It’s hard to believe summer is going by so quickly! HI-TEC is almost here and we are so excited to join members of the ATE Community in St. Louis. If you are planning to attend the conference July 22-25, stop by Booth #404 and say hello to ATE Central PI Rachael Bower, or participate in ATE’s special session on July 26 from 8:30-11:00 am CDT to give feedback on the current program solicitation and outreach efforts. See you there!

If you are interested in developing your mentoring skills and giving back to the ATE community, apply to the Mentor Fellows internship program offered by Mentor-Connect. While shadowing experienced Mentor-Connect mentors and attending Mentor-Connect workshops and webinars, Mentor Fellows learn how to guide new-to-ATE college faculty as they prepare competitive ATE grant proposals through Mentor-Connect. Mentor Fellows receive a stipend and travel support. Applications are due September 27. Those interested in applying can learn more here. 

Those looking to apply the latest research on student learning styles to their teaching practices may be interested in NISOD’s The New Science of Learning: Teaching That Promotes Student Success webinar. The talk will demystify the most successful methods of motivating students and targeting deep learning. It will also cover best practices for getting learners “more involved with course content,” as well as overviewing “applications of pedagogical research that can be used in almost any class.” 

If you are a part of the ATE community and attending HI-TEC, come give feedback on the ATE program to NSF Program Officers in a targeted session Friday after HI-TEC. The ATE Program Officers want feedback on the current program solicitation regarding what is working and what needs to be improved. Further, they want ideas on how to conduct outreach to more community and technical colleges to help them to craft and submit competitive ATE proposals, and they want ideas for how to help those who have submitted but have been declined to recraft their proposals into competitive proposals. This session will cover these topics and more. 

Hone your accessibility expertise with this webinar designed to assist in developing classroom materials that meet the core principles of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines(WCAG). 

The hour-and-a-half program uses revision of a course syllabus as a context to explore these WCAG elements, which can be summed up under the acronym POUR (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust), as well as offering easily implementable tips and techniques. Participants will walk away with practical knowledge on creating course materials that “are accessible and work for all learners from the start, by design.” 

The webinar runs Monday, June 10 from 12:00-1:30 pm CDT and is presented by the NSF- ATE-funded AccessATE project and the National AEM Center at CAST. For more information, visit ATE Central’s event listing. Register to participate in the webinar here.