Enhancing Geographic Information Science Technology Education (eGIST)

随着更多尖端技术的发展，地理信息科学技术(GIST)在许多行业都在不断扩大。Geomatics是GIST内一个新兴的跨学科领域，它使用现代成像技术来测量和绘制自然和人造地理特征，使其对国家安全至关重要，对企业解决美国和全球社会、经济和环境挑战具有重要意义。该项目旨在通过与地区公共和私人雇主、高等教育机构、国家ATE中心和相关ATE项目的合作，改善STEM中学后教育，为地理信息技术和其他与地理信息技术相关的领域培养不同的熟练工人。该项目结合了事实证明可以在STEM领域招收和留住女性和其他代表性不足的学生的“现实世界”实践，并扩大了与行业和高等教育机构的合作伙伴关系，将这一新兴的STEM领域带到美国各地。该项目的目标是创建一条职业道路，通过与政府、科学和工程公司的私人/公共合作伙伴合作，提供一年制无人驾驶飞机系统(UAS)证书和两年制地球信息学学位，以填补急需的现有和新兴职位。除了开设新的地球信息学学位，该项目还将地理空间概念、大地测量学和测绘嵌入到有针对性的现有工程技术课程中，以扩大对这些领域所需新方法的理解。该项目审查了行业伙伴参与通过协作提高学生技能的影响；修订课程和以工作为基础的学习和实习；更新的实验室资源和同行导师在改善学习环境质量方面的作用；以及更新的课程如何影响妇女和其他任职人数不足的群体留在STEM。将使用定量和定性措施进行形成性和总结性评估，以确保实现项目的目标和目的，记录结果和效果，并向项目合作伙伴和更广泛的教育界传播利益。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划专注于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Geographic Information Science Technology (GIST) is expanding in many industries as more sophisticated technologies are developed. Geomatics, an emerging interdisciplinary field within GIST, uses modern imaging technologies to measure and map natural and man-made geographical features, making it critical to national security and significant to businesses as they solve U.S. and global societal, economic, and environmental challenges. This project aims to improve STEM postsecondary education through collaboration with regional public and private employers, post-secondary institutions, a national ATE center, and relevant ATE projects to prepare a pipeline of diverse skilled workers in Geomatics and other GIST-related fields. The project incorporates "real-world" hands-on exercises proven to recruit and retain women and other underrepresented students in STEM fields, and expands partnerships with industries and postsecondary institutions to bring this emerging STEM field to regions across the U.S.The goal of the project is to create a career pathway with industry-validated curriculum in a one-year certificate in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and a two-year degree in Geomatics that fills critically needed existing and emerging jobs through collaboration with private/public partners in government, science and engineering firms. Along with creating the new Geomatics degree, the project embeds geospatial concepts, geodesy, and mapping into targeted existing engineering technology courses to expand understanding of new approaches needed in these fields. The project examines the impact of industry partners' participation in upgrading students' technical skills through collaboration on revised curriculum and work-based learning and internships; the role of updated laboratory resources and peer tutors in improving the learning environment quality; and how the updated curriculum affects retention of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM. Formative and summative evaluation using quantitative and qualitative measures will be conducted to ensure that the project's goals and objectives are met, outcomes and effectiveness are documented, and benefits to project partners and the wider educational community are disseminated. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program, which focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.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.