Advanced Technological Education in Robotics and Automated Manufacturing Program (ATE-RAMP)

Orangeburg-Calhoun技术学院（OCTech）将实施“机器人和自动化制造计划的先进技术教育”（ATE-RAMP），其总体目标是提高对女性和代表性不足的少数民族在科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）学科中的机会的认识。 为了实现这一目标，项目团队将实施一个三步计划，重点是意识，准备和职业准备。 在OCtech服务的地区内，对STEM职业的兴趣和学生在STEM科目中的成绩落后于全国，落后于南卡罗来纳州的许多地区。该项目的五个县是南卡罗来纳州失业率最高的四十六（46）个县中的前六名。 正在努力通过引进各种高科技产业来海岸该地区落后的经济。这些雇主将需要具有STEM学科知识和技能的工人，即机器人和自动化制造（AM）。如果没有熟练的劳动力提供，这个地区的南卡罗来纳州将无法履行其潜在的作用，作为一个家，这些急需的行业。ATE-RAMP将与当地行业和学区合作，通过吸引和吸引来自贫困农村社区的学生，帮助满足当前和未来的劳动力需求，这些学生通常不会接触机器人，AM和STEM职业机会。 该项目的目标是：（1）为代表性不足的群体提供机会，使他们有机会参加涉及机器人技术和AM的课程;（2）为高中生提供机器人技术和AM的双学分课程;以及（3）扩大OCTech计算机工程课程的课程设置，包括机器人技术和AM，并与其他学院共享开发的资源。 这些目标将通过各种活动来实现，包括但不限于为农村K-12学生举办Vex机器人团队，比赛和夏令营，部署旅行机器人和AM演示，为OCTech的中学STEM学院增加双学分课程，扩大现有课程的容量，以促进学生更好的实践经验，并修订工程技术应用科学（AAS）副学士学位，以确保其培养出具有在机器人和AM相关领域工作所需的市场技能的技术人员。 预期目标的实现将通过使用定量和定性数据评估情感和认知结果的混合方法来确定。 研究结果将有助于建立有关有前途的实践的知识库，让来自贫困农村社区代表性不足群体的学生参与STEM活动、技术人员项目和劳动力队伍。

Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College (OCtech) will implement the "Advanced Technological Education in Robotics and Automated Manufacturing Program" (ATE-RAMP) with the overarching goal of increasing awareness of opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines for women and underrepresented minorities. To achieve this goal, the project team will implement a three-step plan focused on awareness, preparation, and career-readiness. Within the region served by OCtech, interest in STEM careers and student achievement in STEM subjects lags behind the nation and behind many areas within the state of South Carolina. The five counties being targeted for this project are in the top six of South Carolina's forty-six (46) counties with the highest unemployment rates. Efforts are being made to shore up the lagging economy in the area by recruiting a variety of high tech industries. These employers will need workers with knowledge and skills in STEM subjects, namely robotics and automated manufacturing (AM). Without a skilled workforce to offer, this region of South Carolina will fail to fulfill its potential role as a home to these much needed industries. In partnership with local industry and school districts, ATE-RAMP will help meet current and future workforce needs by attracting and engaging students from poor, rural communities who are not typically exposed to robotics, AM, and STEM career opportunities. The partnering school districts have significant minority and female student populations.The objectives of the project are to: (1) introduce opportunities for underrepresented groups to have access to programs involving robotics and AM; (2) provide dual credit courses in robotics and AM for high school students; and (3) expand the course offerings in the computer engineering curriculum at OCtech to include robotics and AM and share developed resources with other colleges. These objectives will be met through activities including, but not limited to, hosting Vex Robotics teams, competitions, and summer camps for rural K-12 students, deploying traveling robotics and AM demonstrations, adding dual credit courses to the STEM Academy of the Middle College at OCtech, expanding capacity of existing courses to facilitate better hands-on experiences for students, and revising the Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Engineering Technology to ensure that it produces technicians with marketable skills necessary to work in fields related to robotics and AM. Achievement of desired goals will be determined by employing mixed methods that assess affective and cognitive outcomes using both quantitative and qualitative data. The results will help build the knowledge base on promising practices for engaging students from underrepresented groups who live in poor, rural communities in STEM activities, technician programs, and in the workforce.