The critical shortage of photonics technicians in U.S. industry can be remedied, in part, through effective associate degree programs. The knowledge and skills needed to succeed as a photonics technician are obtainable via associate degrees, and companies often prefer graduates of two-year colleges. But, to meet the challenge of producing qualified photonics technicians, community and technical colleges need more up-to-date educational materials and well-trained faculty. They also need a larger pool of high school graduates who have good academic skills and who, through exposure to photonics via articulation, are inclined and prepared to enter two-year programs in photonics.
The Scientific and Technological Education in Photonics (STEP II) project is enhancing the ability of community and technical colleges to produce larger numbers of qualified photonics technicians. The project is addressing that goal through (1) development of up-to-date photonics curriculum materials (including both new materials and an updated version of the materials produced through the NSF-funded STEP I project, Fundamentals of Photonics; (2) promotion, dissemination, and facilitation of the use of project materials at community and technical colleges; and (3) demonstration of how articulated technical curricula, beginning in the ninth grade and continuing through the baccalaureate degree, enhance the value of associate degrees in photonics by making the transition from high school to two-year colleges seamless and by providing options for education beyond the associate degree level.
In addition to curriculum materials, the project is producing a number of supporting items, including an updated and reconfigured version of the National Photonics Skills Standard for Technicians (1995), which serves as a guide for future curriculum and assessment development; new or updated clustered curriculum frameworks; online supplements; a math remediation guide for two-year post-secondary photonics students; and a curriculum planning guide describing the logistical steps necessary to implement a two-year post-secondary photonics program or to infuse photonics courses into existing technical programs. The project is disseminating and facilitating the use of project materials at two-year colleges and technical schools and providing professional development (some delivered via the web) for new faculty members. It is anticipated that, as a result of the project's dissemination efforts, 20 to 30 community and technical colleges will be using STEP materials as of the 2003/2004 school year.
