Enhanced Marine and Environmental Science Training for Pacific Island Community College Students

该项目将解决加强太平洋岛民技术人员的迫切需要，这些人受过处理区域生态系统压力和退化问题的培训。该项目计划在五个为少数民族服务的社区学院加强太平洋岛民的海洋和环境科学培训并使之现代化：美属萨摩亚社区学院、密克罗尼西亚-密克罗尼西亚联邦学院、马绍尔群岛学院、北马里亚纳学院和帕劳社区学院。这些岛屿及其人口的未来取决于当地资源管理者、决策者、企业和利益相关者的技术技能和知识。该项目将支持教师和学生的培训，以提高太平洋岛民在STEM学科上的成功率，这一学科传统上一直很低。该项目以先前的先进技术教育项目为基础，这些项目帮助在太平洋岛屿的五个少数民族社区学院建立了海洋和环境项目。该项目的目标是发展和增加太平洋岛民对STEM技术职业的参与。该项目旨在提供：1)加强区域相关课程；2)社区学院教师和中学教师的专业发展；3)学生体验式学习。该项目将纳入当地机构、企业和利益相关者的意见，这些机构、企业和利益相关者已经确定了社区大学毕业生填补政府、非政府组织和私营部门职位所需的关键技术技能。形成性和总结性评价将使用多种对土著文化敏感的方法。学生获得的技术技能和培训将使他们能够在关键领域为本国服务，包括自然资源评估、管理、保护、恢复和恢复能力。该项目由先进技术教育计划资助，该计划侧重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。

This project will address a critical need to enhance the technical workforce of Pacific Islanders who are trained to address regional ecosystem stress and degradation. The project plans to strengthen and modernize the marine and environmental science training of Pacific Islanders at five minority-serving community colleges: American Samoa Community College, College of Micronesia – Federated States of Micronesia, College of the Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas College, and Palau Community College. The future of these islands and their populations depends on the technical skills and knowledge of local resource managers, policy makers, businesses and stakeholders. This project will support training of faculty and students to increase the success rate of Pacific Islanders in STEM disciplines, which has traditionally been low. This project builds on prior Advanced Technological Education projects that helped to establish the marine and environmental programs at the five minority-serving community colleges of the Pacific Islands. The goal of this project is to develop and increase the participation of Pacific Islanders in STEM technical careers. The project aims to provide: 1) enhanced regionally relevant curricula; 2) professional development for community college faculty and secondary school teachers; and 3) experiential learning for students. The project will incorporate input from local agencies, businesses, and stakeholders that have identified key technological skills needed by community college graduates to fill positions within the government, non-government organizations, and private sector. The formative and summative evaluation will use multiple methodologies sensitive to indigenous cultures. The technical skills and training obtained by students will allow them to serve their home islands in critical areas, including natural resource assessment, management, protection, restoration, and resilience. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that 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.