Program format that encourages instructors to develop structures that promote shared commitments to learning with the student. Faculty mentors still have the program expertise but work collaboratively with the student to foster learning rather than deliver knowledge.
Published in Chapter:
Polk State College's Engineering Technology OEEE Associate's Degree
Naomi Boyer (Polk State College, USA), Eric A. Roe (University of Texas at Austin, USA), Kenneth Ross (Polk State College, USA), Patricia Jones (Spartanburg Community College, USA), Kathleen Bucklew (Polk State College, USA), and Marcia Conliffe (Polk State College, USA)
Copyright: © 2017
|Pages: 32
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0932-5.ch016
Abstract
This case study describes an Open Entry Early Exit (OEEE) program focused on untangling the web of systems, assumptions, roles, relationships, and interagency processes to address the national emphasis on affordable, compressed and flexible degree attainment, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent gap areas. To this end, Polk State College has empowered non-traditional students with an affordable, accessible option that was initiated as a result of a National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) project award. The project was designed to transition a traditional Engineering Technology Associate in Science degree program to a hybrid competency-based, modular, non-term, self-paced, learner-centered, faculty-mentored format. As a work in progress, the OEEE program team has undertaken and resolved numerous challenges, many of which are still emergent, and identified significant breakthroughs to provide a catalyst to the reconceptualization of higher education.