Faculty Development Summer Institutes in Automotive Hybrid Vehicle Technology

Community college faculty from across the U.S. are participating in a week-long summer institute to learn about cutting-edge advanced hybrid vehicle technology from Toyota, Honda, Ford, and General Motors industry leaders. They are then using the concepts and new knowledge in their classrooms. Extensive academic year follow-up activities include electronic discussion groups, a resource repository, an on-line follow up session, and interactions with participants from an earlier workshop. The project is developing a community of practice to help automotive faculty keep pace with rapidly developing hybrid vehicle technologies, particularly through recruiting faculty who teach at institutions with large numbers of underserved populations. The project is evaluating project-related curriculum enhancements and numbers of students impacted. Project results and deliverables are being disseminated through a website and presentations at national conferences.