Design and Development: NSF Engineering Research Centers Unite: Developing and Testing a Suite of Instruments to Enhance Overall Education Program Evaluation

NSF工程研究中心联合项目旨在开发和测试一套全面的工具，旨在加强对NSF资助的工程研究中心（ERC）提供的教育和多样性项目的评估。ERC教育和多样性规划，包括与本科生，研究生和博士后学者的学年活动，以及本科生，高中生，K-12教师和社区大学教师的暑期课程，是一种传播中心活动新兴知识的机制。对这些大型多机构中心提供的项目进行有效性评估，以确保其影响超出ERC技术研究，这一点至关重要。由此产生的一套工具，加上一个评估工具箱，将填补现有的空白，并允许中心以以前不可能的方式进行合作。这将增强我们对ERC及其对技能发展、包容性气候和未来STEM劳动力发展的整体影响的理解。该项目由亚利桑那州立大学三ERC教育联盟（TEEC）领导，该联盟由教育领导者、研究人员和评估人员组成，与目前资助的三个ERC-生物介导和生物启发岩土工程中心（CBBG）、纳米系统中心纳米启用水处理（NEWT）和中心量子能源和可持续太阳能技术（QESST）。该小组要实现的目标包括：1）确定目前获得资助的伦理委员会的评估需求，2）创建一套评估工具，3）创建一个评估工具箱，以及4）使我们的资源广泛可用。我们将创建定量（例如调查）和定性（例如，访谈，焦点小组，和实验室观察协议）的措施通知的需要和观点，目前的伦理委员会。这些工具将在TEEC ERC和其他参与的ERC中进行实地测试，这些ERC表示有兴趣使用这套工具。这些工具将附有一个评价人员工具箱，旨在支持和指导评价人员使用这些工具。这些资源将双重地作为围绕评价建立评价资源协调员实践社区的手段。由此产生的资源将通过目前使用的紧急救济协调员网站/中心以电子方式广泛提供。此外，量化的多ERC工具（MERCI）将被转换为一个在线ERC评估系统，便于评估人员访问。拟议的系统将特别简化定量评价，这将为中心评价人员选择定性评价方法提供更大的灵活性和创造性。许多ERC采用这些共享资源将为ERC之间的比较提供前所未有的机会。研究结果将显着影响如何ERC评估他们的教育和多样性规划，并提出了一个潜在的工具套件，有效地评估任何大型中心，提供类似的教育和多样性programmes.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The NSF Engineering Research Centers Unite project aims to develop and test a comprehensive set of instruments designed to enhance the evaluation of education and diversity programs offered by NSF-funded Engineering Research Centers (ERC). ERC education and diversity programming, including academic year activities with undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars plus summer programs for undergraduate students, high school students, K-12 teachers, and community college instructors, is a mechanism to disseminate emerging knowledge from center activities. It is critically important that programs offered by these large, multi-institutional centers be evaluated for effectiveness to ensure their impact beyond ERC technical research. The resulting suite of instruments supplemented by an evaluator toolbox will fill an existing void and allow centers to collaborate in ways previously not possible. This will enhance our understanding of ERCs and their overall impact on skill development, climate of inclusion, and future STEM workforce development.This project is led by the Arizona State University Tri-ERC Education Consortium (TEEC), which consists of education leaders, researchers, and evaluators associated with three currently funded ERCs - Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG), Nanosystems Center for Nano-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), and Center for Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies (QESST). The goals to be undertaken by this team include: 1) identifying the evaluation needs of currently funded ERCs, 2) creating a suite of evaluation instruments, 3) creating an evaluator toolbox, and 4) making our resources broadly available. We will create quantitative (e.g. survey) and qualitative (e.g., interview, focus group, and lab observation protocols) measures informed by the needs and perspectives of current ERCs. These instruments will be field-tested across TEEC ERCs and other participating ERCs who have indicated an interest in using the suite of instruments. These instruments will be accompanied by an evaluator toolbox designed to support and guide evaluators in the use of these instruments. These resources will doubly serve as a means of creating an ERC community of practice around evaluation. The resulting resources will be made broadly available electronically through currently used ERC websites/hubs. Additionally, the quantitative Multi-ERC Instrument (MERCI) will be converted into an online ERC Evaluation System easily accessed by evaluators. The proposed system will specifically streamline quantitative evaluation, which will provide for greater flexibility and creativity in the selection of qualitative evaluation approaches used by center evaluators. The adoption of these shared resources by numerous ERCs will open up never before seen opportunities for cross-ERC comparisons. The findings will significantly impact how ERCs evaluate their education and diversity programming and presents a potential suite of instruments for effectively evaluating any large center that offers similar education and diversity 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.