Pathways for a Process Operations Technology Education Program for the Liquefied Natural Gas Industry

液化天然气行业工艺操作技术教育计划的途径

• 批准号: 2300967
• 负责人: Kathryn Robinson
• 金额: $ 63.7万
• 依托单位: Texas State Technical College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-01 至 2026-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2300967&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Pathways; Process; Operations; Technology; Education

This project aims to serve the national interest by developing and implementing an updated Process Operations Technology (PRO) program to prepare students for high-demand technical careers in the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) industry. Targeted occupations include petroleum pump system operator, refinery operator, chemical plant and system operators, refrigeration specialists and gas plant operators. Texas is home to seven LNG export facilities that are in use, under construction, or in the planning stages and will eventually support 70,000 jobs in the region. Importantly, this project will build on prior work to redesign the PRO program into a flexible and accessible statewide model to address the needs of industry and employers in the East Texas region. This approach will provide students with increasingly flexible opportunities and pathways to obtain the necessary training to enter and be successful in the LNG industry. Ultimately, this project intends to contribute to the training of a highly skilled workforce for this rapidly growing industry and serve as a model in the region for how to develop flexible technical education pathways that meet student needs. Texas State Technical College will collaborate with local industry to achieve the primary goal of increasing the quality and number of highly skilled technicians in the LNG industry through the implementation of an innovative and flexible Process Operations Technology (PRO) program. This will be accomplished through the following activities: 1) partnering with industry to undergo a statewide curriculum alignment process of the PRO program courses to standardize curriculum and learning outcomes, 2) upgrading of instructional equipment to provide flexible, and accessible training in an open lab environment, and 3) combining a performance-based online instructional model with an innovative flexible career pathway approach featuring multiple entry/multiple exit (MEME) points. The project team aims to enroll a minimum of one hundred students over the three-year project period of which fifty students will graduate with either an AAS degree or an industry recognized certificate. A formal evaluation will be conducted to assess project activities and outcomes with a focus on contributing to the body of knowledge on flexible technical education pathways for preparing skilled technicians to be successful in the science and engineering technical workforce. As a result, this project has the potential to provide a model for the technical education community for how to transition from the traditional didactic contact hour format to a flexible career pathway format with a stair-step approach that promotes student retention and career-placement success. The team aims to immediately expand the project to other campuses located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the Texas Gulf Coast, West Texas, and the Rio Grande Valley through hybrid courses and other targeted dissemination efforts. 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.

该项目旨在通过开发和实施更新的过程操作技术 (PRO) 计划来服务国家利益，为学生在液化天然气 (LNG) 行业的高要求技术职业做好准备。 目标职业包括石油泵系统操作员、炼油厂操作员、化工厂和系统操作员、制冷专家和天然气厂操作员。 德克萨斯州拥有七个液化天然气出口设施，这些设施正在使用、在建或规划阶段，最终将为该地区提供 70,000 个就业岗位。重要的是，该项目将以之前的工作为基础，将 PRO 计划重新设计为灵活且可访问的全州模式，以满足东德克萨斯地区行业和雇主的需求。这种方法将为学生提供越来越灵活的机会和途径，以获得进入液化天然气行业并取得成功所需的培训。最终，该项目旨在为这个快速发展的行业培训高技能劳动力做出贡献，并成为该地区如何开发满足学生需求的灵活技术教育途径的典范。德克萨斯州立技术学院将与当地行业合作，通过实施创新和灵活的过程操作技术（PRO）计划，实现提高液化天然气行业高技能技术人员的质量和数量的主要目标。 这将通过以下活动来实现：1) 与业界合作，对 PRO 计划课程进行全州范围的课程调整流程，以标准化课程和学习成果；2) 升级教学设备，在开放实验室环境中提供灵活、方便的培训；3) 将基于绩效的在线教学模型与具有多个入口/多个出口 (MEME) 点的创新灵活职业路径方法相结合。该项目团队的目标是在三年的项目期间招收至少 100 名学生，其中 50 名学生毕业时将获得 AAS 学位或行业认可的证书。将进行正式评估，以评估项目活动和成果，重点是为灵活的技术教育途径的知识体系做出贡献，以培养熟练的技术人员在科学和工程技术劳动力中取得成功。因此，该项目有可能为技术教育界提供一个模型，帮助其从传统的教学接触时间格式过渡到灵活的职业路径格式，并采用阶梯式方法，促进学生保留和职业安置的成功。 该团队的目标是通过混合课程和其他有针对性的传播工作，立即将该项目扩展到达拉斯/沃斯堡地区、德克萨斯州墨西哥湾沿岸、西德克萨斯州和里奥格兰德河谷的其他校园。该项目由先进技术教育计划资助，该计划重点关注推动国家经济发展的先进技术领域的技术人员教育。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。