ilm，并计划随后在化学等领域开发其他ilm。GRCC的教职员工与西澳大学的教职员工和研究生合作，确保ilm提供真实的、可转移的经验，提高学生在STEM领域的保留率，尤其是在代表性不足的群体中。通过参观西澳大学的先进研究实验室，学生们可以在GRCC的ilm项目中积累研究经验。这将提高他们转学到西澳大学或其他大学STEM项目的成功率。学生还将获得未来STEM职业所需的重要知识和技能。ilm的成本相对较低，并且易于适应各种科学领域。华盛顿州教育事业卓越中心正在为非grcc社区学院教员举办一个传播讲习班，以便他们在自己的校园内实施ilm。ILM的文档在专业网站上免费提供给两年制大学物理教师，并在美国物理教师协会的全国会议上展示。

Community colleges are increasingly the entry point for future STEM professionals. Almost half of all college students in Washington State attend community or technical colleges. While more students each year transfer from community colleges to four-year university STEM programs, most community colleges are unable to give students a "hands-on" undergraduate research experience. This puts students at a disadvantage when they transfer to universities.Green River Community College (GRCC) and the University of Washington (UW) have responded by integrating "Inquiry Lab Modules" (ILMs) into upper-level community college science courses. ILMs focus on cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields such as organic photovoltaics and organic electronics. Students work in research teams to propose research questions, conduct experiments, analyze their results, and share their findings with peers. GRCC faculty members are implementing two ILMs in physics and plan to subsequently develop others in fields such as chemistry.GRCC faculty members work with UW faculty and graduate students to ensure that ILMs provide authentic, transferable experiences that increase student retention in STEM fields - especially within underrepresented groups. Through visits to advanced research labs at the UW, students can build on research experiences that began in ILMs at GRCC. This will improve their success in transferring to STEM programs at UW or other universities. Students also acquire vital knowledge and skills for future STEM careers.ILMs are relatively low-cost and are designed for easy adaptation to a variety of scientific fields. The Washington State Center of Excellence for Careers in Education is facilitating a dissemination workshop for non-GRCC community college faculty members to implement ILMs on their own campuses. ILM documentation is being made freely available on professional websites frequented by two-year college physics faculty and is being presented at national meetings of the American Association of Physics Teachers.