Framing an Applied Science to Support Adult Working Learners

该项目旨在通过制定一个广泛的应用科学议程来服务于国家利益，这将有助于改善成年在职学习者的教育机会。这些人是成年人，他们一生中都在寻找中学后的学习机会。尽管人们普遍认识到，美国成年人需要有效和可获得的学习机会，但美国缺乏共同的科学或政策目标来服务于这一庞大的人口，也缺乏这项服务所需的跨部门合作活动的协议。该项目填补了这一空白，特别关注与STEM职业相关的教育机会和社区学院服务的在职学习者。STEM教育和进入STEM相关职业的途径是整个努力的目标领域。项目成果包括：(A)构成工作学习者的广泛类别的人和生活环境的分类；(B)其追求将有助于提高工作学习者的教育和职业成功的应用研究目标；以及(C)开展这项应用研究的跨部门共享数据、专门知识和基础设施的模板。与会者将在7月份连续四个星期三几乎作为一个整体举行会议。产出包括一系列政策简介，概述了下列领域应用研究的愿景：建立在职学习者分类；制定专门针对成人的学习科学；建立关于在职学员学术进步和证书回报的社会科学；评估、聘用和留住通过替代途径寻找工作的成年人的动态；设想一个观察在职学员职业生涯的数据基础设施；以及在社区大学为在职学员提供服务。政策简介组合将通过专门的网页和演示文稿向公众传播。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。美国国家科学基金会社会、行为和经济科学局的组织科学计划为该项目提供共同资助，以表彰其与劳动力和组织发展研究的相关性。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by setting a broad agenda for applied science that will serve to improve educational opportunities for adult working learners. These are adults who are seeking postsecondary learning opportunities over the course of their lives. Despite widespread recognition of the need for effective and accessible learning opportunities for adult Americans, the nation is without shared scientific or policy goals for serving this vast population and lacks protocols for the cross-sector collaborative activity this service requires. The project fills this gap, with special foci on educational opportunities related to STEM careers and on working learners served by community colleges. STEM education and pathways into STEM-related occupations are the target domains of the entire endeavor. The project outcomes include the specification of (a) a taxonomy of the kinds of people and life circumstances that comprise the broad category of working learners, (b) applied research goals whose pursuit will serve to improve the educational and occupational success of working learners, and (c) templates for cross-sector sharing of data, expertise, and infrastructure to pursue this applied research. Attendees will meet virtually as a whole on four consecutive Wednesdays in July. Outputs include a portfolio of policy briefs outlining a vision for applied research in such domains as: building a taxonomy of working learners; framing a learning science for specifically for adults; building the social science of academic progress and credential returns for working learners; dynamics of evaluation, hiring and retention of adults seeking employment through alternative pathways; envisioning a data infrastructure to observe the careers of working learners; and serving working learners in community colleges. The portfolio of policy briefs will be disseminated to the general public via a dedicated web page and presentations. The NSF IUSE:EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. The NSF Science of Organizations Program in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate is providing co-funding for this project in recognition of its relevance to the study of workforce and organizational development.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.