| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 5, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 23, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1800979 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Virginia Carter
vccarter@nsf.gov (703)292-4651 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $600,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $717,873.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
101 W 3RD ST DAVENPORT IA US 52801-1419 (563)336-3300 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
201 N Harrison Street DAVENPORT IA US 52801-1221 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Advanced Tech Education Prog |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Water and wastewater technician jobs are growing faster than average amid concerns about source water availability, aging infrastructure, water quality, remediation, and workforce issues. These jobs are regulated, cannot be outsourced, and survive economic downturn because humans need clean drinking water and wastewater treatment for health. In addition, businesses and industries need clean water and wastewater treatment to safely produce goods and services. The Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center will support growth of leadership and program capacity in water environmental technology. To achieve this goal, the Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center will provide the nation's high schools, technical and community colleges, and the ATE community with educational materials, professional association, and business and industry information, contacts, research, evaluation, and mentoring.
The Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center will: 1) update the current website and create a new Toolbox for educator information; 2) support and mentor prospective PIs to start or improve water environmental technology programs; 3) coordinate and support additional water environmental technology business, industry and academic partnerships; 4) promote technician careers and the public image in the water environmental technology field; 4) screen, validate, update and broadly distribute materials, curricula, pedagogical practices, projects and appropriate sources including supporting the adaption and implementation at new institutions of materials; and 5) connect and support PIs within the water environmental technology area. It is expected that broader use of Advanced Technology Environmental Education Center materials and curricula will result in an increased number of technicians in water environmental technology jobs, helping the Nation meet the growing need for a skilled, diverse workforce in advanced technology fields.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The Advanced Technology Environmental and Education Center (ATEEC) was established in 1994 as a Center of Excellence within the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program of the National Science Foundation. ATEEC defines and disseminates the cutting-edge technical knowledge necessary for educators to provide their students with successful careers in environmental, energy and water-related fields. We work with experts in education, research and industry to develop comprehensive, professionally validated materials and programs.
ATEEC’s mission is the advancement of environmental and water technology education through curriculum, professional, and program development. Our vision is to foster a network of educational communities, supported through public and private partnerships, which ensures human health, safety, and global sustainability. In addition to the National Science Foundation (nsf.org), our core partners include Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (eicc.edu) and the National Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (nationalpete.org).
ATEEC developed many useful resources over the years which are available at our online portfolio of seven websites. Links to all websites are at ateec.org. Website improvements made during 2018, including removal of out-of-date resources, allow for better experiences on mobile devices. In the past year, at least one of each of our resources was downloaded from the main site with over 6,200 total downloads.
In 2014, ATEEC became the first ATE Center to develop and deliver interactive charts for perusing water and environmental technology careers including job functions, projected job growth, pay scales and educational requirements. ATEEC maintained and annually updated an interactive database of colleges with programs specific to environmental, energy and water technologies that culminate in a 1- or 2-year degrees or certification. Currently listed are 293 colleges with environmental technology programs; 71 of those are water specific and 254 are specific to energy.
Popular and downloadable resources include; Seven Technology and Environmental Decision-Making modules to help educators incorporate the latest research into their curricula. These modules were developed in 2003 (four were recently updated) in partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
ATEEC recently updated “The Best Practices Guide for Developing Educational Programs”, a guide for implementing and improving community and technical college programs.
In 2017, ATEEC became the first ATE Center to develop augmented and virtual reality applications focusing on water/wastewater technician training. Twelve interactive and immersive modules were created, which include: centrifugal pump operations, maintenance and safety, grab, composite and aseptic sampling, titration, sludge judge, pH testing, and bioreactor overview, sampling and testing. These modules provided students and instructors access to a simulated laboratory environment during the pandemic.
In 2022, a Defining Water Management Report was compiled as a result of a modified DACUM. This report provides students, career counselors and career changers with information about degreed and non-degreed careers in the water management field; community colleges with the necessary information to determine certification requirements for technical workers in their local water industries; and a foundation for the development of industry-based curricula and training programs to prepare a local/regional water management workforce.
As a long-term National Resource Center, ATEEC supported and mentored other colleges new to the NSF ATE program. We served on advisory boards, reviewed grant proposals and answered questions. Our trained staff helped with needs analysis, occupational and workforce analysis, evaluation of programs and projects, instructional systems design, and curriculum and development. The ATEEC efforts will continue under the Environmental and Natural Resources Technology (EARTh) Center. ATEEC’s products and resources are archived on the EARTh Center’s new website, www.ourearthcenter.org.
Last Modified: 01/30/2023
Modified by: Ellen J Bluth
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