Online Technical Education in ATE-Funded Programs: Building Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations

随着全国对社区大学的关注，对STEM先进技术领域技术人员的需求，以及在线教育的重大前景，该研究项目将通过开发和实施科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）技术/技术教育的在线课程和课程组成部分，识别和综合已经学到的知识。特别强调由国家科学基金会先进技术教育计划（ATE）支持的开发和实施项目。研究小组将调查在线教育的实施和使用如何能够或确实深刻地改变教学和学习的制度文化和结构。数据收集包括与教师进行深入的半结构化访谈，以及关键的个人和结构化文件分析。本定性研究探讨了在线教育对STEM先进技术领域技术人员的前景。本研究的目标是综合ATE项目中关于在线技术教育的知识，并与更广泛的关于在线技术教育中什么有效、什么无效的文献建立联系。研究团队将通过一个由三角测量、同行汇报和成员核查组成的迭代过程来确保研究结果的可信度、可靠性和可确认性。数据三角测量包括用多种方法收集数据。同行汇报包括一名外部审稿人检查来自访谈和焦点小组的记录和文件分析的数据，以确保发现和结论代表了研究参与者的看法/观点。成员检查要求研究人员与研究参与者分享他们的发现，以确保信息被正确解释。

With national spotlights on community colleges, the need for technicians in advance technological fields in STEM, and the significant promise of online education, this research project will identify and synthesize what has been learned through efforts at developing and implementing online courses and course components in technical/technician education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with a particular emphasis on development and implementation projects supported by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Eduation program (ATE). The research team will investigate how the implementation and use of online education can or does profoundly change the institutional culture and structure of teaching and learning. Data collection consists of in-depth semi-structured interviews with faculty and key personal and structured document analysis.This qualitative research study examines the promise of online education for technicians in advanced technological fields in STEM. The goal of the research study is to synthesize what has been learned about online technical education in ATE project and make connections to the broader literature about what works and what does not work in online technical education. The research team will ensure the credibility, dependability, and confirmability of the research findings through an iterative process consisting of triangulation, peer debriefing, and member checking. Data triangulation involves collecting data with multiple methods. Peer debriefing involves an outside reviewer examining the data from transcripts of interviews and focus groups and document analyses to ensure that findings and conclusions represent the perceptions/perspectives of the research participants. Member checking requires that researchers share their findings with research participants to ensure that information was interpreted correctly.