| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 12, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 17, 2019 |
| Award Number: | 1700513 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Jill Nelson
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2021 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $814,847.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $864,846.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
7 COLUMBIA CIR ALBANY NY US 12203-5156 (518)464-8570 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
7 Columbia Circle Albany NY US 12203-5159 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Advanced Tech Education Prog |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Excelsior and Polk State Colleges are developing simulations to teach and assess key skills in power generation and advanced manufacturing, improving the pipeline of technicians into these key economic sectors. Students in this entirely online program for the first time have the capacity to earn industry certification. Simulation permits learners to 1) practice a skill repeatedly for mastery, 2) practice hazardous procedures before hands-on implementation, 3) prepare for careers in skilled industry regardless of geographic proximity to a campus, and 4) balance work, family, and community responsibilities with study.
Simulations of Safety and Blueprint Reading, Use of Hand and Power Tools, and Manufacturing Machines prepare work-ready technicians. Highly qualified industry representatives review and contribute to content, assuring relevance. Power generation technicians successfully completing courses enriched with simulation will earn the Center for Energy Workforce Development's (CEWD) Energy Industry Fundamentals certificate. Advanced manufacturing students can build skills comprising the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers institute (PMMI) Industrial Electricity-1 and -2, and Mechanical Components-1 certifications. All simulations are being offered as open educational resources. Simulations are also being used to recruit youth, women, and minority populations into high-tech careers.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The intellectual merit outcomes of the ?Ensuring workforce readiness for the energy & manufacturing industries through educational simulations? project, conducted by faculty and staff at Excelsior College (NY) and Polk State College (FL), focused on the development, dissemination, and assessment of highly visual first-person interactive simulations which replicate the industrial workplace to teach and reinforce technical STEM skills. The 24 computer-based (PC or MAC) simulation exercises prepare learners to enter the skilled trades in the energy and manufacturing sectors, two key industries identified by ATE as requiring more well-qualified technicians. These simulations cover industry certification aligned topics that pertain to the industrial manufacturing sector and electrical power generation facilities. The electrical industry competencies are aligned with the Center for Energy Workforce Development ? Energy Industry Fundamentals (CEWD ? EIF) credential. The manufacturing competencies are aligned with portions of the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council ? Certified Production Technician (MSSC ? CPT) certification. In these simulations, the learner assumes the role of an employee in industrial environment. The use of 3D simulations takes students beyond their textbooks and explanations on the whiteboard, which creates a link between theory and practice. In these first-person simulations, the learner must navigate scenarios such as donning safety PPE appropriate for the task at hand, troubleshoot systems, and effect virtual repairs. Job task simulations reinforce the importance of following detailed work procedures to complete evolutions involving blueprint reading, LO/TO, and executing troubleshooting and corrective maintenance assignments.
The simulation dashboard is created to provide student performance data within the simulation(s). Performance data within the dashboard identifies gaps in students? understanding, allowing instructors to tailor the course to meet the student?s needs. Program Directors can also use this data to improve the overall curriculum and program. Another key feature of the dashboard is the ability of administrators to reset assessment modes if needed.
At Excelsior College and Polk State College, the simulations and simulation dashboard have been embedded in the degree program courses via the institutions? respective learning management systems (LMS). A total of four new courses have been developed and offered to students by Excelsior College (TECH 180 Personal Protective Equipment, TECH 185 Blueprint Reading, TECH 240 Job Task and Troubleshooting, and TECH 260 Energy Industry Fundamentals). At Polk State College, a competency-based hybrid delivery model is being used, online course content has been modified to include simulations in both learning and assessment mode into the following courses: Industrial Safety, Intro to Electricity Electronics, Motors and Controls, Intro to PLC?s, Introduction to Computer-Aided Drafting, and Intro to Computer Numerical Control.
Broader impact outcomes are numerous. Simulations can provide students an opportunity to practice proper procedures in a safe environment, try out multiple scenarios to determine an optimal outcome, and repeat practice to solidify learning. Industry has moved to the use of simulation training because of the high cost of building practice settings, such as electrical mockups, but ongoing need to provide realistic safety instruction and opportunities for repeated practice.
Twelve of the simulations are ?learning mode? exercises designed to teach students various competencies, and are open-source materials accessible on the website wisc-online.com. Providing open access via the internet will provide an opportunity to educate, train, and develop the current and future workforce for the energy & advanced manufacturing industry with the goal of enhancing the learning experience and better prepare students for employment.
The remaining twelve simulations are ?assessment mode?, secured simulations with learning outcomes assessments that test the learner's key skills. They can only be obtained by instructors who contact the project PI.
This project findings and demonstrations have been broadly shared through professional conferences, webinars, social medias to industries and educational institutions, many of them shown interests in using these simulations. As of August 18, 2021, there are over 1800 ?views (uses)? and over 800 ?likes? of these simulations on Wisc-Online.
If a college or training provider wishes to download the entire training package (both learning and assessment mode) and dashboard to embed in their own LMS, please contact the project PI.
The simulations and dashboards were built using the Unity 3D game engine. Any college or training provider that wishes to utilize the source files to create more scenarios or expand the learning objectives can contact the project PI to access the design package. The source files are Creative Commons Copyrighted as Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA). This license allows a future education/training provider to remix, adapt, and build upon the work non-commercially, with attribution to the NSF Project and licensing of new creations under identical terms.
Last Modified: 09/08/2021
Modified by: Bei Liu
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