Welding Education Long-Distance Community Outreach

拥有先进科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)知识和技能的认证焊工对美国石油、食品生产和加工、运输和制造业至关重要，该项目包括来自这些行业的行业合作伙伴。由于这一巨大需求，西山社区学院的焊接距离社区拓展(WELDCO)计划旨在满足加州贫困的中央山谷西侧日益增长的高级焊接技术人员的需求。该计划旨在使移动设备成为一种成功的面对面焊接课程，并在学院服务区内地理位置偏远的地区提供，这些地区的职业和技术教育(CTE)历来非常有限。随着第一代移民的子女获得中学后教育和有报酬的工作，区域社区内将发生文化变化，从而创造积极的世代学习成果。作为成人学习者、那些寻求提高工作技能的已经就业的人以及失业者将利用这一教育计划的可获得性，该地区将获得进一步的好处。该项目将影响州和国家，因为这种教育模式是与其他社区学院和组织共享的，以改善雇主伙伴关系和增长。一个强有力的项目评估将研究该项目对商业和工业以及对参与其中的学生和工人的影响。WELDCO是一种针对特定人群的课程设计，它包括电子学习、虚拟现实(VR)焊接技术和传统培训的可变集成，作为吸引非传统学生的一种手段。将采用形成性和总结性评估来评估课程表现和需要的修改。该方案充分利用了加州的立法授权和州政府对教育项目(包括高中课程和高等教育)的资助，以增强对该地区教育和随后的就业的影响。学生将从扩大的实习机会和雇主合作中受益，以帮助创造地区影响。该项目侧重于三个目标：(A)开发混合焊接课程，以整合电子学习、虚拟现实教学和传统课堂教学，从而获得美国焊接协会(AWS)认证；(B)通过满足学生的认知偏好和学习风格，优化课程交付，以最大限度地提高效率、效果和参与度；以及(C)实施针对特定人群的招聘，包括西班牙裔、少数族裔和女性学生。

Certified welders with advanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) knowledge and skills are vital to the United States petroleum, food production and processing, transportation, and manufacturing industries, and this project includes industry partners from these sectors. Because of this great need, the Welding Distance Community Outreach (WELDCO) program at West Hills Community College is designed to meet the needs for a growing sector of advanced welding technicians on the West Side of the California impoverished Central Valley. The program seeks to transport and make mobile a successful, face-to-face, welding program and offer it in geographically isolated areas within the service area of the college where career and technical education (CTE) has been historically very limited. Cultural changes will occur within the regional community as children of first-generation immigrants attain post-secondary education and gainful employment, thus creating a positive generational learning outcome. Further benefits will accrue to the region as adult learners, those already employed seeking to improve job skills, and the unemployed capitalize on the accessibility of this education program. The project will impact both the state and the nation as this education paradigm is shared with other community colleges and organizations for improving employer partnerships and growth. A robust project evaluation will study the impact of this project on business and industry and on the students and workers involved. WELDCO is a cohort-specific curriculum design which includes variable integration of e-learning, Virtual Reality (VR) welding technology, and traditional training as a means of engaging nontraditional students. Formative and summative assessments will be employed to assess curriculum performance and modifications needed. The package takes full advantage of California legislative mandates and state funding for education programs (including high school pathways and post-secondary education) to enhance the impact on education and subsequent employment in the region. Students will benefit from the expanded internship opportunities and employer collaborations to help create a regional impact. This project focuses on 3 objectives: (a) development of a blended welding curriculum to integrate e-learning, VR instruction, and traditional classroom instruction that will lead to American Welding Society (AWS) certification; (b) optimization of course delivery to maximize efficiency, effectiveness, and engagement by addressing student cognitive preferences and learning styles; and (c) implementation of population specific recruitment to include Hispanic, minority, and female students.