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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. 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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4. 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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5. 127th Annual American Society for Engineering Education Conference

   Slowinski, Mary; Temple, Gabrielle; Walz, Ken (June 2020, International Faculty Professional Development: Utilizing Hybrid Environments to Deepen Learning and Grow Community)

   null (Ed.)

   In 2018, the Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education (CREATE) received funding from the National Science Foundation to administer an Energy Storage Project with the overarching goal of advancing the renewable energy sector by facilitating integration of energy storage technology into existing two-year college programs. The goals for this project included gathering expertise, conducting job task and curriculum gap analyses, producing instructional materials, implementing pilot energy storage courses, and providing professional development for college instructors. The project's initial task was to work with educators to gather knowledge and expertise around energy storage technologies and energy education. Widespread adoption of energy storage is only beginning in the U.S. and, subsequently, energy storage-related educational programs are few; conversely, energy storage education efforts have already been pioneered and established in Europe, most notably in Germany. As a result, CREATE leveraged its history of improving energy education through international cooperation and organized a study tour to Germany for nine renewable energy educators to examine innovations in renewable energy and energy storage and to research how these technologies are incorporated into German workforce preparation. In the planning and conducting international professional development opportunities for educators, two distinct challenges arise: that of ensuring academic rigor and of anchoring and capturing learning, especially given the additional cognitive load presented by being abroad. CREATE employs an evidence-based, international collaboration model - developed and improved over the course of two previous study tours - to meet these challenges. The learning plan consists of pre-travel online activities, knowledge capture and collaborative sharing during travel, and post travel reflection. These activities combine to support educators in gathering and preserving knowledge gains and to facilitate collaborative knowledge-building that leverages the expertise and skills of the participant cohort. While this paper presents the results of the CREATE professional development model, however the findings are not limited to energy storage or to the energy sector. Indeed, this analysis and the resulting set of recommended practices should be of interest to anyone interested in creating a meaningful educator professional development opportunity, especially if international travel is incorporated. 

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