RET Site: Authentic Research Experiences for Teachers (ARETe): Connecting Community College Faculty and Students to University Engineering and Computer Science Labs

本RET网站：教师的真实研究体验(ARETE)：将社区学院的教职员工和学生连接到大学工程和计算机科学实验室，加强了科罗拉多大学博尔德大学(CU)与丹佛-博尔德大都市区五所两年制授予学位的社区学院(2YC)之间的协调：阿拉帕霍社区学院、奥罗拉社区学院、丹佛社区学院、前排社区学院和红岩社区学院。该项目创建和培养了一个由科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)2YC教师组成的网络，他们拥有来自第一手研究经验的尖端主题的特定专业知识，以及一套合作开发的教育模块，将内容与2YC学习和课程开发目标相结合。在该项目的每一年，十名2YC教员将与CU教员合作开展工程和计算机科学学科的实验室研究。研究课题包括：用于可再生能源发电的有机和混合光伏发电；用于精准农业的遥感；用于触觉传感和机器人感知的软机器人机械手；用于红外传感和化学表征的超快激光脉冲实验；用于减少汽车废气排放和利用生物质合成可再生材料的金属纳米颗粒催化；用于节能建筑的动态太阳能窗；用于生物医学成像的相干激光光源；以及用于生物电子传感和药物输送的有机电化学晶体管。2YC的教职员工将从沉浸式体验中走出来，深入了解国家需求的主题，并站在可再生能源、材料科学、生物医学研究、机器人和其他领域的研究前沿。除了在发展2YC教师研究知识和技能的同时推进广泛主题的研究外，该项目还将帮助2YC将他们的研究整合到专门针对2YC学习目标的STEM课程模块中，但重点放在ARTE研究主题上。协作模块开发将主要由参与2YC的教职员工根据他们在CU的研究经验推动。该项目旨在建立和培育学习社区，以促进向2YC学生传授知识，快速推进2YC STEM课程，并加强CU和科罗拉多州2YC之间的联系。加州大学的教职员工和研究生将为新课程的实施和评估提供面对面和远程支持，包括在2YC校园进行联合教学。研究团队将遵循结构化的反向设计方法来开发课程模块，利用混合和主动学习来传达重要的现代内容。作为一个广泛的目标，这些科罗拉多州学习社区的培养预计将通过CU教职员工和研究生的指导，通过学术准备和社会/情感利益，帮助降低学生从科罗拉多州2YC转到CU工程的障碍。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This RET Site: Authentic Research Experiences for Teachers (ARETe): Connecting Community College Faculty and Students to University Engineering and Computer Science Labs enhances coordination between the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and five, 2-year degree granting community colleges (2YCs) in the Denver-Boulder metropolitan area: Arapahoe Community College, Community College of Aurora, Community College of Denver, Front Range Community College, and Red Rocks Community College. The project creates and cultivates a network of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) 2YC faculty with specific expertise on cutting edge topics from first-hand research experience, along with a set of collaboratively-developed educational modules that integrate content with 2YC learning and curricula development goals. In each year of the project, ten 2YC faculty will collaborate with CU faculty to carry out laboratory research in engineering and computer science disciplines. Example research topics include: organic and hybrid photovoltaics for renewable electric energy generation; remote sensing for precision agriculture; soft robotic manipulators for tactile sensing and robotic perception; ultrafast laser pulse experiments for infrared sensing and chemical characterization; metal nanoparticle catalysis for reduced automotive emissions and renewable material synthesis from biomass; dynamic solar windows for energy-efficient building; coherent laser sources for biomedical imaging; and organic electrochemical transistors for bioelectronic sensing and drug delivery. The 2YC faculty will come away from the immersive experience with in-depth understanding of topics of national need and at the forefront of research on areas as diverse as renewable energy, materials science, biomedical research, robotics, and other areas. In addition to advancing research in a broad array of topics while developing 2YC faculty research knowledge and skills, the project will help 2YCs to integrate their research into STEM curriculum modules specifically targeting 2YC learning goals, but focusing on ARETe research topics. Collaborative module development will be primarily driven by participating 2YC faculty, based on their research experiences at CU. The project aims to establish and cultivate learning communities to facilitate transfer of knowledge to 2YC students, rapid progression of 2YC STEM curricula, and stronger connections between CU and Colorado 2YCs. CU faculty and graduate students will provide in-person and remote support of the implementation and assessment of new curricula, including co-instruction on 2YC campuses. Research teams will follow a structured backward design approach to curriculum module development, utilizing blended and active learning to convey important modern content. As a broad-ranging goal, the cultivation of these Colorado learning communities is expected to help lower the barrier for student transfer from Colorado 2YCs to CU Engineering, through both academic preparation and social/emotional benefits from mentoring by CU faculty and graduate students.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.