Expanding Precision Agriculture Education and Certification to Secondary Students

有了这个奖项，帕克兰学院打算在精准农业和无人机系统两个先前NSF项目的成功基础上，为中学生提供一条获得大学文凭的途径，同时获得行业经验。 该项目将与行业领导者、社区合作伙伴和中等教育组织协调，创造学徒机会和可堆叠证书，为中学生在精准农业和邻近部门就业做好准备。 可堆叠的证书将结合联合收割机课程在精准农业和无人驾驶飞机系统，并专为高中学生设计。 参与者将完成本课程，同时通过与行业合作伙伴的学徒获得行业经验。该项目将侧重于通过增加女性和少数民族中学生的参与来增加农业劳动力的多样性。 食品安全和农业出口是美国经济的重要组成部分。 因此，改善农业培训机会对于美国农业在世界舞台上继续保持强势地位至关重要。 该项目的目标是建立一个新的早期大学和职业学院方案;与区域雇主建立以工作为基础的学习机会;增加传统上代表性不足的学生在农业中的参与。 精准农业部门继续现代化，训练有素的学生的重要性变得越来越重要。 许多精准农业公司努力填补空缺职位，因为劳动力老龄化，年轻一代被吸引离开农业职业。创造新的途径，鼓励中学生探索精准农业技术人员的职业生涯，将确保提供一支强大的劳动力队伍。 项目参与者将做好充分的准备，进入并推进日益增长的精准农业行业。通过为中学生开发证书和学徒机会，该项目将根据行业需求培养未来的技术人员。 此外，该项目的重点是增加妇女和少数民族在精准农业中的人数，这将加强美国的一个重要产业并使其多样化。 通过该项目开发的可交付成果和最佳实践将通过与多个行业合作伙伴和全州中等教育组织的协调进行传播。 此外，PI和Co-PI将出席并出席与农业教育，农业综合企业和无人驾驶飞机系统会议有关的会议。 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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With this award, Parkland College intends to build on the success of two prior NSF projects in Precision Agriculture and Unmanned Aircraft Systems to develop a pathway for secondary students to earn a college credential while gaining industry experience. In coordination with industry leaders, community partners, and secondary education organizations, the project will create apprenticeship opportunities and stackable certificates to prepare secondary students for jobs in precision agriculture and adjacent sectors. The stackable certificates will combine coursework in Precision Agriculture and Unmanned Aircraft Systems and be designed specifically for high school students. Participants will complete this curriculum while obtaining industry experience through apprenticeships with industry partners. The project will focus on increasing the diversity of the agriculture workforce by increasing involvement of female and minority secondary students. Food security and agricultural exports are a major part of the US economy. Thus, improving training opportunities in agriculture is essential to continuing the strong presence of US agriculture on the world stage. The goals of the project are to establish a new Early College and Career Academy Program; establish work-based learning opportunities with regional employers; and increase participation of traditionally underrepresented students in agriculture. The precision agriculture sector continues to modernize and the importance of well-trained students is becoming increasingly critical. Many precision agriculture companies struggle to fill open positions as the workforce ages out and the younger generation is drawn away from careers in agriculture. Creating new pathways to encourage secondary students to explore careers as technicians in precision agriculture will ensure the availability of a robust workforce. Project participants will be well prepared to enter and advance in the growing precision agriculture industry. By developing credentials and apprenticeship opportunities for secondary students the project will be educating future technicians in line with industry needs. Furthermore, the project's focus on increasing the number of women and minorities in precision agriculture will strengthen and diversify an important American industry. The deliverables and best practices developed through the project will be disseminated through coordination with multiple industry partners and a statewide secondary education organization. Additionally, the PI and Co-PI will attend and present at conferences relevant to agriculture education, agribusiness, and unmanned aircraft systems conferences throughout the grant period. 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.