Multi-disciplinary undergraduate training program in health-assistive smart envir

描述(申请人提供)：世界人口正在老龄化，由此导致的慢性病流行是我们社会必须应对的挑战。我们的愿景是通过为理科硕士领域的本科生设计一门课程来应对这一挑战，为他们提供必要的研究技能来解决这一迫在眉睫的问题。护理、心理学、社会学、计算机科学、工程(MSTEM)专业的本科生以及医疗保健相关学科的本科生需要强大的多学科背景，才能真正为将技术应用于老年学问题的研究做好准备。该项目的目标是为老年学和基于技术的辅助环境领域的本科生参与者开发培训计划。这将通过课程作业、暑期研究项目、实地实习和专业研讨会来实现，以帮助其他机构开发类似的项目。最终目标是培养一代新的研究生研究人员和创新者，他们理解在该领域继续工作的必要性，以解决人口老龄化问题，并开始他们的研究生涯，为面向老年技术的研究做准备。我们假设，通过开发这些新的项目，在围绕老龄化问题的问题上培训本科生和其他教育工作者，多学科硕士研究生解决这些棘手问题的方法，并支持本科生为研究生课程做好准备，我们可以为全国各地的老年技术相关研究小组提供高素质的申请者。拟议工作的理由是，针对本科生的综合硕士课程很少，而且缺乏针对新本科生的相关研究项目的培训。我们团队的研究集中在这一领域，我们的研究团队有兴趣培养一代又一代合格的研究生，他们为这一高度复杂的研究领域做好准备。为了实现这一目标，我们计划实现以下具体目标：(1)开发本科两学期(一个学年)多学科MStem Gerontech课程系列；(2)为高素质本科生建立暑期研究和实习体验计划；(3)支持MStem领域的高级顶峰项目，特别是那些希望从Gerontech课程继续工作的学生；(4)将GeronTechnology课程整合到学院现有的辅修老龄课程中，开设其首个与技术相关的课程。我们还将为所有完成GeronTechnology课程并完成与老年学相关的额外现场经验的学生创建一份成就证书，以及(5)领导和举办两个工作坊，供其他有兴趣了解该领域最新研究的人使用，并为其他教育工作者提供培训 老年技术领域，这样他们就可以在他们的机构中推出类似的项目。这项拟议的工作具有创新性，因为与GeronTechnology相关的本科课程真正具有多学科核心的情况很少。既为当地学生团体服务，也为其他项目的暑期学生服务，并通过研讨会将我们教师的经验带给其他机构，是一种令人信服和充满活力的方法，以增加高度准备的即将到来的研究生研究人员的数量。该项目意义重大，因为它将向许多本科生介绍我们的社会在未来几十年面临的问题，并帮助他们中的许多人通过将技术与传统医学方法相融合来帮助开发新的卫生保健方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The world's population is aging and the resulting prevalence of chronic illnesses is a challenge that our society must address. Our vision is to address this challenge by designing a curriculum for undergraduates in MSTEM fields that provides them the needed research skills to address this looming problem. Undergraduates in nursing, psychology, sociology, computer science, engineering (MSTEM) programs as well as those in healthcare-related disciplines need a strong multi-disciplinary background to be truly prepared for research in applying technology to gerontology issues. The objective of this project is to develop training programs for undergraduate participants in the fields of gerontology, and technology-based assistive environments. This will be done through course work, summer research programs, internships in the field, and professional workshops to help other institutions develop similar programs. The ultimate goal is to bring up a generation of new graduate student researchers and innovators who understand the need of continued work in the field for addressing the aging population issues and begin their research careers prepared for gerontechnology oriented research. We hypothesize that by developing a these new programs for training both undergraduates and fellow educators in the issues surrounding the aging problem, multi-disciplinary MSTEM approaches to tackling these tough issues, and supporting undergraduates in becoming prepared for graduate programs we can provide gerontechnology-related research groups across the nation with highly qualified applicants. The rationale of the proposed work is that there are few well integrated MSTEM programs for undergraduates and a lack of training in related research programs for new undergraduates available. Our group's research centers on this field, and our research team is interested in developing generations of qualified graduate students who come prepared for this highly complex field of research. To accomplish this, we plan to pursue the following specific aims: (1) Develop an undergraduate two semester (one academic year) multi-disciplinary MSTEM Gerontechnology course series, (2) Establish a summer research and internship experience program for highly qualified undergraduates, (3) Support senior capstone projects in MSTEM fields, especially for those students who wish to continue their work from the Gerontechnology course, (4) Integrate the Gerontechnology course into the existing Minor in Aging offered at the institution, giving it its first technology related course. We will also create a certificate of accomplishment for all students who have completed the Gerontechnology course and who have completed additional field experience related to gerontology, and (5) Lead and run two workshops for others interested in learning about the latest research in the field, plus training for other educators in the field of Gerontechnology so they can bring similar programs online at their institutions. The proposed work is innovative because Gerontechnology related undergraduate programs with a true multi-disciplinary core are rare. The combination of serving both the local student body, summer students from other programs, and to also bring our faculty's experience to other institutions through workshops is a compelling and energetic approach to bolstering the quantity of highly prepared upcoming graduate researchers. The project is significant because it will introduce many undergraduates to the issues faced by our society in the coming decades, as well as prepare many of them to help develop new approaches to health care through melding technology with traditional medical approaches.