PathTech LIFE: Constructing a National Survey of Engineering Technology Students through Regional and Statewide Testing

PathTech LIFE将为关于社区学院的作用以及先进技术领域在保持国家STEM劳动力全球竞争力方面的重要性的国家政策讨论做出贡献。 通过全国调查和相关研究的发展，该项目旨在确定学生在工程技术（ET）的先进技术领域的特点，他们的学术途径，职业目标和学校工作生活平衡问题，这些问题影响他们决定参加并完成ET课程，返回进一步ET课程，和/或攻读证书或学位。此外，该项目还将确定在研究的早期第一阶段开发的基于质量的模型的普遍性，该阶段得到了ATE目标研究奖的支持。 部分混合方法顺序平等地位的研究设计和工具的开发是基于PRiSM（路径更好的生活;反思学习者;同步学习，收入和生活;与学术生活相匹配）成人入学决策模型; Schlossberg的过渡理论咨询;和解释模型在研究的第一阶段。该项目将采用顺序最小二乘回归和多水平回归技术，沿着分层线性建模，以检查和建模人口统计学和背景因素与调查结果之间的关系。 该项目将根据因素分析、可靠性和有效性测试以及专家同行审查的结果，测试和修订调查工具。

PathTech LIFE will contribute to the national policy discussion on the role of community colleges and the importance of advanced technological fields in maintaining the global competitiveness of the nation's STEM workforce. Through the development of a national survey and associated research, the project is designed to identify the characteristics of students in the advanced technological field of engineering technology (ET), their academic pathways, career goals, and school-work-life balance issues that impact their decisions to enroll in and complete ET courses, return for further ET coursework, and/or pursue a certificate or degree. Furthermore, the project will determine the generalizability of the qualitatively-based models developed during an earlier, first phase of the research, which has been supported by an ATE targeted research award. The partially mixed-methods sequential equal-status research design and instrument development are based on the PRiSM (Pathway to better life; Reflective learner; Synchronizing learning, earning, and living; Match with an academic life) Decision Model for Adult Enrollment; Schlossberg's Transition Theory from counseling; and the explanatory models developed during the first phase of the research. The project will employ ordinal least squares regression and multilevel regression techniques along with hierarchical linear modeling to examine and model the relationships among demographics and background factors and the outcomes under investigation. The project will test and revise the survey instrument based on results from factor analyses, tests of reliability and validity, and expert peer review.