Promoting Access To Technical Education for Non-traditional Computer Informations Systems Students

信息技术（IT）行业存在劳动力危机。由于高等教育机构训练有素的毕业生的供应不能满足行业对工人的需求，国家、地区和地方的许多职位空缺。这种对IT专业人员和技术人员的迫切需求需要创新的教学解决方案，这些解决方案将扩大IT劳动力并使其多样化。这个为期三年的项目的目标是留住和毕业非传统社区学院（两年制）的IT学生，这些学生因为被传统的IT教学方法和文化疏远、恐吓或排斥而迷失在这个领域。应用科学和工程教育学的最新研究成果，该项目创建并评估了旨在为非传统IT学生工作的教学方法，而不是反对他们。这个项目为学生制作教育材料，为教师制作专业发展材料。活动包括：-发展及推行一项新计划，评估资讯科技学生的个性及学习风格，并根据该评估提供意见；-发展及提供新课程，将不同的学习策略纳入主要的资讯科技入门课程；-为非传统资讯科技学生发展及举办特别工作坊及学习/支援小组；发展及举办工作坊，协助资讯科技教师了解及实施针对目标人群的另类教学策略。非传统资讯科技学生的预期结果是：-提高学习成绩；-增加资讯科技人员的留任；-增加资讯科技专业的人数；提高毕业率。IT教师的预期结果是：-对各种学习方式持更积极的态度，-增加对不同学习方式的了解，以及-实施不同的教学策略。该项目将于三年级在另外两所社区大学进行测试。项目成果包括：-两门资讯科技入门课程的非传统课程；-非传统学生的学生评估/辅导计划；-非传统学生成功工作坊；以及帮助教师制定针对非传统学生的教学策略的研讨会。

PROJECT SUMMARYA workforce crisis exists in the Information Technology (IT) industry. Many jobs go unfilled nationally, regionally and locally because the supply of trained graduates from institutions of higher education does not meet industry's demand for workers. This urgent need for IT professionals and technicians requires innovative instructional solutions that will expand and diversify the IT workforce.The objective of this three-year project is to retain and graduate non-traditional community college (two-year) IT students who are being lost to the field because they are alienated, intimidated or excluded by traditional IT teaching methods and culture. Applying the results of recent research in science and engineering pedagogy, this project creates and evaluates instructional methods intended to work for non-traditional IT students, instead of against them. This project creates educational materials for students and professional development materials for faculty. The activities include:- developing and implementing a new program to assess personality and learning styles of IT students and a program of advising based on that assessment;- developing and delivering new curricula incorporating alternative learning strategies into key introductory IT courses;- developing and instituting special workshops and study/support groups aimed at non-traditional IT students; and- developing and delivering workshops to assist IT faculty to learn about and implement alternative teaching strategies for the target population.Expected outcomes for nontraditional IT students are: - improved academic performance;- increased retention in IT; - increased numbers of IT majors; and - improved graduation rates.Expected outcomes for IT faculty are: - a more positive attitude toward a variety of learning styles,- increased knowledge about alternative learning styles, and - implementation of alternative teaching strategies.The project will be tested at two additional community college sites in Year 3. Deliverables from this project include:- the non-traditional curricula for two introductory IT courses; - the student assessment/advising program for non-traditional students; - the non-traditional student success workshops; and - the workshops to assist faculty in developing teaching strategies for non-traditional students.