Advanced Technological Education ·

Welcome to the ATE Central Connection! Published the first Monday of each month, the ATE Central Connection is meant to disseminate information to and about ATE centers and projects, providing you with up-to-date ATE news, events, reminders, as well as highlighting new centers, projects, and resources. In addition, we will also highlight an educational topic with complementary resources found within ATE Central to help illustrate how ATE resources can be used in the classroom.

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In This Issue

Featured Resources in Manufacturing and Information Technologies

From Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping Integrated To Unlock Potential (AMP-IT-UP):

Strategies for Effective Evaluation Reporting

ampitup.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/publications/2013_asee_paper-analyzing_k-12_education_as_a_complex_system.pdf

This 11-page paper, provided by the American Society for Engineering Education, discusses the creation of an innovative framework from the Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping Integrated to Unlock Potential (AMP-IT-UP) NSF Math/Science Partnership at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This framework is rooted within the field of industrial and systems engineering and examines barriers and enablers to K-12 school change and reform. This paper describes "the first step in creating this framework, namely identifying the agents within K-12 education and the attributes of these agents that are critical to educational change." A sample scale for describing these attributes is also discussed.

Sections of this paper include the following: Introduction, Using Industrial and Systems Engineering to Model Complex Systems, The Basic Components of the Model, Assessing Attributes, and Conclusions and Future Work.

From National Center for Manufacturing Education (NCME):

Preparing Women and Minorities for the IT Workforce: The Role of Nontraditional Educational Pathways

www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/migrate/uploads/Complete_book.pdf

This study examines the role of nontraditional educational pathways in preparing women and underrepresented minorities for the information technology (IT) workforce. It was sparked by the finding that the nation's number one producer of bachelor’s degrees in information technology and computer science (IT/CS) was not a major research university, but instead was Strayer University, a for-profit institution with many campuses in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Not only was Strayer the top producer overall, but it also produced the largest number of women and African American graduates with baccalaureates in IT/CS.

From Program Development in Cybersecurity with Focus on Business and Healthcare Concepts and River Valley Community College:

Topics in Healthcare Info Tech

atecentral.net/downloads/781/CYBS+110R+Topics+in+Healthcare+Information+Technology.pdf

atecentral.net/downloads/780/Syllabus_Fall2015_CRN_15178_CYBS110R_Section_ZZ_Topics_in_Healthcare_Info_Tech%281%29.pdf

Program Description:

River Valley Community College, in association with Program Development in Cybersecurity with Focus on Business and Healthcare Concepts, has developed a 4-semester program to prepare students to working the Information Assurance (IA) field with a focus on Cybersecurity and Healthcare IT. Courses are intended to prepare students for assuring confidentiality, integrity and availability of IT systems and networks in healthcare settings, where scheduling, storage of images, filling prescriptions, billing and more are handled and stored using information technology.

Course Description:

This course from River Valley Community College center focuses on topics in healthcare information technology and asks students to consider the unique Information Technology requirements that command uniquely qualified IT professional to ensure the security of the Healthcare IT systems. In completing the course, students will be able to: 1) Understand and explain the behavior of a Healthcare organization, 2) Understand, explain and apply the regulatory requirements of a Healthcare organization, 3) Understand, explain and evaluate the normal operations of the "Healthcare Business," 4) Evaluate the Healthcare IT system for security, privacy and confidentiality, 5) Apply security, privacy and confidentiality concepts to the Healthcare IT system, and 6) Understand and evaluate the normal operations of a Healthcare IT system.

Resources available as part of this course include a course outline and a syllabus from the Fall 2015 iteration of the course.

For orientation purposes, viewers should begin with the 'CYBS 110R Topics in Healthcare Information Technology' PDF document, which offers a description of the course as well as an overview of topics covered through a course outline.

Course Contents:

The 2-page course outline document includes a course description, course competencies, course topics outline, learning and instructional methods for the course, and performance evaluation information.

The 12-page syllabus document includes course objectives, information on required materials, overview of course structure and policies, course topics and a course schedule, and information on assessment and grading of the course.

Community Connection

Brookings Report – Learning About Learning: Meaning Matters

This new report from the Brookings Institute outlines effective and non-effective learning strategies in educational settings from kindergarten through college. From data gathered by a study conducted by the Knowledge Matters Campaign, it’s deduced that interactive, hands-on learning, regardless of the educational material or concept, is a much more effective learning strategy than traditional, passive instruction.

Professor Noah Finklestein, of the Physics Department at the University of Colorado, conducted research on learning attitudes and student beliefs and structures his classroom around those findings. This research suggests that college students usually learn less than 25 percent of basic concepts that they did not already know in introductory physics courses. Furthermore, the students do not see relevance of the content to their lives. Finkelstein coordinates classroom material to be in an “interactive-engagement” style of learning, where students work in small groups and apply the content in computer simulations and hands-on activities. The data show that student-learning outcomes of the most seasoned lecturers are equal to the lowest performing interactive-engagement classrooms, and when done well, the interactive-engagement format vastly outperforms the top lecturers with students learning more than double the physics content.

The report compares this research with early childhood education methods. Researchers Molly Welsh Chilston and Linnea C. Ehri published their findings on research done on vocabulary learning with third graders. They taught third graders six unfamiliar verbs presented in either a coherent context—like a birthday party—or as a set of matched but unconnected contexts. Children learned more of the words when they were nested within a theme than when they were more independent. This hard evidence suggests that using a hands-on, interactive approach to learning greatly enhances the probability of actually remembering what you’re learning.

ATE projects and centers may find this report of use when considering classroom activities or how to incorporate an interactive-engagement lesson into a curriculum.

Please visit the Brookings Institute to view the report in full.

ATE Success Tips: Outreach

How skilled are you at writing a press release? Or, have you ever written one? When your project or center puts together an event or publishes materials, it may be a good idea to consider putting together a press release.

Just like any publication, a press release can make a good or bad first impression with just a few simple considerations. Some great points to keep in mind are:

  1. Grab attention with a good headline. A strong headline will pull in journalists seeking good stories. Your headline should be as engaging as it is accurate.
  2. Get right to the point in the first paragraph. Get the message of your press release out quickly. Every important point should be addressed in the first few sentences. The subsequent paragraphs should be for supporting information.
  3. One page is best. As with most good writing, shorter is usually better.

ATE Central's media kit is a great starting point when creating a public relations packet.

Did You Know?

In a survey conducted by UCLA, 19% of student respondents are first-generation college students, while 59% of students have at least one parent with a college degree.

Select STEM Education Resources

A few online STEM resources from outside of ATE, that you may find of interest:

OncoBites: The latest in cancer research, simplified

oncobites.wordpress.com

OncoBites is a new blog designed to make information and news about cancer research accessible to the general public. The blog was recently founded by Manisat Das and Sara Musetti and is authored by a number of graduate and post-doctoral researchers. The title OncoBites comes from the blog's mission, which is to share information about both laboratory cancer research and clinical practice available to readers through a series of short, lucid essays. These short essays are accompanied by helpful visualizations, as well as hyperlinks to related articles and research studies for those interested in further reading. Recent posts in OncoBites have addressed topics including cancer immunotherapy and epigenetics. Visitors can browse previous articles by subject tags.

The Physics Classroom: Concept Builders

www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders

The well-renowned Physics Classroom website (see the 11-12-2004 Scout Report) recently introduced Concept Builders, a series of interactive tutorials designed to help students understand and apply physics concepts. As of this write-up, the collection features thirteen concept builders, which address topics including Newton's Law of Motion, circular motion and gravitation, electric circuits, and waves and colors. When visitors select one of these concept builders, they will view a series of short tutorials related to the concept. Each tutorial is accompanied by a learning goal, which allows learners and instructors to locate relevant tutorials with ease. To participate in each tutorial, visitors simply need to select "Launch Concept Builder." Next, visitors are prompted to select a level ("apprentice," "master," or "wizard"). Based on their selection, visitors will view six practice problems related to the tutorial's learning goal. Each of these interactive tutorials is accompanied by a helpful set of teacher's notes and suggestions for instructors interested in incorporating Concept Builders into their curriculum.

Map of Life

mol.org

Map of Life, a non-profit organization founded in 2012 by Yale University and the University of Florida, allows visitors to explore data about the relationships between biodiversity and geography through a series of highly-engaging and informative interactive maps. Headed by Yale University ecology and evolutionary biology professor Walter Jetz, the Map of Life is the work of a large team of scientists and software engineers from Yale, the University of Florida, and other educational institutions. The project utilizes biodiversity data from a variety of sources, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Users can explore this data in four different ways. In the map species section, visitors can view maps that outline where they can expect to find a specific species around the world. The species by location section allows visitors to explore species data by country. Finally, the indicators section (as of this write-up, in beta) allow visitors to examine current coverage (and gaps in coverage) of biodiversity data and to compare species diversity around the world. Researchers who are interested in viewing the original datasets may do so via the datasets section. Map of Life also recently launched a mobile app, which visitors can learn more about on this website.

Do you have some great STEM resources you'd like to share with ATE Central? Email us with your ideas at info@atecentral.net.

ATE Events

Upcoming Events
– Info Part 107 Certification Program Louisville, KY
– Bio/Chem 2018 BIO International Convention Boston, Massachusetts
– Mfg LIVE TOOLING CNC LATHE Auburn, ME
– Bio/Chem 2018 Bio-Link Summer Fellows Forum Berkeley, CA
Info GISP Exam Prep Program Louisville, KY
Info Python Mapping Louisville, KY
Info QGIS BASICS Louisville, KY
– Info National Cyber Summit Huntsville, AL
Info Field Data Collection Louisville, KY
Info GTCM Review Louisville, KY
Info Humanitarian Mapping Louisville, KY
Gen Working Together: Deaf and Hearing People workshop at Harper College Palatine, IL
– Mfg CNC MILLING: NIMS LEVEL 1 Auburn, ME
– Info Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education (CISSE) New Orleans, LA
– Eng STEM Guitar Project Summer Institute - Nevada Boulder City, NV
– Eng Medical Device Training Program Brooklyn, NY
– Eng Capstone Laboratory for OP-TEC Online Photonics Faculty Development Course Ottumwa, IA
– Mfg 5-AXIS CNC MILLING TEACHER TRAINING Auburn, ME
– Eng Educator's Institute: Supply Chain Management Columbus, OH
– Gen AACC John E. Roueche Future Leaders Institute June 2018 Washington, DC
– Eng ASEE Annual Conference 2018 Salt Lake City, UT
– Eng STEM Guitar Project Summer Institute - Minnesota Burnsville, MN
– Ag/Env Summer Energy Educator Series (SEES) Eugene, OR
– Info GeoInquiries Farmers Branch, TX
– Bio/Chem miniBIOMAN 2018: Downstream Processing of mAbs Gardner, MA
– Ag/Env Wisconsin STEM Educator Solar Institute Madison, WI
– Mfg CNC TURNING: NIMS LEVEL 1 Auburn, ME
– Info Drones for Data Capture and for the Derivation of 3D Models San Diego, CA
– Ag/Env NREL Renewable Energy Institute for Teachers Golden, CO
– Eng STEM Guitar Project Summer Institute - Kentucky Madisonville, KY
– Eng Logistics Engineering Technology - Early College Experience Columbus, OH
– Gen High Impact Technology Exchange Conference 2018 Miami, FL
Nano MNT Education Special Interest Group (MNTeSIG) Miami, FL
– Mfg 4-AXIS CNC MILLING TEACHER TRAINING Auburn, ME
Eng Fundamentals of Photonics Ottumwa, IA
– Info Getting Started with UAVs and FAA Part 107 Certification Salt Lake City, UT
– Gen Community College Cyber Summit (3CS) Gresham, Oregon,
Eng Laser Material Processing Workshop Ottumwa, IA
– Info GeoTech Center Regional Workshop Gettysburg, PA

For more events, please visit the ATE Central Events page or, if you have any upcoming events that you would like posted on ATE Central or in the ATE Central Connection, please submit them online.

To add a continuously-updated list of ATE and STEM education events to your website, use the ATE Event Widget.

News & Reminders

Would you like more copies of the ATE@20 book?

We are sending out one more round of ATE@20: Two Decades of Advancing Technological Education. Book orders and general inquiries can be emailed to info@atecentral.net.

Archiving your deliverables with ATE Central is now easier than ever!

Upload your curriculum, professional development materials, or other deliverables created with ATE funding directly to the ATE Central resource portal via the new archive submission form.

Can CWIS software help support your project goals?

CWIS is open source software, created with NSF funding, that can help your project or center showcase resources online. It's free and very easy to use. The latest version (CWIS 4.1.1) was released on and is available for download on the Scout site. Please email cwis@scout.wisc.edu if you have any questions or would like a quick tour of its features!

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