Preparing a Skilled Technical Workforce through Utilization and Assessment of Undergraduate Research

有证据表明，早期沉浸在有指导的体验式学习中，例如本科研究经历，可以提高学生对STEM的坚持度，完成STEM认证，并进入技术劳动力市场。由于在许多两年制的大学校园里，研究经验可能是有限的，这些机构的学生将受益于更多的机会，从事真正的研究经验。培养足够的熟练技术工人，为先进的技术产业做好准备，已成为美国的国家优先事项，这对美国保持其在科学和技术方面的全球领导地位至关重要。社区和技术学院在满足这一需求方面发挥着至关重要的作用，特别是对于那些有资格进入技术劳动力市场或转入四年制大学获得STEM学士学位的学生。培养国家所需的STEM专业人才的一个有效和快速的方法是增加社区大学学生在STEM领域的坚持。本项目建议通过为社区大学生提供更多的本科研究经验来实现这一目标。这些研究经历将帮助学生获得更深入的STEM知识和技能，提高他们的学术成就，并使他们能够发展进入STEM技术劳动力所需的高度重视的专业技能。该项目将建立在三个不同的目标上：(1)为大量STEM学生提供真实的本科研究经历，以帮助他们增强对STEM职业的兴趣，并获得在技术工作场所至关重要的专业技能；(2)修改评估工具EvaluateUR，以便在较短（8周）的夏季研究经历中使用；(3)实施EvaluateUR评估学生通过参与本科研究经历获得的学科和专业技能的智力成长和发展。该项目与先进技术教育计划的目标一致，并利用加州大学欧文分校的大量研究设施和资源，以及通过纽约州立大学布法罗州立大学和卡尔顿学院科学教育资源中心修改和实施EvaluateUR的技术资源和支持。将招募四组20名STEM学生，并参与本科生研究经历。学生和教师导师将使用改进的EvaluateUR工具进行评估。这个工具已经被证明可以衡量广泛的理想结果，包括内容知识和在工作场所至关重要的结果，包括沟通技巧、解决障碍的能力、解决问题的能力和批判性思维。该项目将通过支持招收妇女、退伍军人、第一次上大学的学生、种族和少数民族学生的活动，努力确保教育公平；这些群体代表了一个重要的、有才华的STEM人才库，可以促进国家技术劳动力的增长。项目成果将通过一个专门的网站公布，并在本地和区域会议上发表，包括理工学院首席研究员会议、美国社区学院协会年会和本科生研究委员会会议。所有社区学院和其他有兴趣让学生参与类似研究经历的学术机构都可能对实施该项目所吸取的经验教训感兴趣。该项目由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。

This project builds upon the evidence that early immersion in mentored experiential learning, such as an undergraduate research experience, increases student persistence in STEM, completion of STEM certifications, and entry into the technical workforce. Since research experiences may be limited at many two-year college campuses, students at these institutions would benefit from expanded opportunities to engage in authentic research experiences. Educating enough skilled technical workers who are prepared for advanced technology industries has become a national priority in the United States, and it is essential for the country to retain its global leadership in science and technology. Community and technical colleges play a vital role in meeting this demand, especially for preparing students who are well qualified to enter the technical workforce or transfer to a four-year university to earn STEM baccalaureate degrees. An efficient and rapid way to produce the STEM professionals that the nation needs would be to increase community college student persistence in STEM fields. This project proposes to achieve that goal by providing more undergraduate research experiences to community college students. The research experiences are expected to help students gain deeper STEM knowledge and skills, to increase their academic success, and to enable them to develop the highly valued professional skills needed to enter the STEM technical workforce.The project will build on three distinct goals: (1) providing authentic undergraduate research experiences to a large number of STEM students to help strengthen their interest in STEM careers and gain professional skills that are critically important in the technical workplace; (2) modifying an assessment tool, EvaluateUR, for use in shorter (8-week) summer research experiences; and (3) implementing EvaluateUR to assess the intellectual growth and development in the students’ disciplinary and professional skills acquired through participating in the undergraduate research experiences. The project is aligned with the goals of the Advanced Technological Education program and leverages the vast research facilities and resources at the University of California, Irvine, together with the technical resources and support for modifying and implementing EvaluateUR available through SUNY-Buffalo State and the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College. Four cohorts of 20 STEM students will be recruited and engaged in an undergraduate research experience. Student and faculty mentors will be assessed using the modified EvaluateUR tool. This tool has been shown to measure a broad range of desirable outcomes that include both content knowledge and the outcomes that are critically important in the workplace, including communication skills, ability to solve obstacles, problem solving skills and critical thinking. The project will work to ensure educational equity through activities that support the recruitment of women, veterans, first-time college students, racial and ethnic minorities; these groups represent an important, talented STEM pool for growing the nation's technological workforce. The project outcomes will be published through a dedicated website, presentations at local and regional conferences, including the ATE Principal Investigators Conference, the American Association of Community Colleges annual convention, and the Council on Undergraduate Research Conference. The lessons learned while implementing this project will likely be of interest to all community colleges and other academic institutions with an interest in engaging students in similar research experiences. This project is funded by the 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.