The Center for Aviation and Automotive Technological Education using E-Learning: Providing E-learning Resources and Increasing Knowledge about Their Effectiveness

由于2019冠状病毒病大流行，各级教育都转向更多地依赖电子技术或电子学习。这种转变产生了对电子学习材料的新需求，以及关于哪种策略支持学生在不同环境下学习的知识。该项目将建立在美国国家科学基金会先前资助的航空和汽车技术教育中心使用虚拟电子学校（CA2VES）的成功基础上。这笔资金支持了创建和提供可访问的电子学习资源以支持航空和汽车技术教育的早期举措。通过其EducateWorkforce平台，CA2VES强调参与和有效的在线教学和学习，具有独特的优势，可以为正在向在线学习过渡的技术教师提供支持。除了帮助满足当今航空和汽车技术人员的教育需求外，该项目还将重点关注与未来制造技术相关的教育需求。该项目与美国国家科学基金会的资助优先领域（例如，人类技术前沿工作的未来）和美国国家工程院的重大挑战（例如，增强虚拟现实；推进个性化学习）直接相关。根据工业界、政府机构和学术界的信息，该项目将：1)为航空和汽车技术领域提供可扩展、具有成本效益和灵活的电子学习模式；2)发展和扩大航空和汽车领域的学者网络；3)利用电子学习协助技术学院和社区学院支持多样化的社区；4)开展基于证据的研究，对不同环境下电子学习和虚拟现实/增强现实的有效性进行纵向研究。这种电子学习交付模式将为多样化的航空和汽车技术教育受众整合课堂和动手实验室经验。项目成果将为学校管理人员和系统设计师开发和部署面向不同受众的电子学习课程提供实用指南和资源。此外，该项目旨在作为航空和汽车技术电子学习材料的国家资源，并为职业道路意识提供在线资源。该项目的一个关键组成部分是将通用学习设计原则整合到课程开发中。因此，该项目编写的教材将面向所有学习者，包括退伍军人、妇女、经济边缘化学生、第一代学生和有学习差异的学生。该项目旨在通过对电子学习方法的有效性进行循证控制和纵向研究，以获取有关电子学习的新知识，以扩大航空和汽车人才管道及其在不同人群中的应用。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。

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all levels of education have shifted to greater reliance on electronic technologies or e-learning. This shift creates new needs for e-learning materials as well as for knowledge about which strategies support student learning in diverse settings. This project will build on the success of prior NSF funding for the Center for Aviation and Automotive Technological Education using Virtual E-Schools (CA2VES). This funding supported early initiatives to create and deliver accessible e-learning resources to support aviation and automotive technological education. Through its EducateWorkforce platform, which emphasizes engaging and effective online teaching and learning, CA2VES is uniquely positioned to support technological instructors who are making a transition to online learning. In addition to helping meet the aviation and automotive technician education needs of today, the project will also focus on educational needs relevant for future manufacturing technologies. The project is directly relevant to NSF’s funding priority areas (e.g., Future of Work at the Human Technology Frontier) and the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges (e.g., Enhancing Virtual Reality; Advancing Personalized Learning).Informed by industry, governmental agencies, and academia, the project will: 1) support aviation and automotive technological fields with a scalable, cost-effective, and flexible e-learning model; 2) grow and broaden the aviation and automotive network of scholars; 3) use e-learning to assist technical and community colleges in support of diverse communities; and 4) conduct evidence-based research and pursue longitudinal studies on the efficacy of e-learning and virtual reality/augmented reality for diverse settings. This e-learning delivery model will integrate classroom and hands-on laboratory experiences for a diverse aviation and automotive technician education audience. The project outcomes will provide practical guidelines and resources for school administrators and system designers for developing and deploying e-learning curricula for diverse audiences. Additionally, the project is intended to serve as a national resource for curated e-learning materials for aviation and automotive technology and provide an online resource for awareness of career pathways. A key component of the project is its integration of Universal Design for Learning principles into curriculum development. As a result, the materials developed by the project will serve all learners, including veterans, women, economically marginalized students, first-generation students, and students with learning differences. The project intends to generate new knowledge about e-learning through evidence-based controlled and longitudinal studies on the efficacy of e-learning approaches to broaden the aviation and automotive talent pipeline and its application to diverse populations. 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.