Collaborative Research: Explorations: Experiential Learning in Advanced Manufacturing towards Novel and Diverse Career Opportunities for Rural Tennessee Students

The University of Tennessee Chattanooga (UTC) and Cleveland State Community College (CSCC) have partnered to develop EXPAND TN: Explorations: Experiential Learning in Advanced Manufacturing towards Novel and Diverse Career Opportunities for Rural Tennessee (TN) Students. EXPAND TN will provide at least 120 dual enrollment high school students from rural counties in southeast Tennessee with the opportunity to explore careers in advanced manufacturing. EXPAND TN is designed to improve postsecondary education outcomes for dual enrollment students, specifically for engineering and technology degree programs. This will be accomplished through a comprehensive experiential learning program that allows students to explore career opportunities in advanced manufacturing – an emerging discipline that continues to transform the US manufacturing sector. ExPAND TN is a comprehensive experiential learning (EL) program that includes a six-week EL activity integrated into a dual enrollment mathematics course offered to high schools in three rural school districts primarily serving low-income, first-generation students. EL program participants will also engage in advanced manufacturing (AM) career exploration through industry tours, an AM Career Fair, and AM professional development activities. Through the EXPAND TN Scholar Program, 30 of the dual enrollment students will have the opportunity to extend their EL experiences through a year-long AM mentorship, rotational job shadow, and scholarship program supporting students’ transition into engineering or technology majors at CSCC or UTC. Objectives of the program include: (1) Increase participants’ interest and motivation to pursue a degree in engineering and technology; (2) Increase participants’ research skills and practical knowledge of advanced manufacturing; and (3) Demonstrate that this approach represents a viable, sustainable workforce pipeline. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.