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1. Building a Micro/Nanotechnology Cleanroom Training

   Kuhn, Jens-Uwe; John, Demis (April 2024, Journal of advanced technological education)

   The Central Coast Partnership for Regional Industry-Focused Micro/Nanotechnology Education (CC-PRIME) is a regional collaboration between Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), and local industry partners, with the goal of addressing a demonstrated local workforce need in the field. Existing training available through the Support Center for Microsystems Education (SCME) was adapted with input from local industry to develop an initial cleanroom training in Micro/Nanotechnology for community college students and faculty. Two summer training sessions have been implemented, with student focus groups and industry feedback guiding modifications and additional training development. Ongoing input from local industry partners and an opportunity to leverage the existing SCME curriculum that project staff and faculty were trained on have proven critical in the development of the training. Access to local cleanroom facilities and staff and initial training for community college faculty were essential to successfully implementing the project. Additional modules and trainings are being developed to build out further and broaden this initial cleanroom training. 

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2. process-based workforce DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEW ECONOMY

   Leigh, Nancey Green Kraft (July 2017, Economic development journal)

   Leigh and Kraft offer information on the Alabama Robotics Technology Park (RTP) which is a unique facility and public workforce development program that provides robotics training and research and development space to manufacturing firms and their employees in Alabama. The RTP originated out of recognition that cultivating a local robotics skill-base could fortify business attraction and retention efforts. They also discuss how the RTP differs from traditional workforce development models by focusing on an emerging technological process rather than an industry sector and address how the RTP aligns with existing statewide economic and workforce development programs and considers future implications for this model in a time of rapid technological change. 

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3. Building a culture that empowers and motivates mathematics teacher leaders as change agents

   https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.18329  

   Smith, Wendy M; Funk, Rachel; Quaisley, Kelsey; McMillon, Emily (October 2025, School Science and Mathematics)

   Abstract Mathematics teacher leaders may play an integral role in supporting change to address inequities in STEM education. To harness this potential, there is a need to identify effective professional development models that empower and motivate mathematics teacher leaders. We examine one such model focused on developing 30 K‐12 mathematics teacher leaders to support and expand teacher leadership within Nebraska, USA. Data analysis from interviews and surveys suggest that the project's focus on building and expanding teacher leaders' professional networks and increasing access to a variety of leadership opportunities contributed to a culture that empowered and motivated teacher leaders. Using the four frames model of organizational change in STEM, we identify several cultural features that contributed to the project's impact, including a cohort model connecting like‐minded educators that supported each other's efforts to enact changes; a distributed leadership philosophy that positioned participants as leaders within the project and at the university in which the project was situated; structural supports (e.g., funding, awards) for participants to engage in leadership; and a tailored approach to support participants based on their individual goals and vision for leadership. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for developing and supporting mathematics teacher leadership. 

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4. Leveraging Innovation and Optimizing Nurturing in STEM: Engineering identities in low-income students across their first year of college

   Hassler, R; Cohan, C; Reitz, D; Larson, J; Delaquito, S; Nathan, R (June 2024, ASEE Document Repository)

   Leveraging Innovation and Optimizing Nurturing in STEM (NSF S-STEM #2130022, known locally as LION STEM Scholars) is a program developed to serve low-income undergraduate Engineering students at Penn State Berks, a regional campus of the Pennsylvania State University. As part of the program, scholars participate in a four-year comprehensive multi- tiered mentoring program and cohort experience. The LION STEM curricular program includes Engineering Ahead (a 4-week summer residential math-intensive bridge program prior to entering college), a first semester First-Year Seminar, and a second semester STEM-Persistence Seminar. Co-curricular activities focus on professional communication skills, financial literacy, career readiness, undergraduate research, and community engagement. The program seeks to accomplish four goals: (1) adapt, implement, and analyze evidence-based curricular and co- curricular activities to support, retain, and graduate a diverse set of the project's engineering scholars, (2) implement, test, and study through research and project evaluation strategies for systematically supporting student academic and career pathways in STEM, including development of STEM identity, (3) contribute to the knowledge base through investigation of the project's four-year multi-modal program so that other colleges may successfully implement similar programs, and (4) disseminate outcomes and findings related to the supports and interventions that promote student success to other institutions working to support low-income STEM students. The purpose of this paper is to analyze data from a repeated-measures design to provide a holistic narrative about the effects that the academic and support activities offered to LION STEM Scholars have on the development of their future-engineer role identity throughout their first year as an undergraduate engineering student. This paper presents data collected from semi- structured (Smith & Osborn, 2007) audio-recorded interviews from the first cohort of LION STEM Scholars (n=7) at three different time points (pre-summer bridge, post-summer bridge, end of first semester) as well as data collected from a written survey at the end of scholars’ second semester. 

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5. Engineering Persistence: Assessing Initiatives for First-Year Engineering Students

   Currey, Matthew; Cruz, Juan M; Mallouk, Kaitlin; Farrell, S; Major, Justin C (June 2025, 2025 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition)

   This empirical research full paper describes a project aimed at increasing graduation rates among low-income, academically talented engineering students by implementing first-year student initiatives. The project, supported by an NSF-SSTEM (National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) grant at a Northeastern US institution, is in its second year of a four-year plan. Grounded in Tinto’s conceptual model of student motivation and persistence, the project emphasizes early interventions, which are critical for low-income students facing external challenges that may impact their decision to stay in college or enter the workforce. We developed and integrated the SSTEM project aiming to increase four key elements, which based on Tinto will also increase persistence. The SSTEM project includes scholarships, an Engineering Learning Community (ELC) that promotes cohort-based learning and living, mentorship, and participation in personal and professional development seminars. Additionally, inclusive practices have been integrated into first-year engineering lab courses to improve curriculum accessibility. This paper evaluates the validity of an instrument designed to assess the project's impact on students’ college experiences and persistence. It builds on prior exploratory factor analysis (EFA) research by presenting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) findings to further validate the instrument. 

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