IGE: Learning Communities of Graduates for Advancing Professional Skills (GAPS): Integrate Professional Skill Training with Thesis Research

这个国家科学基金会研究生教育创新（IGE）奖给爱荷华州州立大学将建立可持续的学习社区的毕业生促进专业技能（GAPS）和设计一个新的培训框架，适应项目管理技能从行业到学术研究。该计划将解决两个基本的教育研究问题：如何将项目管理技能培训与研究生教育中的论文研究相结合？学习型社区在提高专业技能的培训和保留以及论文研究的有效性方面的作用（或价值）是什么？研究表明，目前的研究生教育过于狭隘地集中在论文研究上，研究生没有为未来在工业或学术界工作做好充分的技能准备。然而，有限的资源和缺乏教师的支持，阻止学生致力于技能培训。为了应对这些挑战，该计划将开发创新的培训方法，以帮助学生学习和实践项目管理技能。利用同业交流群框架，该项目将有两项重大创新。首先是让学生参与自我导向的学习活动，在他们从策划的在线模块中学习时制作和评估新的课程内容。二是结合论文研究实践专业技能。这种新的学习模式有可能从根本上改变研究生教育的文化，有效地利用现有的资源，并获得教师的认同。相关的研究设计将探索可能导致学习社区成功的因素，帮助重新定义当前的研究生教育，并鼓励在STEM领域内外更广泛地采用这些新方法。评估方法是由务实的评估范式，并将在研究中收集各种数据，包括程序参与数据，文件分析，学生调查，教师和行业合作伙伴的访谈。该计划将通过多个队列迭代和对照组严格测试这种方法的好处，包括通过GAPS计划在论文研究和专业技能培训之间创造的协同作用。目标是打破研究生教育的现状（课程之后是个人研究），建立可持续的GAPS社区，可以有效地提高研究生的专业技能。最终，该计划将提高研究生毕业后的就业准备和安置。研究生教育创新（IGE）计划的重点是研究生教育的研究。IGE的目标是试验、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛的社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to the Iowa State University will establish sustainable learning communities of Graduates for Advancing Professional Skills (GAPS) and design a new framework of training that adapts the project management skills from industry to academic research. The program will address two fundamental education research questions: How can project management skill training be integrated with thesis research in graduate education? What is the role (or value) of learning communities in enhancing the training and retention of professional skills and effectiveness of thesis research? Studies suggest that current graduate education focuses too narrowly on thesis research, and graduate students are not well prepared with skills for future work in industry or the academy. However, limited resources and lack of faculty support prevent students from committing to skill training. To address these challenges, this e program will develop innovative training approaches to help students learn and practice project management skills. Utilizing the framework of communities of practice, the project will have two major innovations. The first is engaging students with self-directed, learning activities to produce and evaluate new course content as they learn from the curated online modules. The second is practicing the professional skills integrated with the thesis research. This new learning model has the potential to fundamentally change the culture of graduate education, efficiently utilize the current resources, and obtain faculty buy-in. Associated research design will explore factors that may lead to the success of a learning community, help reconceptualize current graduate education and encourage broader adoption of these new approaches within and beyond STEM fields. The evaluation approach is informed by the pragmatic evaluation paradigm, and a variety of data will be collected in the study including program participation data, document analysis, student surveys, and faculty and industry partner interviews. The program will rigorously test over multiple cohort iterations and with control groups the benefits of this approach, including the synergy created between thesis research and professional skill training through the GAPS program. The goal is to disrupt the status quo of graduate education (courses followed by individual research) and build sustainable GAPS communities that can effectively improve professional skills for graduate students. Ultimately, the program will improve graduate student job readiness and placement upon graduation. The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.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.