Improving Student Career Readiness through Experiential Learning and Internships

在洛杉矶，加州大都市区，制造和建筑公司对熟练技术人员的需求超过了当地制造和建筑技术项目的能力。除了寻找具有技术技能的员工外，雇主还希望毕业生具有较强的就业能力，如团队合作、沟通和解决问题的能力。为了增加皮尔斯学院技术课程的学生入学率，并为学生成功的技术职业做好准备，该项目将为学生开发一个项目，使他们将课程中的技能和知识与专业环境中的实际应用相结合。该项目将包括为未来学生提供有关制造和建筑技术职业的信息和启发的活动。通过为地区劳动力增加熟练技术人员的供应，该项目将满足行业需求并支持地区经济。该项目的目标是建立一个招聘、留用和实习模式，以增加职业和技术教育项目的入学率。招聘活动将包括开发一个动手的暑期项目和面向高中生的拓展活动，在校生在其中担任大使。传统的技术教育往往忽视了职业成功所需要的就业技能。该项目将通过服务学习项目积极吸引学生参与体验式学习，通过与当地雇主合作建立新的实习计划，并创建以就业技能为重点的讲习班，帮助学生发展更广泛的职业准备技能。这些学生学习策略将通过美国国家科学基金会和先进技术教育计划（ATE）活动，以及ATE项目中心和项目网站传播到技术教育界。该项目旨在改善技术学生的招聘、保留和就业，为成功的技术职业提供途径。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。

The demand for skilled technicians at manufacturing and construction companies in the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area exceeds the capacity of local manufacturing and architecture technology programs. In addition to seeking employees with technical skills, employers are also looking for graduates who have strong employability skills such as teamwork, communication, and problem solving. To increase student enrollment in technology programs at Pierce College and prepare students for successful technical careers, this project will develop a program for students to integrate the skills and knowledge from their coursework with practical applications in a professional setting. The project will include activities that inform and inspire prospective students about careers in manufacturing and architecture technology. By increasing the supply of skilled technicians for the regional workforce, this project will address industry needs and support the regional economy. The goal of this project is to establish a recruitment, retention, and internship model to increase enrollment in career and technical education programs. Recruitment activities will include the development of a hands-on summer program and outreach events for high school students in which current students serve as ambassadors. Traditional technician education often neglects the employability skills that are needed for career success. This project will assist students in developing a broader range of career-readiness skills by actively engaging students in experiential learning through service learning projects, developing a new internship program established through partnerships with local employers, and creating workshops that focus on employability skills. These student learning strategies will be disseminated to the technical education community through NSF and Advanced Technological Education Program (ATE) events, and through ATE project centers and the project’s website. This project is designed to improve recruitment, retention, and employment for technical students, providing a pathway to successful technical careers. 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.