National STEM Consortium
A Comprehensive Model for Boosting
Student Completion and Job Attainment
Kelly Koermer, NSC Principal Investigator
Susan Gallagher, NSC Project Director
What is the National STEM Consortium?
Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland
College of Lake County in Illinois
Clover Park Technical College in Washington State
Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio
Florida State College at Jacksonville
Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana
Macomb Community College in Michigan
Northwest Arkansas Community College
Roane State Community College in Tennessee
South Seattle Community College in Washington State
What is the Role of the NSC?
Design and deliver
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
(STEM) programs:
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Nationally portable
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High-quality certificate-level
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Responsive to labor market needs
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Embed contextualized remediation – “STEM Bridge”
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Build a national model for multi-college cooperation
One Year STEM Certificates
Mechatronics
Technology
Environmental
Technology
Electric Vehicle
Technology
Cyber
Technology
Composites
Technology
Partners
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Public workforce agencies
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Identify industry trends
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Refer candidates; placement
Employers
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Identify industry needs – learning
outcomes
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Provide input on curricula
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Hire our completers!
Community colleges
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Prepare curricula
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Identify “bridge” components
OLI, CAST
What do
Employers
Need?
Need – Employers
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Pipeline of qualified new workers for immediate and
future openings
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Hands-on skills
Industry credentials
Essential core skills
Linked to industry-vetted KSAs
Upskill incumbent workers to fill key positions
• Fast, fluid and flexible
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What do
Students Need?
Need - Students
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A stable career pathway
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Family-sustaining wages
Marketable skills
Industry certifications
Academic Credential
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Accelerated time to completion
Higher likelihood of successful completion
Affordable
What Do
Community
Colleges
Need?
Need - Colleges
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Innovative approaches to teaching and learning in
response to emerging academic challenges
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Declining enrollments
Declining student retention and completion
Declining budgets and resource availability
Proven methods to accelerate completion and meet
immediate employer needs
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Address developmental academic needs
Program and student success (completion, retention, job
placement)
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Student and faculty support to promote student success
Reputation for excellence and innovation
The Value Proposition
What if Community Colleges could quickly prepare
students for high demand employment opportunities in
programs with completion rates of 69% , and a 69%
rate of employment?
A Comprehensive Model
NSC Treatment Model
Composites
YElectric Vehicle
Mechatronics
STEM Bridge
Cyber
Environmental
NSC Treatment Model
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Technical curricula
STEM Bridge curricula:
embedded, contextualized remediation
Cohort enrollment
Block scheduling
Embedded student supports:
navigation services
NSC Technical Curricula
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30+ Credits per pathway
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All course materials available as an Open Educational
Resource on Platform+ >
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Additional interactive “sticking points”
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Comprehensive Program Guides providing information on
all aspects of program adoption
*Conversion to OER in progress: to be completed by 5/30/15
Comprehensive Program Materials
Employer
Outcome Driven
Programs
Curriculum Hosted
on OLI
Five STEM
Certificate
Programs
Program
Guides
NSC
Curriculum
STEM Bridge
Courses
NSC OER
Available On OLI Spring 2015
Program Guide
Course
Syllabus
Lesson Plans
Toolkit
Instructional Materials
Labs
Program Guides
For each program, the Guide Provides:
• Overview of the Industry
• Description of the Certificate
Program
• Program Infrastructure
• How to Adopt the Program
• The Role of Employers
• Student Success Strategies
• Sustainability
• Boosting Job Placement
Course Materials
For each course in every program:
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Instructor Toolkit
Syllabus
Lesson Plans
Labs
Quizzes/Assessments
Handouts
PowerPoints
Links to External Materials (including industry content)
Images
Videos
“Sticking Points”/Mini-Lessons
“Sticking Point”: Known troublesome concept for students,
difficult concept to learn
Solution
• Online mini-lesson (module) designed to reinforce and
remediate these topics
• Self-paced
• Completed as homework and/or instructor led
Two Modules/Mini-Lessons (Sticking Points) Per Course
STEM Bridge
STEM Bridge is a two-part strategy to provide support to
learners in the STEM certificate programs.
Certificate Ready: “STEM Readiness” Course
Embedded, contextualized, online course to quickly refreshes key skills in
math, communications, critical thinking and professional skills.
Lower-Level Learners: “STEM Foundations” Course
Modularized set of curriculum “bundles” that can be adapted and inserted
as needed to support foundational skills in Math and Workplace
Communication before entering the credit certificates
STEM Readiness Curriculum
Math
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Placement Test
Arithmetic
Measuring Systems
Charts and Graphs
Basic Algebra
Triangle Geometry
Cartesian Plane
15 hours
Critical Thinking
& Workplace
Communication
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Summarizing
Oral & Written
Communication
After-Action
Reporting
Troubleshooting
15 hours
Professional
Skills
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Customer Service
Confidentiality
Organizational
Skills
Time Management
Teamwork
Resume Writing
Cover Letters
Interviewing
15 hours
STEM Foundations Curriculum
Workplace
Communications
Math
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The Number Line and Integers
Multiplying and Dividing Integers
Order of Operations (MDAS)
Fractions
Conceptual Equality
Signed/Negative Values
• Reading Strategies for
Comprehension
• Writing Skills
• Writing Structure
• Listening and Speaking Skills
• Time Management
12-15 Hours Total Instruction Time
OER Content
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STEM Bridge Content – Fully Available and Free:
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Open Learning Initiative (OLI) website: http://oli.cmu.edu
Sign Up on main page
• STEM Readiness use Course Key: ALL-STEM4
• STEM Foundations use Course Key: STEMBASIC2
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Technical Content – available by 5/30/15
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http://tinyurl.com/NationalSTEM
• Sign up to receive a notification when content is available
What are the Benefits
To Employers?
Benefits: Employers
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Pipeline of qualified workers
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decreased training costs
decreased job vacancy time
Access to credentialed workers with relevant handson skills
• Enables employer to establish and support career
ladders
• Well-prepared workers enhance revenue through
increased quality, efficiency and volume
• Training available for employers to use for OJT
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What are the
Benefits To
Students?
Benefits: Students
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Prepares students for higher paid jobs
Gets students to work more quickly
Increases students’ success mindset and confidence
Decreased frustration levels and drop-out rates
Allows students to work and/or handle other personal
responsibilities while quickly completing credentials
Enables student access to technical curricula without
delay of developmental prerequisites
A Student’s Perspective
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https://www.\youtube.com/watch?v=uMG34JCDsAA
What
are the
Benefits to
Colleges?
Benefits: Colleges
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Increased revenues through tuition and fees
Increased state funding in performance/completion-based funding
Credibility with employers
Enhanced reputation and job outcomes result in increased enrollments
High-quality, effective curricula, modifiable and customizable to
additional programs
Saves time and resources through use of NSC OER
Reduces time to completion
Increased number of academic certificates and industry credentials
earned in support of completion agenda
Content and approach can be adapted for entrepreneurial activities
Collaborative process can be replicated for other grants and projects
Successful project enhances competitive advantage
Collaboration reduces costs because tasks are shared among institutions
Collaboration increases value, efficacy and richness of product
Return on Investment
Retention ROI:
100 Students in a 30
Credit Program,
College Earns
$167,289 MORE
Using NSC Model
Competition/Barriers
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Faculty resistance
Cost/resources to scale and sustain within our own institutions
Proprietary training institutions
Existing less-successful developmental curricula
Available virtual advising systems
Other institutions of higher education
Our own institutions - resistance against change
Employer in-house training
Block scheduling and cohort enrollment is inconvenient to
implement and manage alongside traditional scheduling and
offerings
National STEM Consortium
Resources
NSC Website: www.NationalSTEM.org
• Facebook:
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https://www.facebook.com/AACCMechatronics
https://www.facebook.com/MCCEVCert
PBS Feature: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-toknow/economy/certifiably-employable/16901/
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Pathway videos:
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Mechatronics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBqkQ_pRm54&feature=youtu.be
Cyber: http://www.nwacc.edu/web/stem/cyber-technician-certificate
Composites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KA9ZzcewX0
Electric Vehicle Development: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMO0unlzGCE
Electric Vehicle Repair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW2ZY94lO0w
National STEM Consortium
Resources
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NSC Website: www.NationalSTEM.org
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NSC Policies and Sample NSC Curriculum Documents
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Available via Dropbox:
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https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sru3t4iz8dyds04/rHfmhJunz4
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STEM Bridge Access: Open Learning Initiative (OLI) website:
http://oli.cmu.edu
Sign Up on main page
• STEM Readiness use Course Key: ALL-STEM4
• STEM Foundations use Course Key: STEMBASIC2
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National STEM Consortium
Content Availability
Complete this electronic form to be notified of National STEM
Consortium curriculum content availability:
http://tinyurl.com/NationalSTEM
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Composite Materials Technology
Cyber Technology
Electric Vehicle Development and Repair
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Environmental Technology
Mechatronics
STEM Bridge (math, communications and professional
skills)
Questions?
Susan Gallagher
NSC Project Director
sgallagher@aacc.edu
410-777-2124
Kim Law
NSC Cyber Technology Coordinator
kplaw@aacc.edu
410-777-2387
Kelly Koermer
NSC Principal Investigator
kkoermer@aacc.edu
410-777-7432
AACC is an equal opportunity, affirmative action, Title IX, ADA Title 504 compliant institution. Call Disability Support Services, 410-777-2306 or Maryland Relay 711, 72 hours in advance to request most
accommodations. Requests for sign language interpreters, alternative format books or assistive technology require 30 days’ notice. For information on AACC’s compliance and complaints concerning
discrimination or harassment, contact Kelly Koermer, J.D., federal compliance officer, at 410-777-2607 or Maryland Relay 711.
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