Improving Student Mastery of Welding Skills through Real-Time Assessment and Feedback

焊接技术对于生产许多不同类型的产品是必不可少的。因此，高技能的焊工在制造业、建筑业和能源业等行业至关重要。特别是，制造业的快速增长放大了需要准备更多的焊接技术人员来满足行业需求。该项目将扩大焊接培训系统的使用范围，以便在培训期间为学生提供实时反馈。焊接培训师和虚拟跟踪系统将捕获和评估焊工为完成任务所做的每一个动作，并将为该活动创建一个成功分数。该项目将利用这一评估为学生提供现有技能的学分，为就业创建学生档案，培训在职员工或为特定工作场所制定定制的培训概况。这种评估驱动的方法有望促进标准化焊接实践的发展。通过与对焊接路径感兴趣的大学预科学生和有兴趣为学生提供体验式学习机会的雇主合作伙伴合作，该项目还希望加强与工业和高中的合作关系。该项目的目标是创建一个标准化的焊接路径，可以扩展到其他机构和合作伙伴。学生将能够通过有效的、行业标准的培训来发展他们的技术技能。将从工业专业焊工那里收集性能数据，以构建学生焊接技能的基线模型。学生在焊接练习中的动作将通过焊接培训机和虚拟跟踪系统进行捕捉。基线模型将用于评估和自动生成学生表现的形成性评估。该项目将为K-12和社区大学教师提供专业发展机会，并将与Lorain社区学院的Weld-Ed合作，提供额外的专业发展。退伍军人外展计划将加快评估过程，以验证退伍军人的先前学习评估经验，并将当前的军事训练映射到正规的焊接教育。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。

Welding technology is essential for producing many different types of products. As a result, highly skilled welders are critical in industries including manufacturing, construction, and energy. In particular, the rapid growth of manufacturing amplifies the need to prepare more welding technicians to meet industry demand. This project will expand the use of welding training systems to provide students with real-time feedback during training sessions. The welding trainer and virtual tracking system will capture and evaluate each action a welder makes to complete an assignment and will create a success score for the activity. The project will use this assessment to provide students with credit for existing skills, to create a student portfolio for employment, and to train incumbent employees or develop customized training profiles for specific workplaces. This assessment-driven approach is expected to contribute to the development of standardized welding practices. By engaging with precollege students interested in welding pathways and employer partners interested in providing students with experiential learning opportunities, the project also expects to strengthen partnerships with industry and high schools.The goal of this project is to create a standardized welding pathway that can be scaled to other institutions and partnerships. Students will be able to develop their technical skills through efficient, industry-standard training. Performance data will be collected from professional welders in industry to construct a baseline model for student welding skills. Students’ actions during welding exercises will be captured using a welding trainer and virtual tracking system. The baseline model will be used to evaluate and automatically generate a formative assessment of student performance. The project will provide professional development opportunities for K-12 and community college instructors and will partner with Weld-Ed at Lorain Community College for additional professional development. A veteran outreach plan will expedite the assessment process to validate Prior Learning Assessment experiences for veterans and will map the current military training to formal welding education. 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.