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About ATE

The National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has been funding innovation at two-year colleges for over twenty years. With a focus on the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy, and strong partnerships between academic institutions and industry, ATE promotes improvement in the education of science and engineering technicians at the undergraduate and secondary school levels.

To learn more about ATE, please visit the NSF ATE program home page.

Applied Algebra Students Learn Math in Context

Rogue Community College faculty used an ATE grant to develop two applied algebra courses that use genuine, technical workplace problems. The results are promising.

Students are passing Applied Algebra 1 and 2 courses at a higher rate than students in the college's traditional math track. Most significantly, Applied Algebra 2 students perform well in a subsequent statistics course without the additional course required in the traditional math track.

At the project's free summer institutes, high school and community college educators gain a richer understanding of algebra's real-world uses by measuring beams, building circuits, and checking amperages. They also learn how to launch the contextualized courses at their institutions.

Summer math institute participants apply the Pythagorean Theorem to a concrete forming problem.

Summer math institute participants apply the Pythagorean Theorem to a concrete forming problem.

The Contextualizing Career Technical Education in Math project is based at Rogue Community College. Rogue Community College, founded in 1970, is a two-year community college located in Grants Pass, Oregon. The college offers six two-year degrees, seventy-five career and technical training programs, seventeen career pathways certificates, workforce training, and continuing and community education classes. 

Contact

Doug Gardner
Primary Investigator
Email: dgardner@roguecc.edu

This project, based on the success of a previous award (DUE ATE 1002822), is increasing high school and community college student math skills so students are better prepared for post-secondary education and, ultimately, for work as career technical education (CTE) technicians. Objectives for the project include:

  • Developing and piloting a Contextualized Algebra II community college course (Math 67) and textbook.
  • Providing the curriculum to high schools with algebra, geometry, graphing, and statistical concepts driven by contextualized applications from five CTE and STEM areas (Automotive, Diesel, Manufacturing, Electronics, and Construction).
  • Conducting targeted recruitment of veterans, women, and minority students for this new curriculum; providing math tutoring.
  • Offering three Summer Math Institutes (SMI) each for up to twenty-five high school and community college math and CTE teachers.
  • Facilitating formation of professional learning communities for teachers and faculty in the SMIs for ongoing e-based support and for sharing of curriculum and materials.

External evaluation is being used to determine the effectiveness of the contextualized curriculum in developing math skills, compared to the traditional course as a control group. The developed curriculum is being disseminated via the project website, the summer institutes, regional workshops, and presentations at national conferences.