Optics, Photonics, and Lasers Technical Education Curriculum Development

光子学、精密光学和激光都是与光相互作用的高科技设备。几乎所有的现代消费电子产品都包含一些光子技术。光子学在虚拟现实和增强现实等新技术中也很重要，这些技术用于教育、空间和军事应用。在整个美国，每年从社区学院毕业的光子学专业毕业生的数量远远低于对新的光子学技术人员的需求。为了满足这一需求，尔湾谷学院将与美国西部地区的其他六所学院和大学合作，为学生创造和促进更多的途径，让他们成功地在光电子行业从事技术工作。该团队将与光电子行业合作开发新的课程材料，并将公开提供。新的数字徽章，代表所需的技能或能力在光子学也将被创建，以便技术人员具有这些技能可以更容易地识别未来的雇主。该项目将有助于发展和加强国家的光子技术人员队伍。该项目的目标是通过职业和技术教育（CTE）教师和整个美国西部地区的行业专业人士之间的合作，为光子学劳动力准备训练有素的技术人员。主要目标是：1)建立开放许可的课程开发框架，在线教育资源，以支持新的或现任光子学技术人员和教职员工的培训；2)开发和试点开放教育资源，包括课程、教材、模块、教材、流媒体视频等；3)为光电技术人员创建、试点和促进行业标准数字徽章的使用；4)促进西部地区的光子学教师和产业网络。开发的课程将通过知识共享许可协议向公众开放，数字徽章将通过同心天空的Badgr平台创建。该方法将通过合作院校在各州共享：俄勒冈州波特兰市的俄勒冈理工学院；华盛顿州柯克兰的华盛顿湖理工学院；华盛顿州斯波坎市的斯波坎社区学院；马萨诸塞州波兹曼的加勒廷学院；位于爱达荷州波卡特洛的爱达荷州立大学；项目成果和最佳实践也将在全国NSF ATE网络和其他国家场所传播，以支持国家光子学学位和技术人员认证的发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Photonics, precision optics, and lasers are high-tech devices that interact with light. Almost all modern consumer electronics contain some photonics technology. Photonics are also important in new technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality that are used in education, space, and military applications. Across the United States, the yearly number of graduates from community colleges in the photonics field is far lower than the demand for new photonics technicians. To help meet this demand, Irvine Valley College will team up with six other colleges and universities in the western region of the United States to create and promote more pathways for students to successfully pursue technician careers in the photonics industry. The team will work with photonics industries to develop new course materials that will be openly available. New digital badges that represent desired skills or abilities in photonics will also be created so that technicians with these skills can by more easily identified by prospective employers. This project will assist in growing and strengthening the nation's photonics technician workforce.The goal of this project is to prepare highly-trained technicians for the photonics workforce through collaboration among Career and Technical Education (CTE) faculty and industry professionals throughout the western region of the United States. The main objectives are to: 1) establish a curriculum development framework for open-license, online educational resources to support the training of new or incumbent photonics technicians and faculty members; 2) develop and pilot the open educational resources, including courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, and streaming videos; and 3) create, pilot, and facilitate the use of industry-standard digital badges for photonics technicians; and 4) facilitate a western regional network of photonics faculty and industry. The developed curriculum will be openly accessible through a Creative Commons license, and the digital badges will be created through Concentric Sky's Badgr platform. The approach will be shared across states via the partner colleges: Oregon Institute of Technology in Portland, OR; Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland, WA; Spokane Community College in Spokane, WA; Gallatin College in Bozeman, MT; Idaho State University in Pocatello, ID; and Pima Community College in Tucson, AZ. Project results and best practices will also be disseminated throughout the nationwide NSF ATE network and other national venues, to support national development of photonics degrees and certifications for technicians.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.