Advanced Technological Education · December 2017

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 Project: Creating Pathways for Big Data Careers
Featured Resources in Big Data
Community Connection
ATE Success Tips: Outreach
Did You Know?
Select STEM Education Resources
ATE Events
News & Reminders

Featured Project

Creating Pathways for Big Data Careers

oceansofdata.org/projects/creating-pathways-big-data-careers

The quantity of digital data created globally is growing exponentially, and workers in many professions need skills to organize and analyze the deluge of data that confronts them. To address the urgent need for workers who have "big data" skills, the Oceans of Data Institute (ODI) of the Education Development Center will work with four community colleges that are leaders in the area of big data, data science, and data analytics to create a career pathway model for big data careers, with special attention to the "middle skill" jobs that can be filled by graduates of community college programs. Subject matter experts representing a variety of professional fields will identify the entry-level, middle-level, and high-level big data skills, knowledge, and behaviors that are needed in the workplace, and these skills, knowledge, and behaviors will then be organized and aligned with big data jobs. ODI and partners Bunker Hill Community College (Massachusetts), Normandale Community College (Minnesota), Johnson County Community College (Kansas), and Sinclair Community College (Ohio) will work together to design the big data career pathway model. They will document pathways to these careers via a system of stackable credentials that identify associate degrees, certificates, and four-year programs leading to employment. Each college will adapt the pathway model to fit the big data labor demand in its geographic region. To build the capacity of faculty to teach big data skills, Bunker Hill Community College will leverage its relationship with the Broadening Advanced Technological Education Connections (BATEC) center to deliver appropriate professional development for faculty. ODI and the partner colleges will disseminate the project's products to a national audience of community colleges (including minority serving institutions and tribal colleges) and business/industry representatives hiring for big data positions.

Featured Resources in Big Data

From From Creating Pathways for Big Data Careers:

Profile of the Data Practitioner

oceansofdata.org/our-work/profile-data-practitioner

This webpage, provided by Creating Pathways for Big Data Careers at the Oceans of Data Institute at the Education Development Center, contains a short summary and link to a pdf document entitled, "Profile of the Data Practitioner." This publication is the result of an April 2016 panel meeting of industry experts in the fields of "biotechnology, finance, law enforcement, health care, agriculture, and public policy." These panelists outlined the skills, knowledge base, behaviors, tools, and supplies necessary for the data practitioner. Additionally, future trends and industry concerns about the occupation of data practitioner are included in this report, as well as duties and tasks of the position. To download a free copy of "Profile of the Data Practitioner," users must fill out a form identifying their name, email, and organization.

From From Broadening Advanced Technological Education Connections (BATEC):

Big Data: Ground-Breaking Analysis of Employment in the Information Economy

batec.org/publications

This 48-page report from Broadening Advanced Technological Education Connections (BATEC) provides information on big data careers. The purpose of this analysis is to shed light on the skills gap and better understand the evolving requirements of the career pathway. Burning Glass and BATEC have identified key occupations within the big data landscape and conducted an analysis of employer demand across the market for big data workers. Users must supply contact information to receive a copy of the report.

From The Supply Chain for Middle-Skill Jobs: Education, Training, and Certification Pathways:

Improving STEM Education through Data-intensive Research

atecentral.net/downloads/1910/pga_171693.pdf

These slides are provided by the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) and were presented at the April 1, 2016 Committee Meeting on the Supply Chain for Middle-Skill Jobs: Report Release on Online Education from MIT Researchers. This presentation was given during Panel III: Views from the Government. Presentation slide topics include the following: Opportunities, More than MOOCS; Innovative hybrid community college examples; Data-intensive research in education; Data-intensive - more nuanced than "Big Data", and Needed; and Data-intensive research infrastructure. This report and other presentations given at the committee meeting are available to view separately.

Community Connection

Community College Innovation Challenge

For the fourth year in a row, the NSF and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) are hosting the Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC). The CCIC is a two-stage competition for STEM community college students and faculty to create innovative solutions to real-world problems. Teams compete for cash awards and finalists earn full travel support, for both students and faculty, to attend an Innovation Boot Camp in Washington, D.C. This competition is a great way to create a deeper level of engagement and interaction between students and faculty mentors, and an effective route to establishing productive relationships with the NSF and the AACC. Entry details are as follows:

Must include 3-5 students per team
Teams must have a faculty mentor (from your college)
Teams must have an industry partner (from outside your college)
Entries must include a written portion and a 90-second video
Submit from Oct. 18, 2017, to Feb. 14, 2018
Must attend Innovation Boot Camp, required for student finalists and their faculty mentor, in Alexandria, Virginia, June 11, 2018, to June 14, 2018

For a comprehensive look at the rules, purpose, and process involved in the CCIC and Finalist Innovation Boot Camp, please refer to the official 2018 CCIC Handbook (PDF) or the FAQ for more information.

ATE Success Tips: Outreach

Having a website for your project or center is an essential component to your outreach efforts and can drastically increase awareness about your research and goals. Don’t have a website yet? ATE Central provides a microsite service free of charge to all ATE grantees.

The ATE Central Microsite service allows ATE projects and centers to very quickly and easily create their own website and use that site to share documents, publish curriculum materials, announce events and publications, and disseminate the products and progress of their grant.

If you have questions, or want a microsite for your project or center, email us at [email protected]. You can also visit our Microsites FAQ for more information.

Did You Know?

Students from families who earn $30,000 or less a year use at least half of that income to cover the average net cost of a public two-year college.

Select STEM Education Resources

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

Modules: Free Ag Energy Curriculum for Teachers

agenergyia.org/modules

For educators looking for an entire curriculum about agricultural use of energy, or for anyone interested in the way agricultural scientists are currently thinking about the uses and conservation of energy resources, this curriculum of 15 modules will be a true boon. Readers may download the modules individually or choose to download the entire curriculum simultaneously. Each lesson within the modules is packed with information and activities, including syllabi, quizzes, press releases, and visually compelling, informative slides. Topics range from Ag Energy Basics to Energy Conservation in Agriculture to lessons about solar energy, geothermal, wind, biofuels, and hydropower, among other topics.

Science in Focus

www.sumanasinc.com/scienceinfocus/scienceinfocus.html

Sumanas Inc.'s website offers a wide range of material, such as animations of scientific processes for a range of scientific disciplines, but here visitors will find their "Science in Focus" section of the website. Some of the topics that are brought to life with animating technology are antibiotic resistance, stem cell research, malaria, anthrax, gene therapy, and peptic ulcers. Click on "Go to Presentation" next to your topic of choice, and you'll be taken to a page that has the animation ready to play, but also has several links to outside sources of information. When you're ready to view the animation, click on the link "Click to view animation" and you'll be shown a simple player that will allow you to listen to the narration while viewing the animation, or read the text while viewing the animation. Visitors shouldn't miss the Malaria Parasite animation for an explanation of how humans, mosquitoes, and the Plasmodium parasite all have to be involved to successfully pass on malaria.

Earth Science Literacy Maps

www.dlese.org/library/literacy_maps

This collection of remarkable Earth Science Literacy Maps serves as a great tool for teachers and students searching for resources related to specific Earth science concepts. Visitors will note that the maps are contained within eleven topical areas, including Flow of Matter in Ecosystems and Evidence and Reasoning in Inquiry. Once a concept is selected, additional digital learning resources can be found that connect thematically to the original concept. Additionally, users can find out how these concepts and ideas are related to National Science Education Standards. Visitors should also take advantage of the powerful search engine that cross-references educational matters located throughout the entire database.

ATE Events

Upcoming Events
December 5–6	Mfg	Auto STEAM Days	Warren, MI
December 6–9	Gen	ACTE'S Career Tech Vision 2017	Nashville, TN
December 9	Nano	Raspberry Pi Workshop	Albany, New York
December 9	Nano	Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) Workshop	Albany, New York
December 11–13	Gen	Winter Working Connections 2017	Online
January 3–6	Gen	The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2018 (HICSS)	Big Island, HI
January 4–5	Info	WASTC 2018 Winter ICT Educators Conference	San Jose, California
January 24	Gen	CareerTech Teacher Academy Session 2	Oklahoma City, OK
January 30, 2018 – February 2, 2018	Eng	AACC Workforce Development Institute (WDI) Conference	New Orleans, LA
February 15–19	Gen	AAAS Annual Meeting	Austin, Texas

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

STEM for All Video Showcase: Transforming the Educational Landscape

If you are engaged in a federally-funded project to improve Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and computer science education, we invite you to submit a video to the showcase and discuss it with researchers, practitioners, policy makers and the general public during an interactive week-long event.

Videos that address any of the following are invited:

Partnerships that advance education
Broadening participation & access to high quality STEM experiences
Innovative practices transforming education
Research informing STEM learning and teaching

If you are not intending to present a video this year, please save the dates anyway! Your participation viewing the videos, discussing them with presenters, and voting for your favorites is very welcome.

For more information: http://stemforall2018.videohall.com

OP-TEC’s Lasers Optics and Photonics Online Course

OP-TEC offers a hybrid, online faculty development course in optics and photonics. This open entry/open exit course has been developed for faculty whose schedules demand a flexible course timeline. It is perfect for busy faculty who might have difficulty keeping up with weekly assignments in a "scheduled" course, but who would have a period or periods of time during the semester or school year that would allow them to complete assignments and exams independently and at their own pace. It is also an excellent opportunity for junior faculty, adjunct faculty, and lab technicians who may need to prepare to teach a college level or dual credit introductory photonics course.

Title: Lasers Optics & Photonics Online Self-Paced Faculty Development Course
Date: 9/1/2017-5/31/2018
Location: Online 9/1/17-5/31/18 (with optional hands-on laboratory 2.5-day capstone in June 2018)

Please visit the course website for more detailed information, including contact information and steps to registering online.

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 [email protected].

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 4.0.1) was released on September 18^th and is available for download on the Scout site. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions or would like a quick tour of its features!

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