Creating a Sustainable Educational Pipeline for the Controlled Environment Agriculture Workforce through a Remote Dual-Credit High School to College Model

受控环境农业（CEA），俗称室内农业，正在迅速成为一种被广泛接受的技术，以提高农村社区的粮食安全，食品安全和经济发展。新墨西哥州是CEA的理想之地，每年有300多天的阳光，廉价的土地，以及对当地新鲜农产品日益增长的需求。北方新墨西哥州是一个历史悠久的农业西班牙裔和美洲原住民社区的地区，他们往往缺乏发展CEA技术劳动力所需的教育资源。因此，该地区对CEA技术人员的需求为这些农村地区的经济增长和粮食安全提供了机会。圣达菲社区学院（SFCC）的这个为期3年的项目将培训9所农村高中的18名教师，为180名服务不足的学生提供应用科学副学士（A.A.S.）第一年课程的双学分课程。在CEA的程度。该项目大大扩展了新墨西哥州的学校培训区域CEA劳动力的能力，并为学生进入SFCC并获得A.A.S.创造了一个渠道。时间缩短的程度。远程教学技术加上现场动手复制的鱼菜共生系统为农村高中的教师和学生提供了混合学习的机会。一个新的在线网络将连接学生和教师与CEA行业和学术专业人士，他们不太可能有机会通过传统的高中教育与之互动。一个学术管道，包括一个强大的实习计划，将确保谁完成他们的SFCC CEA学位要求的学生准备进入劳动力市场。该项目将通过综合教育和外联工作满足该行业的技术劳动力需求。此外，它将通过SFCC校园的高中教师暑期课程，增加合格的双学分CEA教师的数量。来自服务不足社区的三所高中将分别被邀请派遣两名STEM教师参加为期一周的密集夏季研讨会，以学习CEA大学课程。教师将准备每年提供两个CEA双学分课程。每所学校都将收到一个复制的交钥匙教室鱼菜共生系统，用于实践教学，并配有远程监控传感器。在每一批教师完成夏季研讨会后的第一个学年，学生们将在高中教师和SFCC教师共同教授的课程中参加实践学习。 在随后的几年中，参与高中教师将准备独立教授双学分CEA课程。在项目的三年中，SFCC的教职员工每周都会对教师进行指导。学生实习和暑期研究经验将加强课程和发展工作场所的技能。该项目在向基本上得不到充分服务的农村社区提供21世纪世纪农业教育和联网机会方面是独一无二的。该项目将增加当地高中提供的双学分课程的数量，并使当地社区参与粮食主权问题，同时在服务不足的社区建立可持续的劳动力队伍。该项目由先进技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重于推动国家经济的先进技术领域的技术人员的教育。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。

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), popularly knows as indoor agriculture is rapidly becoming a widely accepted technology to improve food security, food safety, and economic development in rural communities. New Mexico is ideal for CEA with more than 300 days of sun each year, inexpensive land, and growing demand for fresh locally grown produce. Northern New Mexico is a region with historical agricultural Hispanic and Native American communities who often lack access to the educational resources necessary to develop the technical CEA workforce. Thus, the demand for CEA technicians in the region presents an opportunity for economic growth and food security in these rural areas. This 3-year project at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) will train 18 teachers at 9 rural high schools to provide 180 underserved students with dual-credit courses in the first-year curriculum of the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree in CEA. The project significantly expands the ability for schools across New Mexico to train a regional CEA workforce and creates a pipeline for students to enter SFCC and earn their A.A.S. degree in reduced time. Remote instructional technologies coupled with on-site, hands-on replicated aquaponics systems provide teachers and students with blended learning opportunities in rural high schools. A novel online network will connect students and teachers with CEA industry and academic professionals whom they would not likely have opportunities to interact with through a conventional high school education. An academic pipeline, including a robust internship program, will ensure that students who complete their SFCC CEA degree requirements are ready to enter the workforce. This project will meet the technical workforce needs of the industry through integrated education and outreach efforts. In addition it will address the opportunity to increase the number of qualified dual-credit CEA instructors through a summer program for high school teachers at the SFCC campus. Three high schools from underserved communities will each be invited to send two STEM teachers to participate in an intensive week-long summer workshop to learn the introductory CEA college curriculum. The teachers will be prepared to deliver two CEA dual-credit courses annually. Each school will receive a replicated turn-key classroom aquaponics system for hands-on practical instruction complete with sensors for remote monitoring. The first academic year after each cohort of teachers completes the summer workshop the students will participate in hands-on learning with their aquaponics system in classes co-taught by the high school teacher and SFCC faculty. In subsequent years participating high school teachers will be prepared to teach the dual-credit CEA curriculum independently. The teachers will be mentored weekly by SFCC faculty and staff throughout the three years of the project. Student internships and summer research experiences will reinforce the curriculum and develop workplace skills. The project is unique in providing twenty-first century agricultural education and networking opportunities to largely underserved rural communities. The project will increase the number of dual-credit classes available in local high schools and engage the local community in food sovereignty issues while creating a sustainable workforce in underserved communities. 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.