ATE PI Conference — October 24–26, 2012 — Washington DC
http://www.aacc.nche.edu/Resources/aaccprograms/ate/conf2012/Pages/default.aspx
The American Association of Community Colleges with the support of
the National Science Foundation
will hold the nineteenth national
ATE
Principal Investigators Conference, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in
Washington, DC. The
conference brings together approximately 850 people to focus on
the critical issues related to advanced technological education.
Key people working on
ATE projects
across the country participate in the conference. Conference
attendees represent community colleges, business and industry,
secondary school systems, four-year colleges, and research and
development centers covering projects in a wide variety of areas
such as: information technology, engineering technology, micro-
and nanotechnologies, chemical technology, biotechnology, and
others.
Content, which focuses upon conceptual structure, and process,
which focuses upon intellectual skills, are two preeminent ways in
which technology educators conceive of curriculum. If technology
is to have validity as a school subject, its adherents must be
able to define it. They must be able to answer the basic question,
"What do you teach?" And as the subject is taught to children,
teachers must likewise be able to articulate to them and their
parents how the skills taught in the technology classroom are
unique. Both content and process claimants may argue that their
particular curricular approach reveals technology to students. If
it is the case that these two ways of thinking are each capable of
helping students acquire literacy in the subject, then perhaps
there is need to view them not dichotomously, but rather
symbiotically. Perhaps the approach to curriculum does not really
matter. Maybe it is how this all plays out in actual classrooms
that counts.
Twitter is a social media and networking tool that offers users a
chance to compose short, 140-character messages, interact with
other users via hashtags (#) and @replies, and upload images,
videos, and links. Although it may seem daunting — and does
have a somewhat steep learning curve — Twitter can be a
great way to connect with others who share an interest or are
participating in an event.
Many ATE
projects have difficulty recruiting enough qualified students.
However, the Integrated Science Semester
(IScS) can be
used as a "Pathway to Technology" to transform potential recruits
from unqualified into qualified students. Many of the students who
went through the pilot program were raised in poverty and a large
percentage of them were from underrepresented minorities. Their
educations had not prepared them for college-level English, math,
or science courses. The
IScS program
supported these students in their transition to success in
college.