Preparing Future STEM Technicians by Using Assessment as a Teaching and Learning Tool in Course-based Research at Community Colleges

社区学院在满足国家对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域合格毕业生的需求方面发挥着至关重要的作用。特别是，社区大学是培养学生进入熟练技术劳动力的关键。在越来越多的社区大学STEM项目中，学生们通过进行课程研究来获得技术技能。我们需要资源和工具来衡量基于课程的研究经验对学生成果的影响，以及这种研究方式为学生进入STEM技术人员队伍做准备。该项目将支持社区大学生在技术教育项目中进行基于课程的研究。该项目旨在帮助学生确定他们通过研究经验获得的知识和技能，确定他们需要改进的领域，并在进入劳动力市场时将这些知识用于他们的优势。该项目与ATE计划的目标一致，即培养熟练的技术劳动力，并利用社区学院本科生研究计划和卡尔顿学院科学教育资源中心提供的技术资源。该项目建立在EvaluateUR的基础上，这是纽约州立大学布法罗州立大学开发的一种基于证据的方法，用于衡量研究参与的一系列理想结果。EvaluateUR工具测量内容知识，以及在工作场所至关重要的结果，如沟通技巧、创造力、自主性、克服障碍的能力、批判性思维和解决问题的能力。EvaluateUR还为学生提供元认知技能，以及确定他们已经取得或仍需取得多少学业进步的策略。迄今为止，EvaluateUR一直专注于一对一的学生/教师导师关系。该项目将修改EvaluateUR，以扩大可以从这种评估方法中受益的学生数量。这种扩展是为了满足整个教室的学生进行课程研究的需要。本项目在社区学院实施过程中获得的经验可以应用于本科生在其他机构（包括四年制学院和大学）进行的基于课程的研究。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。

Community colleges play a vital role in meeting the national demand for qualified graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In particular, community colleges are key in preparing students to enter the skilled technical workforce. In a growing number of community college STEM programs, students are gaining technical skills by conducting course-based research. There is a need for resources and tools that can measure the impact of course-based research experiences on student outcomes, and the ways in which this type of research conducting prepares students to enter the STEM technician workforce.This project will support community college students who conduct course-based research in technician education programs. The project aims to help students identify the knowledge and skills they gain through their research experience, to identify areas in which they need to improve, and to use this knowledge to their advantage as they enter the workforce. The project aligns with the goals of the ATE program in educating a skilled technical workforce, and leverages both the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative and the technical resources available through the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College. This project builds upon EvaluateUR, an evidence-based method developed at SUNY Buffalo State to measure a range of desirable outcomes of research participation. The EvaluateUR tool measures content knowledge, as well as outcomes that are critically important in the workplace, such as communication skills, creativity, autonomy, an ability to overcome obstacles, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. EvaluateUR also provides students with metacognition skills, as well as a strategy to identify how much academic progress they have made or still need to make. To date, EvaluateUR has focused on one-on-one student/faculty mentor relationships. This project will modify EvaluateUR to expand the number of students who can benefit from this assessment method. This expansion is designed to meet the needs of entire classrooms of students who conduct course-based research. The lessons learned during implementation of this project at community colleges may apply to course-based research conducted by undergraduates at other institutions, including four-year colleges and universities.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.