Professional Development to Enhance Skills of Manufacturing Instructors

对熟练制造技术人员的需求导致了社区大学高质量制造技术课程的扩展。国家资助和美国劳工部贸易调整援助社区学院职业培训补助金为康涅狄格州社区学院提供了设施和设备，以扩大其制造项目，为更多的学生提供服务。ATE下一代制造区域中心支持该领域的项目和课程开发。此外，它还为整个州和新英格兰地区的现任教师和讲师提供了专业发展机会。然而，工业对熟练技术人员的需求的增长速度超过了社区学院找到既有工业经验又有教育经验的合格教师的能力。许多潜在的教师拥有超过20年的行业经验，但缺乏与课堂教学和课程管理（包括评估）中使用的不同方法相关的技能。教师们需要专门的方法，将专业技能融入课堂和实验室。这个制造讲师技能项目将解决社区学院制造技术讲师专业发展的这些需求。该项目将涉及康涅狄格州所有12所公立社区学院及其先进制造技术中心。该项目将开发模块和新课程，为教师提供提高教学效率、改善课堂管理、制定高质量的学生学习评估和提高学生坚持学习的策略所需的技能。拟议的课程和模块将帮助新聘请的制造业技术人员，并为现有教师提供在高等教育学术环境中学习新的教学方法的机会。此外，该项目将每年为制造教员和教员举办两次关于基本技术技能的讲习班，并提供获得广泛使用的技术证书的机会。支持的认证示例包括国家金属加工技能研究所、SolidWorks计算机辅助设计软件和中小企业的增材制造认证。将提供额外的研讨会，提供增加制造业项目中代表性不足人口的持久性的策略。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The need for skilled manufacturing technicians has led to expansion of quality manufacturing technology programs in community colleges. State funding and a US Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training Grant provided Connecticut Community Colleges with the facilities and equipment to expand their manufacturing programs and serve more students. The ATE Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing has supported program and curriculum development in this area. In addition, it has supported professional development opportunities for current faculty and instructors across the state and New England. However, the rate of expansion industry's need for skilled technicians has exceeded the ability of the community colleges to find qualified instructors who have both industry and educational experience. Many potential instructors have over twenty years of industry experience but lack the skills associated with different methodologies used in classroom teaching and course management, including assessment. Faculty need expertise on methods that integrate professional skills into classrooms and laboratories. This Skills for Manufacturing Instructors project will address these needs for professional development for community college manufacturing technology instructors.The project will engage all twelve Connecticut public community colleges and their Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centers. The project will develop modules and a new course that will provide faculty with the skills needed to enhance their teaching effectiveness, improve classroom management, develop high quality student assessments of learning, and strategies to increase student persistence. The proposed course and modules will assist newly hired manufacturing technicians from industry as well as provide opportunities for current instructors to learn new teaching methodologies in a higher education academic environment. Additionally, the project will organize two workshops annually on essential technical skills for the manufacturing instructors and faculty, as well as provide opportunities for certification in widely used technologies. Examples of certifications that would be supported are the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, SolidWorks Computer-Aided Design software, and SME's Additive Manufacturing Certification. Additional workshops will be offered that provide strategies for increasing the persistence of underrepresented populations in the manufacturing programs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.