Advanced Technological Education · February 2018

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 [email protected] 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.

In This Issue

Featured Project: ComGen Authentic Research Experiences (C-ARE): Dissemination, Enrichment and Expansion Project
Featured Resources in Biology and Chemical Technologies
Community Connection
ATE Success Tips: Websites
Did You Know?
Select STEM Education Resources
ATE Events
News & Reminders

Featured Project

ComGen Authentic Research Experiences (C-ARE): Dissemination, Enrichment and Expansion Project

www.bellevuecollege.edu/comgen

The core of this project is a one quarter long, six quarter credits undergraduate laboratory course centered on sequencing the genome of an agriculturally significant bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens. In addition to lectures covering traditional curriculum, students will perform original research (sequence the segments of DNA, trouble shoot, assure the validity of their data, analyze and infer the significance of their results and communicate their data to peers and faculty). The synergistic activity of critiquing current original research articles in the topics covered in lecture connects the research experience to the students' theoretical learning and informs student analysis of their own data. Community college partners include Olympic, Clark, Tacoma and Everett Community Colleges. Other partners include the USDA ARS Root Disease Biological Control Research Unit and Washington State University. The aim of this project is to enable community colleges throughout the broad Seattle Tacoma region of Washington state to incorporate an authentic research experience within their traditional laboratory curricula. It is based on a highly successful model designed and implemented by the PI at Bellevue Community College and involves a considerable amount of professional development for the faculty involved. The results will be a set of faculty with new disciplinary-related skills in genomics, students who have been part of a scholarly project, community colleges with an enhanced curriculum, and important information gathered about an agriculturally important Pseudomonas species. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts toward Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education.

Featured Resources in Biology and Chemical Technologies

From ComGen Authentic Research Experiences (C-ARE): Dissemination, Enrichment and Expansion Project:

Biology 211 - Lab 1: Sequence Data Analysis

s.bellevuecollege.edu/wp/sites/130/2017/06/1.a-Sequence-Data-Analysis.pdf

This 1-page resource is the first in a series of labs included in the sequencing the genome of Pseudomonas fluorescens L5.1-96 laboratory curriculum that is taught in Biology 211 and Biology 275+276 at Bellevue College. This lab includes the following sections: Objectives, Before lab, and In lab. Objectives include: analyze a small sequence from the ComGen project and begin to become familiar with sequence analysis using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). Discussion questions and a link to the BLAST Handbook are also included. Related labs and sequence data for Lab 1 are available to view separately.

From Increasing the Student Biotech Pipeline:

Biotech Annual Exhibition 2017

atecentral.net/downloads/2116/flyer+biotech+exhib.pdf

atecentral.net/downloads/2117/bio+tech.mp4

This video and promotional flyer highlight the Biotech Exhibition held on December 14, 2017. The STEM program at Los Angeles Mission College hosted this event and featured work from the school's first Biotechnology class. Presentations were given on the following topics: Producing Electricity from Wastewater, Controlling Environmental Pollutants, Genome Editing in Beauty and Medical Products, Bioinformatics and Cancer Treatment, and Bioengineering and Laser Technology in Food Quality Control. The video runs 1:42 minutes in length.

From Bio-Link: Educating the Biotechnology Workforce:

Genome Engineering with CRISPR-Cas9

atecentral.net/downloads/2019/Genome+Engineering+with+CRISPR+and+Cas+1+0.mp4

This webinar, presented by Bio-Link on October 21, 2016, provides an overview of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, a cutting-edge technology in the medical device industry. Presenters Sandra Porter of Digital World Biology LLC and Thomas Tubon of Madison College first explore what the CRISPR Cas9 system is and then discuss using CRISPR Cas9 for genome engineering. The recorded webinar runs 1 hour and 14 minutes in length.

Community Connection

ATE Central's Spring Sustainability Webinar Series

Sustainability is a critical topic for ATE grantees. Whether you are part of a small project just starting out, or working with a well-seasoned center that has been funded for a decade, considering sustainability at every stage will strengthen the odds of ensuring deliverables and activities continue to be available for the long haul.

To help support project and center sustainability planning and activities, and in collaboration with ITHAKA S&R, ATE Central has been offering webinars and workshops each year on an array of sustainability-related topics. This season, Rachael Bower from ATE Central and Nancy Maron, from BlueSky to BluePrint, will focus on topics useful to centers and projects at all stages of growth. This series addresses three critical angles - first, a basic "health check" to see how your project or center is faring today; second, strategies for moving forward, with a refreshed set of goals and priorities; and finally, taking to heart the need to plan for changes concerning the most valuable asset any project has: its people.

While these webinars were created with the ATE community in mind, they will be useful for anyone thinking about issues related to sustaining educational project or program activities. Visit ATE Central's website to learn more our sustainability services, view past webinars, and watch sustainability experts in our five-part video series Achieving Sustainability. You can also sign up for any of the upcoming webinars on the ATE Central site or below - we'd love to have you join us!

Webinar 1: Taking Stock and Planning for Success

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 1:00pm EST

Click here to register

How well is your project or center doing today? Where do you want it to be tomorrow? In this session, we will introduce a series of questions - a basic "health check tool" - you can start asking that will help you identify areas of strength that you may want to develop even further, and areas of vulnerability that you will want to address. Topics we will cover address the core concepts of sustainability planning, specifically: audience, stakeholders, the changing environment, and funding sources.

Special Guest: Lori Wingate, EvaluATE Center

For a full list of ATE Central's spring webinar series, please visit our webinar page.

ATE Success Tips: Websites

Are you interested in how your project or center's website is performing? If so, you may want to look into web analytics tools, which measures page views, traffic to your page, clicks, and lots more. There are a variety of reasons to consider using web analytics - seeing who your tweets or Facebook posts are reaching and how people are engaging with your content can help you decide on how to really enhance your web presence.

Interested in learning more about what analytics tools are available? Facebook page insights provides a great guide about how to use the insights tab available on your project or center's Facebook page. If you're interested in examining user behavior on your website, consider Google Analytics, which is one of the best free analytics tools available.

Did You Know?

Associate degrees in the humanities awarded to minority students increased from 12.9 percent in 1989 to 32.1 percent in 2015.

Select STEM Education Resources

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

Earth: A Global Map of Wind, Weather, and Ocean Conditions

earth.nullschool.net

Software engineer Cameron Beccario created this website, which allows visitors to view a, "near real-time visualization of global weather conditions." Using data from a number of sources, including the Global Forecast System (GFS), the Ocean Surface Current Analyses Real-time (OSCAR) database, Real-Time Global Sea Surface Temperature (RTGSST) analysis, and more, Beccario has designed an animated, interactive globe. Visitors can choose from a variety of modes (air, ocean, chem[ical], and particulates) in order to view near real-time model information. Within each mode, visitors may also select from a subset of the model's data (e.g. in the "air" mode, visitors can choose to view wind data or temp[erature] data, among other options). Visitors can also adjust how they view these global models using the projection or overlay options.

Urban Natural Resources Stewardship

www.nrs.fs.fed.us/urban

Over the past 100 years, more and more of the U.S. population has moved into urban areas. Currently, more than 80 percent of Americans live in or near a city. The Northern Research Station (NRS), a division of the U.S. Forest Service, seeks to keep cities and suburbs livable by ensuring that trees, parks, greenways, rivers, and lake fronts remain elements of the "urban forest." In addition to information about the NRS' Urban Natural Resources Stewardship efforts, this website includes a list of Science Topics, each dedicated to a unique aspect of land use in urban areas. For instance, "Neighborhood quality of life" links to information about how trees increase social well-being and an article outlining the group's research on what attracts and repels visitors to urban recreation areas. In addition, the site links out to other research themes of the NRS, such as Sustaining Forests and Providing Clean Air and Water.

Addressing Students' Difficulties and Misconceptions About Electrochemistry

apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-chemistry/classroom-resources/addressing-students-difficulties-misconceptions-about-electrochemistry

The College Board has developed the "AP Central" website to provide resources for teachers seeking to improve their students' performance on AP exams, including human geography, chemistry, and European history. This particular resource is from the AP chemistry course page, and it deals with common difficulties and misconceptions regarding electrochemistry. Written by Senior Lecturer Emeritus George Miller of the University of California, Irvine, this article offers some basic guidelines for educators grappling with this particular area of chemistry. The piece includes a discussion of galvanic cells, Ohm's Law, and the half-cell model. Throughout the text, Miller does a fine job of identifying potential areas of confusion that frequently trip up students studying electrochemistry.

ATE Events

Upcoming Events
February 6	Gen	Webinar 1: Taking Stock and Planning for Success	Online
February 7	Gen	Recruiting Students for Photonics Enabled Technology Programs	Online
February 9	Gen	Project Access Workshop, South Campus	Jacksonville, FL
February 9	Nano	Introduction to Nanotechnology for Educators	Online
February 13	Gen	Writing in the Disciplines Workshop, North Campus	Jacksonville, FL
February 15	Eng	Artificial Intelligence Applications to Driver Assistance and Vehicle Automation	Livonia, MI
February 15–19	Gen	AAAS Annual Meeting	Austin, Texas
February 15	Gen	Redesigning Math: An RCNET Workshop	Stone Ridge, NY
February 15	Gen	Grants and Innovation - A Great Match	Online
March 4–5	Ag/Env	Wine Sensory Analysis Workshop - EWE 2018	Lancaster, PA
March 5–8	Gen	SXSW EDU 2018 Conference & Festival	Austin, TX
March 5–9	Gen	8th National Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference (LAK 18)	Sydney,
March 6	Gen	Webinar 2: Re-visiting Your Sustainability Goals in a Post-Grant World	Online
March 8	Gen	Grant Proposal Resources, Roadmaps and Timelines	Online
March 13–14	Ag/Env	Wine Sensory Analysis Workshop - St. Charles, MO	St Charles, MO
March 15	Gen	NSTA 2018 National Conference: Science on My Mind	Atlanta, GA
March 15–18	Gen	NSTA National Conference	Atlanta, GA
March 17–18	Ag/Env	Wine Sensory Analysis Workshop - OH 2018	Geneva, OH
March 18–21	Eng	League for Innovation Convention	Oxon Hill, MD
March 29	Gen	Developing Stakeholder Partnerships Internally and Externally for Successful Grants	Online
April 3–5	Eng	ACTE Region IV Conference	Albuquerque, NM
April 4–5	Bio/Chem	14th Annual Worthington Regional Bio Conference	Worthington, MN
April 6–27	Nano	Nano Curriculum Materials Workshop I	Online
April 10	Gen	Webinar 3: Succession Planning: How to Build a Plan So That Your Work Continues Without You	Online
April 12	Eng	Michigan Automotive Teachers Association (MATA) Conference	Lansing, MI
April 13–17	Gen	2018 Annual AERA Meeting: The Dreams, Possibilities, and Necessity of Public Education	New York City, NY
April 16–19	Gen	National Summit for Educational Equity	Arlington, VA
April 19	Gen	Final Tips for a Competitive Proposal	Online
April 21–26	Gen	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Montreal,
April 28 – May 1	Eng	American Association of Community Colleges Annual Convention 2018	Dallas, TX

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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