| Outcome/accomplishment:
Scientific, technical, engineering, and math (STEM) education has been
expanded by achieving strong STEM-education partnerships between an Engineering
Research Center (ERC) and community college faculty members and students.
Impact/benefits:
Through successful collaboration between a university and several community
colleges, STEM-education efforts are increasing the number of students
receiving degrees in STEM disciplines. The collaboration also supports
a special focus on recruiting and retaining traditionally underrepresented
students in STEM studies.
Explanation/ background:
As partnerships were being developed with four Massachusetts community
colleges, the Bernard M. Gordon Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging
Systems (Gordon-CenSSIS), an NSF-funded ERC headquartered at Northeastern
University, sought ways to build the connection with research opportunities.
This effort began in 2008 when ERC researchers started working with community
college faculty and three students by hosting them in their labs.
The student research involvement continued in 2009.. In 2010, two
community college students were working in ERC-related labs, one funded
by the BIOSENSE Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program
and the other by the NU-STEP Program (both programs are funded by NSF and
involve working with ERC faculty). One of the community college REU
participants, Joseph Robinson, has since transferred from Northern Essex
Community College to Northeastern University, where he is continuing the
research that he began over the summer.
In 2009, special sessions
were provided for community college faculty in the High Tech Tools and
Toys Lab (HTT&TL). In Summer 2010, the ERC hosted a two-week
seminar in the HTT&TL specifically for eight community college faculty
to introduce them to hands-on modules that can be brought back to their
classrooms. These modules included exercises using an underwater
ultrasound imaging device, a ping-pong ball sorting device, and spectroscopy
to identify differing spectra of liquid samples. The ERC is planning to
have 16 community college faculty from across the country participate in
HTT&TL in Summer 2011 through various funding sources. |
