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The National Center for Autonomous Technologies is participating in the 2020 STEM for All Video Showcase: Learning from Research and Practice. This showcase is in its sixth year and features over 170 federally funded innovative projects aimed at improving STEM learning and teaching. This is a week-long event (May 5-12) where researchers, practitioners, policy makers and members of the public are invited to view the short (3-minute or less) videos, discuss them with the presenters online, and vote for their favorites.

NCAT’s video “The Future Workforce Begins with a Spark” demonstrates cultivating imagination fueled with fascination, highlighting that innovation requires curiosity-based drive and diverse perspectives and ideas. That is why NCAT believes in student competitions and STEM engagement to inspire students. They strive to open doors for people, leading to a better society and an incredible future. NCAT’s video can be viewed in the showcase using the link above.

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If you registered and paid online, go to the registration page for more information and check the HI-TEC conference website often for updates. If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email the HI-TEC team at swilson@cord.org.

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Prior learning assessment (PLA) is a powerful tool for engaging non-traditional students. The task of evaluating requests for prior learning credit often falls to faculty members in community college settings. Some faculty doubt PLA because it removes students from seats in the classroom. Others aren’t sure what to say, or if they should say anything, when they identify a student whose prior work or learning experience may qualify them for PLA. This webinar demonstrates how to use PLA as a tool for building relationships with non-traditional students who are harder to engage, ensuring students are seated in future courses, and adding to successful graduate and completion numbers.

This webinar assists participants in understanding the long-term personal and institutional value of prior learning assessment. After this webinar, participants will be able to identify potential PLA candidates, develop a referral plan, and build their own methods of evaluation to determine if a student should or should not receive credit.

Susan Peek has been a Success Coach and Prior Learning Specialist at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Alabama for almost seven years and has worked...

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The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is pleased to announce that the Community College URE Summit Proceedings Report and the report Executive Summary are now available on AACC’s website, along with additional summit resources. To view the report and resources, please go to: www.aacc.nche.edu/URESummit. 

In November 2019, 120 thought leaders, representing community colleges, four-year institutions and higher education organizations, met in Washington D.C. to discuss the role of community colleges in building, implementing, and sustaining undergraduate research experiences (URES) in STEM education and for career preparations. This report highlights the key recommendations and promising practices that came out of those discussions. 

The report and its resulting activities are intended to help expand support for building, strengthening, and expanding UREs at community colleges. ATE community members are encouraged to review the report and to share it with their networks and stakeholders.

The report is also featured in an April 13 Community College Daily article, “Sharing Ideas on Student Research Experiences.”

If you have any questions or comments, please...

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According to a January 2020 working paper from the Community College Research Center (CCRC), external, internal, and interpersonal dynamics all “have implications for practitioners, funders, and policymakers looking to enact technology-mediated advising reforms.”

This research is based on interview data from stakeholders at two- and four-year colleges, from different regions (Southwest, Midwest, and South), demographic makeups, and settings (rural, town, or city). The study examines dynamics such as state policies on college completion, centralization of advising policies and procedures, and individual advising approaches. 

Findings suggest that a large obstacle to instituting advising reform comes from economic challenges (state funding cuts, shifts in demographics and enrollment). Such changes can mean high advisor turnover or large caseloads, and can have a negative impact for the success of advising initiatives, particularly where technology-mediated reforms are concerned. The strongest positive impact came from having “a rationale and organizing framework for envisioning and enacting institutional change to promote student success.” Despite challenges, external pressures...

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Writing an NSF ATE program track proposal and need budget assistance? The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program grant proposal writing process can seem daunting to those new to the ATE program. Each year, Mentor-Connect offers a detailed cost-free technical assistance webinar highlighting all aspects of the budget and budget justification for those building competitive grant proposals for ATE. 

The purpose of this webinar is to help those who have not been funded by NSF to develop fundable proposals. Webinar Participants will learn: how to prepare a budget for their NSF ATE grant, what to include in each budget category, how to prepare a budget justification, how to align the budget and project description, and how to avoid common errors.

Join presenters on Thursday, March 12, 01:00-02:30 pm EDT. The webinar will be recorded, so sign up even if you can't attend to get a copy of the recorded presentation emailed to you. Presented by Mentor Connect.

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Are you ready to teach Generation Z—the most diverse generation to enter U.S. higher education and the workforce in history? Are you seeking ways to recruit and retain women—who continue to lag in participation in the technician workforce? Once you’ve recruited diverse learners and workers to your technician program or workplace, do you know what to do next?

This webinar from the team at SRI International will discuss targeted coaching skills that both technician instructors and employers need to know to be successful. It will share broad research findings from both studies and interviews about effective coaching principles and methods. It will spotlight two technician education practitioners who have used these principles and methods to develop effective targeted coaching approaches. You will learn how they used design methods and key principles. You will see some models that you can use to develop your own local targeted coaching program. This webinar will build your understanding of the unique needs of diverse learners and help you understand the opportunities for building on the distinct experiences and perspectives of diversity in both classroom and work apprenticeships.

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For the fifth year, AACC in partnership with the National Science Foundation, is inviting community college students to participate in the Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC). 

The CCIC is a prestigious competition where community college student teams, working with a faculty or administrator team mentor, use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to innovate solutions to real-world problems; earn travel support to attend an Innovation Boot Camp in Washington, DC; and compete for cash awards. 

The Boot Camp provides hands-on learning opportunities and coaching designed to build strategic communication and entrepreneurial skills—and includes a student poster session on Capitol Hill, and a formal pitch presentation at the Boot Camp in front of a panel of industry professionals, to determine the first and second place winning teams. 

Diverse and interdisciplinary teams that include students in STEM, business, humanities, and other fields are encouraged to register for the challenge and apply by the March 31, 2020 deadline.

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Do you have an NSF or other federally funded project aimed at improving STEM or CS learning and teaching in formal or informal environments? If so, you are invited to be a presenter in this year’s STEM for All Video Showcase!

This year’s theme is STEM for All: Learning from Research and Practice. Videos should address at least one of the following: Strategies to broaden participation and increase access for all; research informing STEM and CS teaching and learning; challenges and strategies in the implementation of STEM and CS programs; measuring impact of innovative programs; or partnerships fostering participation and broader participation.

Successful videos will describe the need that the project addresses, the intervention, innovation, or research, and the potential impact of the work. Video presentations will cover a wide range of topics including, science, mathematics, computer science, engineering, cyberlearning, citizen science, maker spaces, mentoring, informal learning, professional development, research and evaluation, NGSS and the Common Core. The videos highlight initiatives for students of all ages (kindergarten through graduate school, as well as adult...

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Participants in this workshop will learn about the NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program and how to most effectively apply for grant funding. Faculty must propose a specific project to improve an ATE-eligible technical program in a one-page proposal. One-page proposals will be reviewed from October to February 1, 2020 when the first acceptances will be sent. Proposals will be either accepted or sent back for corrections and the website will remain open until the workshop and a waiting list are full. Workshop activities will include presentations; planning and writing sessions with mentors who have had extensive experience with ATE and NSF; and networking with colleagues from similar institutions around the country. Two faculty from each college will receive stipend support.

Full-time STEM discipline faculty involved in technician education programs from two-year colleges. Two faculty per college are eligible and colleges may also send a grant writer as a third team member at their own expense. 

The mentor assigned to each college team will continue throughout the year to support each college’s efforts to write a complete proposal. This will include creating pre-...