Collaborative Research: Leveraging the Collective Strengths of e4usa and FiRST for Greater Impact on the Future Engineering Workforce (e4usa+FIRST)

行业对训练有素的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）专业人员的需求正在以目前中学后学生入学率所不支持的速度增长。在大学预科阶段，主要是孤立地努力教育和激发学生对STEM可能的职业的兴趣。e4 usa +FIRST项目是一项前所未有的努力，它在两个现有项目之间建立了合作伙伴关系-为美国所有人工程（e4 usa）和科学技术的灵感和认可（FIRST）-努力利用集体力量促进工程教育的民主化。这项合作努力使教师能够教育、告知和激发年轻人对工程职业的兴趣，从而对未来的工程劳动力产生更大的整体影响。该项目的总体目标是设计和测试无数的e4 usa和FIRST混合模型，这些模型将在服务不足的社区中实施，这些社区无法在学校提供或维持工程经验。针对未得到服务的社区，旨在有意扩大这两个方案的范围和影响。总体目标伴随着四个目标：1）为服务不足社区的高中建立混合e4 usa +FIRST模式，2）准备教师和学校实施e4 usa +FIRST模式，3）将教师与导师，大学和行业联系起来，以及4）通过创新的商业模式和技术工具探索计划的可扩展性和可持续性。整体努力需要一个启动研讨会，多个发展冲刺，夏季专业发展，学年实践社区，导师，大学和行业伙伴关系，以及可扩展性和可持续性倡议。实施情况将通过教师访谈，学生焦点小组，课堂观察和调查进行评估。探索支持可扩展性，可持续性和将新学校纳入工程教育生态系统的机制的额外努力旨在增加e4 usa +FIRST计划的寿命和整体影响。这一努力为测试合作未来成功的可能性奠定了基础，特别是在服务不足的社区。这种混合方法有可能极大地促进招聘和留住更多样化的未来工程人员，同时向大学和行业合作伙伴展示这种努力的价值。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

Industry demands for highly trained science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professionals are growing at a rate not supported by current post-secondary student enrollments. Efforts have been made primarily in isolation at the pre-college level to educate and excite students about possible careers in STEM. The e4usa+FIRST project is an unprecedented effort that establishes a partnership between two existing programs - Engineering for US All (e4usa) and For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) - in an effort to leverage collective strengths toward furthering the democratization of engineering education. This collaborative effort prepares teachers to educate, inform, and excite youth about careers in engineering for greater overall impact on the future engineering workforce.The project’s overarching goal is to design and test a myriad of blended e4usa and FIRST models to be implemented within underserved communities that have been unable to offer or maintain engineering experiences at their schools. Targeting unserved communities is designed to intentionally expand the reach and impact of these two programs. The overarching goal is accompanied by four objectives: 1) establish blended e4usa+FIRST models for high schools in underserved communities, 2) prepare teachers and schools to implement an e4usa+FIRST model, 3) link teachers with mentors, universities, and industry, and 4) explore program scalability and sustainability through innovative business models and technological tools. The overall effort entails a kick-off workshop, multiple development sprints, summer professional development, academic year community of practice, mentorship, university and industry partnerships, and scalability and sustainability initiatives. Implementation will be evaluated using teacher interviews, student focus groups, classroom observations, and surveys. Additional efforts exploring mechanisms to support scalability, sustainability, and incorporation of new schools into the engineering education ecosystem are intended to increase the longevity and overall impact of the e4usa+FIRST program. This effort provides the foundation for testing the likelihood of the collaboration’s future success, specifically within underserved communities. The blended approach has the potential to contribute greatly to recruitment and retention of a more diverse future engineering workforce, while demonstrating the value of such efforts to university and industry partners. The result will be a better educated citizenship with a growing interest in engineering and engineering careers.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.