RET Site: Providing Research Experiences and Practicum on Cyber-Physical Systems for Regional Community College Faculty (PREP-CPS)

该奖项创建了一个新的RET网站：为田纳西大学查塔努加大学(UTC)的地区社区学院教师(PREP-CPS)提供关于网络物理系统的研究经验和实践。每年夏天，十名在科学/技术/工程/数学(STEM)领域任教的社区学院教员将与田纳西查塔努加大学的工程学教员一起参加研究活动。社区学院的教职员工将从大查塔努加地区的5所支线大学招聘。现场的参与者将接受关于网络物理系统的基本培训，以及如何使用这些工具来解决未来的紧迫问题和需求的具体知识。作为未来技术发展的关键推动因素，网络物理系统是一个跨学科的研究领域，涉及广泛的学科，可能会在能源、环境和医疗保健等领域带来革命性的变化。这项技术有可能改变我们的日常生活(例如，智能手机、活动跟踪器)、我们的社区(例如，自动驾驶汽车、智能城市)，甚至我们的未来(例如，清洁能源、太空探索)。参与的社区学院教师将通过开发利用尖端技术的教学模块和课程材料来转化他们的经验和知识，并为学生在按需的研究和职业领域做好更好的准备。这些活动都有助于加强UTC及其支线学院的多机构联合体，以促进课程调整，以实现可在全州和全国复制的无缝工程转移途径。RET网站将为参与者提供急需的发现和基于实验室的研究经验，涉及网络物理系统中的尖端技术。与会者将就应用于智能和可持续城市基础设施和行业的工程挑战的网络物理系统进行研究。这些努力将在藻类生物燃料和生物氢气生产、地热系统、太阳能收集和火箭推进系统方面带来新的知识、技术和工艺优化。目标包括：(1)提高参与者的研究技能和对CPS的实践知识；(2)提高参与者在课堂上使用尖端技术创建和实施基于实验室的实验的自我效能；(3)帮助弥合社区学院转学学生所展示的准备与大学工程学教师所期望的准备之间的差距。在STEM Education教员的指导下，参与者将为两种类型的模块制定教学计划：箱中实验室模块和远程模块，在箱中实验室模块中，学生在现场进行廉价的高科技实验室实验；在远程模块中，学生使用田纳西大学查塔努加大学的最先进技术进行远程实验室实验。通过该网站开发的模块将纳入门槛概念，帮助确保大查塔努加地区的社区大学生顺利转到田纳西大学查塔努加大学和其他四年制院校。该奖项由教育和人力资源局(EHR)、高级技术教育(ATE)计划和工程局(ENG)、工程教育和中心部(EEC)共同资助。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。

This award creates a new RET Site: Providing Research Experiences and Practicum on Cyber-Physical Systems for Regional Community College Faculty (PREP-CPS) at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga (UTC). Each summer, ten community college faculty teaching in Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics (STEM) fields will participate in research activities with engineering faculty at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. The community college faculty will be recruited from 5 feeder colleges in the greater Chattanooga region. Participants at the site will receive basic training in cyber-physical systems, along with specific knowledge on how to use these tools to address the pressing problems and needs of the future. A key enabler for future technology developments, cyber-physical systems is an interdisciplinary research area that engages a broad spectrum of disciplines and could bring about revolutionary changes in domains such as energy, environment, and healthcare. This technology has the potential to transform our everyday lives (e.g., smartphones, activity trackers), our communities (e.g., self-driving cars, smart cities), and even our future (e.g., clean energy, space exploration). The participating community college faculty will translate their experience and knowledge by developing instructional modules and course materials that leverage cutting-edge technology and better prepare students for in-demand research and career fields. These activities all contribute to the strengthening of the multi-institutional consortia of the UTC and its feeder colleges in order to promote curricular alignment for a seamless engineering transfer pathway that can be replicated across the state and nation.The RET site will provide participants with much-needed discovery and lab-based research experiences involving cutting-edge technology in cyber-physical systems. Participants will conduct research on cyber-physical systems applied to engineering challenges for smart and sustainable urban infrastructure and industries. These efforts will lead to new knowledge, technology, and process optimization in algal biofuels and biohydrogen production, geothermal systems, solar energy harvesting, and rocket propulsion systems. Objectives include: (1) Increase participants’ research skills and practical knowledge of CPS; (2) Increase participants’ self-efficacy in creating and implementing laboratory-based experiments using cutting-edge technology with students in the classroom; (3) Help bridge the preparedness gap between what is exhibited by community college transfer students and what is expected by university engineering faculty. Coached by a STEM Education faculty member, participants will develop lesson plans for two types of modules: lab-in-a-box modules, in which students conduct inexpensive high-tech laboratory experiments on site, and remote modules, in which students conduct laboratory experiments remotely with state-of-the-art technology at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. The modules developed through this Site will incorporate threshold concepts that will help ensure community college students in the greater Chattanooga region transfer smoothly to the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and other four-year institutions.This award is being co-funded by the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program and the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC).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.