Preparing New Instructors to Deliver the I-Corps Curriculum to Scientists and Engineers: A Pilot Training Program

美国国家科学基金会创新队（I-Corps）计划帮助美国国家科学基金会资助的科学家和工程师发展评估他们的研究的技能，以评估他们的研究是否具有潜在的实用性和经济上可扩展的应用。全国大学生发明家和创新者联盟（NCIIA）正在举办一个“培训师”研讨会，以帮助开发一个可扩展的模式，以支持I-Corps项目的计划扩展。相关的I-Corps培训活动包括一个为期八周的课程，向I-Corps团队展示精益Launchpad商业模式设计和客户开发流程（由Steve Blank开发）。该协会与I-Corps教学小组的创始成员合作，正在举办讲习班，培训六名新教员；同时对教师培训项目进行形成性评估。更广泛的意义讲习班的参与者在离开时获得了一套扩展的技能，这些技能使他们获得了评估研究并将其转化为有益于社会的应用所必需的工具。培训的结果是，参与者能够确定来自nsf资助的研究的技术的商业可行性。从评估过程中获得的反馈信息将为教师培训项目和I-Corps课程的改进提供信息，以帮助指导未来将项目扩展到全国不同地区更多的团队。讲习班正在培训一个初步的教员网络，这些教员可以在向新的机构和区域传播方案模式时改进和调整方案模式。

LEAD INSTITUTION: National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA)PROJECT DESCRIPTION The NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program helps NSF-funded scientists and engineers develop skills in evaluating their research for potential practical, economically scalable applications. The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) is conducting a "train-the-trainer" workshop to help develop a scalable model that can support the planned expansion of the I-Corps program. The associated I-Corps training activity involves an eight-week course that exposes I-Corps teams to the Lean Launchpad business model design and customer development process (developed by Steve Blank). NCIIA, in cooperation with the founding members of the I-Corps teaching team, is providing a workshop to train six new instructors; while also conducting a formative evaluation of the instructor-training program.BROADER SIGNIFICANCEWorkshop participants are leaving with an expanded set of skills that give them the tools necessary to evaluate and translate research into applications that can benefit society. As a result of the training, participants are able to determine the commercial feasibility of technology derived from NSF-funded research. Feedback from the evaluation process is informing improvements in both the instructor-training program and the I-Corps curriculum, in an effort to help guide the future program expansion to greater numbers of teams in different regions across the nation. The workshop is training an initial a network of instructors who can improve and adapt the program model as it is disseminated to new institutions and regions.