eLABorate Success Project

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Green Bay WI

Investigators

Abstract

This Small Grants for Institutions New to the ATE Program is a faculty-initiated project in response to challenges associated with the open lab format used at the college. Since students use the lab on an open-entry/open-exit basis, the staff member on hand at any one time might not have the expertise needed to help the student. To address this challenge, the staff is implementing a strategy of cross training, support and enhancement that provides all faculty members with enough knowledge to deal with basic content issues and questions in the shared concentrations (Electrical Engineering Technology, Electronics/Biomedical Technology, Electro-Mechanical Technology, and Automation Engineering Technology.). After this strategy is shown to be successful, the PI anticipates applying for a larger ATE grant that would include a comprehensive evaluation of staff competencies, mastery level training, and summer externships at local industries for faculty to better contextualize the learned labs. The goals of the eLABorate Success Project are to 1. Enhance the quality of students' learning experience in the Manufacturing Technology Center by improving the instructor's ability to assist all students in select courses. 2. Improve the quality of the labs. 3. Increase the percentage of students successfully completing courses on his/her first attempt.