Graduate training often takes a monodisciplinary approach that is not informed by best practices, ignores the needs and preferences of students, and overlooks the increasingly interdisciplinary and international nature of research. This is unfortunate, particularly since graduate education that is fully integrated with interdisciplinary research can help students become part of a trained and diverse workforce equipped to meet society’s many challenges. Against this backdrop, a National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) program is being established at the University of Kentucky leveraging the most effective instruments for the training of STEM professionals, such as network-based graduate student mentoring and career preparation encompassing both technical and professional skillsets. Briefly, the training graduate students will receive – in a way that is fully integrated with the research they perform – includes: 1) tools such as individual development plans and developmental network maps; 2) a multi-departmental and interdisciplinary course on research-related content; 3) a seminar course on transferrable skills (ethics, research, communication, teaching, mentoring, entrepreneurship, teamwork, management, leadership, outreach, etc.); 4) a certificate to be awarded once students complete the two courses above and garner additional credits from an interdisciplinary curriculum of research-related courses; 5) summer internships at other departments and at external institutions (other universities, industry, national laboratories) nationwide or abroad; 6) an annual research-related symposium including all elements of a scientific conference; 7) internal collaborative research grants for participants to fund and pursue their own ideas; 8) fields trips to facilities related to the research; and 9) coaching on job hunting as well as résumé, motivation letter and interview preparation. Since a workforce equipped to meet society’s challenges must be both well trained and diverse, multiple initiatives will ensure that this NRT will broaden participation in STEM. Recruitment-wise, close collaboration with a number of entities will provide this NRT with a broad recruitment pool of talented and diverse students. Moreover, collaboration with these entities will provide trainees with ample opportunities to acquire, practice and refine their professional skills, as trainees present their results and recruit in conferences, meetings and outreach events organized by these entities, become members and/or join their leadership, and expand their professional and mentoring network in the process. In addition, minority trainees will be surveyed periodically to probe their feelings of well-being, preparation, acceptance, belonging and distress, as well as their perception of how well structured their departments and programs are. According to recent literature, these factors determine whether or not they perform (i.e., publish) at rates comparable to their male majority peers. Saliently, the evaluation of the educational model employed will afford a comprehensive understanding not only of the academy components that were more utilized and impactful, but will reveal the individual mentoring and skill-building facets of the program driving its successful implementation. The evaluation plan includes outcomes, performance measures, an evaluation timetable, benchmarks and a description of how formative evaluation will improve practice, the evaluation process also extending to research activities.
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The Rapid Model: Results from Piloting a Model to Establish a Consortium for Sharing Graduate Courses in Wind Energy
Skilled candidates with graduate training are in critical need in the wind energy industry. To prepare for employment in the industry requires both general training (e.g., an engineering degree, a business degree, etc.) and specialized training (e.g., wind energy resource assessment, wind turbine design, environmental impacts training, etc.). Consequently, it is challenging for one educational institution to provide the depth and breadth of course offerings and educational opportunities required. This challenge exists in many multidisciplinary and rapidly evolving fields. WindU is a collaborative National Science Foundation funded effort to respond to this need, by developing and testing a model to establish an expandable, multi-university, multi-disciplinary consortium in STEM graduate education. The consortium consists of multiple universities across the United States who have expertise in wind energy and share distance learning courses. The goal is to both broaden learning opportunities for current students, and to open up the pool of possible students interested in this field. Expanding educational opportunities by developing online delivery of wind energy graduate courses is one strategy to address much needed diversity in the field. Building upon the literature of previous successful consortium development, a new replicable model for setting up a consortium was created, called the Rapid model, with the name reflecting the goal to implement a new consortium within one year. Researchers conducted a study to determine the effectiveness of the model, through observing program meetings, interviewing faculty, staff and administrators engaged in the consortium development work, and examining course sharing outcomes. Researchers identified a number of aspects of the model most important for establishing the consortium, including the importance of external facilitation, committed faculty, staff and administrators, and useful tools and procedures. The research also identified some areas for model modification. This replicable model adds to the knowledge base concerning establishment of an expandable university consortium in graduate STEM education
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- Award ID(s):
- 1856384
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10325252
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ASEE Annual Conference proceedings
- ISSN:
- 1524-4644
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- ID #33173
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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