Â鶹ӰԺ the program

A student looking at soft robotic material

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Objectives and Impacts

The objectives of ARETe will cover three primary areas and will have equal weight in the project and are as follows:

  • Development of faculty and student research skills at two-year colleges (2YCs). The aim is to provide new pathways for growth via subject-matter expertise for participants to expand their intellectual horizons, open up new career directions, and to pursue latent aspirations in STEM research that need only the right venue and support to blossom.
  • Development of the engineering and computer science curriculum at partner 2YCs, with the goal of greatly accelerating curricular change to provide heightened exposure to students to contemporary research topics in STEM and the new ways of thinking that they entail. The goal, analogous to the development of research skills, is to provide pathways for 2YC students to expand their horizons of knowledge in contemporary STEM topics and provide opportunities for growth and career development that they may not have thought possible before the program.
  • Advancing the engineering and computer science research topics of the host research group, such that the research performed by the 2YC faculty contributes substantively toward the research being addressed. Achieving this objective, even to a small degree, automatically facilitates the two prior objectives by providing authentic and inspirational experiences to 2YC participants, as well as synergistically advancing the research portfolio of the host faculty member thus increasing the opportunities for long-term and multi-faceted collaborations being created.

Potential long term impacts:

  • Helping to advanceÌýresearch in cutting-edge topics inÌýengineering and computer science
  • Creating and cultivating collaborative research partnerships between CEAS faculty, graduate students, and STEM faculty from Colorado'sÌýFront RangeÌý2YCs
  • Creating and cultivating networks of practice among participating 2YC faculty
  • Providing graduate students with valuable pedagogical experience teaching in 2YC classrooms, with mentorship from experienced 2YC faculty, to improve their teaching ability and confidence
  • Increasing 2YC student interest in 4-year engineering programs

Acknowledgement

ARETe is part of the program and gratefully acknowledges its support.