Instrumentation Training for Hands-On Learning in the Engineering Technician Classroom

全国范围内制造业缺乏熟练的技术人员。在科罗拉多州北部，先进的制造公司特别指出了对工业维修工人的迫切需求。为了满足这一需求，Front Range社区学院将设计并实施一项新的副学士学位课程，使学生成为工业维修技术人员。该项目团队将与科罗拉多州北部的当地制造公司合作，为该项目开发课程。这些课程将包括主动学习和新培训设备的技能建设指导，为学生提供与行业相关的学习经验。这一创新的学位课程将为学生提供多种证书选择，这些证书可以作为职业发展途径的一部分，叠加到副学士学位上。该项目还将为学生提供获得行业认可认证的机会。这些证书将有助于证明学生为就业做好了准备。因此，该项目有可能增加熟练的工业维修技术人员的数量，以满足劳动力需求。该项目将寻求：1)为工程技术学生提供增强的学习经验，以满足北科罗拉多州先进制造业的关键需求；2)发展和多样化区域工业维修技术人员队伍。项目团队将与本地制造业的相关专家密切合作，设计一个新的自动化和工程技术应用科学副学士学位。新课程将使用最先进的工业培训设备，结合实践经验，帮助学生发展所需的技能，包括电路和仪表、工业电机和控制、基本加工、流体动力和机械系统的技能。为期两年的课程将包括两个可堆叠的证书。在第一年课程结束时，学生将获得工业维护证书。在第二年，学生将能够获得工业自动化和机器人证书，并完成国家金属加工技能研究所（NIMS）过程控制系统认证测试（职责区域7）。学生在NIMS测试中的表现将用于研究新课程对学生学习成果的影响。课程序列的创新结构将使学生在短短一年后获得市场所需的技能，并将为可能有经济困难的学生提供一条通往入门级工作的捷径。这种灵活的结构还将用于吸引、招收和留住该地区服务不足和代表性不足的人口中的更多学生。新学位课程的内容、项目成果和最佳实践将在当地社区、地区和全国范围内传播。该项目由美国国家科学基金会先进技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。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。

There is a nationwide shortage of skilled technicians in the manufacturing industry. In northern Colorado, advanced manufacturing companies have specifically noted a critical need for industrial maintenance workers. To help fill this need, Front Range Community College will design and implement a new associate degree program that will prepare students to be industrial maintenance technicians. The project team will work in partnership with local manufacturing companies in northern Colorado to develop courses for the program. These courses will include active learning and skills-building instruction on new training equipment to provide industry-relevant learning experiences for students. This innovative degree program will provide students with options of certificates that can be stacked toward the associate degree as part of an approach for career advancement. The program will also provide the opportunity for students to obtain industry-recognized certifications. The certifications will help demonstrate students' readiness for employment. As a result, the project has the potential to increase the number of skilled industrial maintenance technicians available to meet workforce needs.This project will seek to: 1) provide enhanced learning experiences for engineering technology students that respond to critical needs of the Northern Colorado advanced manufacturing industry; and 2) grow and diversify the regional industrial maintenance technician workforce. The project team will design a new Associate of Applied Science degree in automation and engineering technology, in close collaboration with subject matter experts in local manufacturing industries. The new curriculum will use state-of-the-art industrial training equipment to incorporate hands-on experiences that help students develop needed skills, including skills in electrical circuits and instrumentation, industrial motors and controls, basic machining, fluid power, and mechanical systems. The two-year course of study will include two stackable certificates. At the end of the first year in the program, students will earn a certificate in Industrial Maintenance. During the second year, students will be able to earn an Industrial Automation and Robotics certificate, as well as complete the National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS) Certification tests for Process Control Systems (Duty Area 7). Student performance on the NIMS testing will be used to study the effects of the new curriculum on student learning outcomes. The innovative structuring of the course sequences will enable students to gain marketable skills after only one year and will help provide a shortened path to an entry-level job for students who may have financial obstacles. This flexible structuring will also be used to attract, recruit, and retain more students from underserved and underrepresented populations within the region. The content in the new degree program, the project results, and best practices will be disseminated in the local community, regionally, and nationally. This project is funded by the NSF Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.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.