PathTech LIFE: Constructing a National Survey of Engineering Technology Students through Regional and Statewide Testing

PathTech LIFE将为社区大学的作用和先进技术领域在保持美国STEM劳动力的全球竞争力方面的重要性的国家政策讨论做出贡献。通过开展全国调查和相关研究，该项目旨在确定工程技术（ET）先进技术领域学生的特点、他们的学术途径、职业目标和学校与工作与生活的平衡问题，这些问题会影响他们参加和完成ET课程、返回继续学习ET课程和/或攻读证书或学位的决定。此外，该项目将确定在研究的早期第一阶段开发的基于质量的模型的普遍性，该研究已得到ATE目标研究奖的支持。基于PRiSM（通往美好生活之路；反思性学习者；学习、收入和生活同步；与学术生活匹配）成人招生决策模型，部分混合方法的顺序平等研究设计和仪器开发；Schlossberg的心理咨询过渡理论以及在第一阶段研究中形成的解释模型。该项目将采用有序最小二乘回归和多层回归技术以及分层线性建模来检查和建模人口统计和背景因素与调查结果之间的关系。该项目将根据因素分析、可靠性和有效性测试以及专家同行审查的结果测试和修订调查工具。

PathTech LIFE will contribute to the national policy discussion on the role of community colleges and the importance of advanced technological fields in maintaining the global competitiveness of the nation's STEM workforce. Through the development of a national survey and associated research, the project is designed to identify the characteristics of students in the advanced technological field of engineering technology (ET), their academic pathways, career goals, and school-work-life balance issues that impact their decisions to enroll in and complete ET courses, return for further ET coursework, and/or pursue a certificate or degree. Furthermore, the project will determine the generalizability of the qualitatively-based models developed during an earlier, first phase of the research, which has been supported by an ATE targeted research award. The partially mixed-methods sequential equal-status research design and instrument development are based on the PRiSM (Pathway to better life; Reflective learner; Synchronizing learning, earning, and living; Match with an academic life) Decision Model for Adult Enrollment; Schlossberg's Transition Theory from counseling; and the explanatory models developed during the first phase of the research. The project will employ ordinal least squares regression and multilevel regression techniques along with hierarchical linear modeling to examine and model the relationships among demographics and background factors and the outcomes under investigation. The project will test and revise the survey instrument based on results from factor analyses, tests of reliability and validity, and expert peer review.