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Board 134: The Development of a Context-based Summer Research Program for Community College Faculty in Science and Engineering

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Conference

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Publication Date

June 23, 2018

Start Date

June 23, 2018

End Date

July 27, 2018

Conference Session

Two-Year College Division Poster Session

Tagged Division

Two-Year College

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--29928

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/29928

Download Count

366

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Paper Authors

biography

Lea K. Marlor University of California, Berkeley

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Lea Marlor is the Associate Director of Education for the Center for Energy Efficient Electronics Science, a NSF-funded Science and Technology Center at the University of California, Berkeley. She manages undergraduate research programs to recruit and retain underrepresented students in science and engineering and also outreach to pre-college students to introduce them to science and engineering career opportunities. Ms. Marlor joined University of California, Berkeley in 2013. She has a B.S. in Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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biography

Catherine T. Amelink Virginia Tech

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Dr. Amelink is Director of Graduate Programs and Assessment in the College of Engineering, Virginia Tech. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Departments of Engineering Education and Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Virginia Tech.

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Abstract

Students enrolling in community colleges (CC) more typically come from non-traditional and underserved populations than students enrolled in four-year schools. Given current shifts in population trends, a greater emphasis has been placed on recruiting such non-traditional students in order to keep on pace with workforce demands for STEM students. Within the CC systems, reaching these students with engaging and inspiring educational modules is essential for getting more students involved in and interested in majoring in STEM-related fields. As such, the University of California, Berkeley has created a context-based research experience program for CC faculty to come to campus and conduct nine weeks of research while simultaneously attending workshops and seminars focused on curriculum development. The overall goals of this program are to train the faculty in what context-based curriculum entails, give them resources to change parts of their courses to be more hands-on, and provide them with real life examples of research that can be incorporated into their teaching. The research areas of this program are focused on alternative energy, cyber security, wearable medical devices, green and sustainable manufacturing, and nanotechnology. These areas were chosen because of their focus on real life problems that can be easily relatable for the students. This paper describes how this program was developed, as well as the comprehensive evaluation methods used to determine the effectiveness of the program as a professional development opportunity. Preliminary results from post-survey responses are also discussed with outcomes on improvements for future programs.

Marlor, L. K., & Amelink, C. T. (2018, June), Board 134: The Development of a Context-based Summer Research Program for Community College Faculty in Science and Engineering Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--29928

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