ADVANCED TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION · AUGUST 2009

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.

We want the ATE Central Connection to be a valuable tool; please e-mail info@atecentral.net with any suggestions about how to make the ATE Central Connection more useful for you or to suggest any information you would like to see in an upcoming issue.

Upcoming Events

August 4-7 Distance Teaching and Learning Madison, WI
August 10-15 CyberWATCH Faculty Workshop: Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) Certification Prep Arlington, VA
September 22-24 Green Manufacturing Expo Rosemont, IL
September 30 - October 2 National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers Fall Conference 2009 Chicago, IL
September 30 - October 3 National Career Pathways Network Annual Conference 2009 Atlanta, GA
October 11-14 CIT: Confernece on Information Technology Detroit, MI
October 17-20 National Council for Workforce Education Annual Fall Conference 2009 Seattle, WA
October 21-23 ATE National Principal Investigators Conference: Technicians in the Green Economy Washington, D.C.
October 28-30 Alabama Workforce Development Conference Montgomery, AL

If you have any upcoming events that you would like posted on ATE Central or in the ATE Central Connection please send them to info@atecentral.net

Featured ATE Center

South Carolina Advanced Technological Education National Resource Center (SC ATE)

http://www.scate.org/

The South Carolina Advanced Technological Education (SC ATE) National Resource Center for Engineering Technology (ET) Education is a resource for two-year colleges and provides access to "materials for recruiting and retaining students, as well as for teaching engineering technology." The website also provides resources for ET students and for businesses and industries seeking to hire engineering technology graduates. Of interest to educators and administrators is a free PDF monograph on the recruitment and retention of engineering technology students and links to web and other resources for teaching engineering technology courses. Students may be interested in SC ATE's on-line resources for finding jobs in the ET sector.

Featured ATE Resources

Here is a small sample of the valuable resources in ATE Central that focus on Biotechnology:

From the Partnership for Plant Genomics Education (PPGE) project:

Biotechnology Laboratory: Gel Electrophoresis of Dyes [pdf]

http://ppge.ucdavis.edu/Equipment/Protocols/gel_electrophoresis_of_dyes_06.pdf

A portion of The Partnership for Plant Genomics Education, hosted by the University of California-Davis, this PDF presents a student activity where students will use agarose gel electrophoresis to separate several different dyes. The lab is described as a "precursor to DNA separations" and thus provides an important step in the subject matter. The lab provides for students: detailed instructions, background information, and a quiz and group questions. Answers to the questions, and also the general objective of the lab, are provided for the instructor. Overall, the lab is introductory in nature and perfect for any science classroom.

From the Bio-Link Center for Biotechnology:

Protein Purification Manual

http://matcmadison.edu/biotech/resources/proteins/labManual/

This laboratory manual outlines the procedures for the purification of an enzyme, β-galactosidase, from a strain of E. coli cells. Extracting and purifying this protein from E. coli will be a multi-step process, starting from cell paste of E. Coli, progressing through several separation methods, and ending with analysis and verification of the purified protein by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and Immunoblotting procedures. The project is designed, as much as possible, to simulate a "real world" biotechnology experience in order to present the skills needed to do similar projects on the job.

From the Biotechnology Education and Training Sequence Investment (BETSI) project:

Restriction Enzyme Mapping Lab [pdf]

http://www.swccd.edu/~betsi/pdf/outreach_hs_activities_restrictionenzymelab.pdf

This laboratory activity, by the Biotechnology Education and Training Sequence Investment (BETSI) project at Southwestern College, walks students and educators through the procedure of restriction enzyme mapping. Restriction enzymes are found in bacteria and "cleave the double helix of DNA at specific places." This activity, which is broken up into two parts, allows students to observe this process by presenting specific procedure steps and illustrations to guide them. There is also a worksheet for students to complete: Analysis of a Restriction Enzyme Digest of a Plasmid. This is a helpful activity for any biotechnology classroom to give students hands-on experiences with enzymes and the reconstruction of recombinant DNA molecules.

For more ATE resources about Biotechnology please visit: http://atecentral.net/s=biotechnology

News & Reminders

ATE Central will be at the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, August 4-7, in Madison, WI. Please visit us at the AMSER booth #304 in the Exhibit Hall while you are at the conference.

If you are part of an ATE project or center and would like to learn more about becoming involved in ATE Central, please start by filling out the ATE Central Survey (http://atecentral.net/survey) to provide us with additional information about your project or center and how ATE Central can best serve your needs.

In addition to completing the survey, you may also want to download the ATE Central Handbook at http://atecentral.net/handbook. Here you will find information about ATE Central and how your project or center may take part and benefit from ATE Central's portal and services.