Expanding Precision Agriculture Education and Certification to Secondary Students

凭借这一奖项，帕克兰学院打算在精准农业和无人机系统两个国家科学基金项目的成功基础上，为中学生提供获得大学证书的途径，同时获得行业经验。通过与行业领导者、社区合作伙伴和中等教育组织的协调，该项目将创造学徒机会和可堆叠证书，为中学生在精准农业和相关部门的工作做好准备。这些可堆叠的证书将结合精准农业和无人机系统的课程，并专门为高中生设计。学员将在完成课程的同时，通过与行业合作伙伴的学徒关系获得行业经验。该项目将侧重于通过增加女性和少数民族中学生的参与来增加农业劳动力的多样性。食品安全和农产品出口是美国经济的重要组成部分。因此，改善农业培训机会对于继续保持美国农业在世界舞台上的强大存在至关重要。该项目的目标是建立一个新的早期大学和职业学院计划；与区域雇主建立基于工作的学习机会；增加传统上代表性不足的学生对农业的参与。精准农业部门继续现代化，训练有素的学生的重要性变得越来越重要。随着劳动力老龄化和年轻一代远离农业行业，许多精准农业公司难以填补空缺职位。创造新的途径，鼓励中学生探索作为精准农业技术人员的职业，将确保获得强大的劳动力。项目参与者将为进入和推进不断发展的精准农业产业做好充分准备。通过为中学生提供证书和学徒机会，该项目将根据行业需求培养未来的技术人员。此外，该项目的重点是增加妇女和少数民族从事精准农业的人数，这将加强和多样化美国的一个重要产业。通过该项目开发的可交付成果和最佳实践将通过与多个行业合作伙伴和全州中等教育组织的协调来传播。此外，在整个资助期间，PI和Co-PI将参加并出席与农业教育、农业综合企业和无人驾驶飞机系统相关的会议。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。

With this award, Parkland College intends to build on the success of two prior NSF projects in Precision Agriculture and Unmanned Aircraft Systems to develop a pathway for secondary students to earn a college credential while gaining industry experience. In coordination with industry leaders, community partners, and secondary education organizations, the project will create apprenticeship opportunities and stackable certificates to prepare secondary students for jobs in precision agriculture and adjacent sectors. The stackable certificates will combine coursework in Precision Agriculture and Unmanned Aircraft Systems and be designed specifically for high school students. Participants will complete this curriculum while obtaining industry experience through apprenticeships with industry partners. The project will focus on increasing the diversity of the agriculture workforce by increasing involvement of female and minority secondary students. Food security and agricultural exports are a major part of the US economy. Thus, improving training opportunities in agriculture is essential to continuing the strong presence of US agriculture on the world stage. The goals of the project are to establish a new Early College and Career Academy Program; establish work-based learning opportunities with regional employers; and increase participation of traditionally underrepresented students in agriculture. The precision agriculture sector continues to modernize and the importance of well-trained students is becoming increasingly critical. Many precision agriculture companies struggle to fill open positions as the workforce ages out and the younger generation is drawn away from careers in agriculture. Creating new pathways to encourage secondary students to explore careers as technicians in precision agriculture will ensure the availability of a robust workforce. Project participants will be well prepared to enter and advance in the growing precision agriculture industry. By developing credentials and apprenticeship opportunities for secondary students the project will be educating future technicians in line with industry needs. Furthermore, the project's focus on increasing the number of women and minorities in precision agriculture will strengthen and diversify an important American industry. The deliverables and best practices developed through the project will be disseminated through coordination with multiple industry partners and a statewide secondary education organization. Additionally, the PI and Co-PI will attend and present at conferences relevant to agriculture education, agribusiness, and unmanned aircraft systems conferences throughout the grant period. 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.