Introducing Research Experiences at Community Colleges

社区学院越来越成为未来STEM专业人员的切入点。华盛顿州几乎一半的大学生就读于社区学院或技术学院。虽然每年有更多的学生从社区学院转到四年制大学STEM课程，但大多数社区学院无法为学生提供“动手”的本科研究经验。绿色河社区学院（GRCC）和华盛顿大学（UW）的对策是将“探究实验模块”（ILM）整合到高级社区学院的科学课程中。ILM专注于尖端的跨学科领域，如有机光电子学和有机电子学。学生在研究团队中工作，提出研究问题，进行实验，分析结果，并与同行分享他们的发现。GRCC教师正在实施物理学领域的两个ILM，并计划随后在化学等领域开发其他ILM。GRCC教师与华盛顿大学的教师和研究生合作，确保ILM提供真实，可转移的经验，提高学生在STEM领域的保留率-特别是在代表性不足的群体中。通过参观华盛顿大学的先进研究实验室，学生可以在GRCC的ILM中开始的研究经验的基础上建立。这将提高他们在转移到UW或其他大学的STEM课程的成功率。学生还可以获得未来STEM职业的重要知识和技能。ILM成本相对较低，并且易于适应各种科学领域。华盛顿州教育职业卓越中心正在为非GRCC社区学院的教职员工举办一个传播研讨会，以便在他们自己的校园里实施ILM。ILM的文件在两年制大学物理系经常访问的专业网站上免费提供，并在美国物理教师协会的全国会议上介绍。

Community colleges are increasingly the entry point for future STEM professionals. Almost half of all college students in Washington State attend community or technical colleges. While more students each year transfer from community colleges to four-year university STEM programs, most community colleges are unable to give students a "hands-on" undergraduate research experience. This puts students at a disadvantage when they transfer to universities.Green River Community College (GRCC) and the University of Washington (UW) have responded by integrating "Inquiry Lab Modules" (ILMs) into upper-level community college science courses. ILMs focus on cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields such as organic photovoltaics and organic electronics. Students work in research teams to propose research questions, conduct experiments, analyze their results, and share their findings with peers. GRCC faculty members are implementing two ILMs in physics and plan to subsequently develop others in fields such as chemistry.GRCC faculty members work with UW faculty and graduate students to ensure that ILMs provide authentic, transferable experiences that increase student retention in STEM fields - especially within underrepresented groups. Through visits to advanced research labs at the UW, students can build on research experiences that began in ILMs at GRCC. This will improve their success in transferring to STEM programs at UW or other universities. Students also acquire vital knowledge and skills for future STEM careers.ILMs are relatively low-cost and are designed for easy adaptation to a variety of scientific fields. The Washington State Center of Excellence for Careers in Education is facilitating a dissemination workshop for non-GRCC community college faculty members to implement ILMs on their own campuses. ILM documentation is being made freely available on professional websites frequented by two-year college physics faculty and is being presented at national meetings of the American Association of Physics Teachers.