ADVANCED TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION

Grant: Advanced Technological Education
Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Division: Undergraduate Education
Deadlines: October 17, 2013

Program description: With an emphasis on two-year colleges, the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program focuses on the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive the nation's economy. The program involves partnerships between academic institutions and employers to promote improvement in the education of science and engineering technicians at the undergraduate and secondary school levels. The ATE program supports:

• Curriculum development.
• Professional development of college faculty and secondary school teachers.
• Career pathways to two-year colleges from secondary schools and from two-year colleges to four-year institutions.

Another goal is articulation between two-year and four-year programs for K-12 prospective teachers that focus on technical education. The program also invites proposals focusing on research to advance the knowledge base related to technician education.

Proposals to the program may aim to affect specialized technology courses or core science, mathematics and technology courses that serve as immediate prerequisites or co-requisites for specialized technology courses. The curricular focus and the activities of all projects should demonstrably contribute to the ATE program's central goals: producing more qualified science and engineering technicians to meet workforce demands and improving the technical skills and the general science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) preparation of these technicians and the educators who prepare them.

The ATE program focuses on two-year colleges and expects two-year colleges to have a leadership role in all projects. Effective technological education programs should involve partnerships in which two-year colleges work with four-year colleges and universities, secondary schools, business, industry and government and should respond to employers' needs for well-prepared technicians with the ability to learn and embrace change.

Fields of technology supported by the ATE program include, but are not limited to, agricultural technology, biotechnology, chemical technology, civil and construction technology, computer and information technology, cyber security and forensics, electronics, energy, environmental technology, geospatial technology, manufacturing and engineering technology, marine technology, multimedia technology, nanotechnology, telecommunications and transportation technology. The ATE program is particularly interested in projects addressing issues in rural technician education.

Activities may have either a national or a regional focus, but not a purely local one. All projects must be guided by a coherent vision of technological education -- a vision that recognizes students as life-long learners together with the needs of the modern workplace and the articulation of educational programs at different levels.

The ATE program supports proposals in three major tracks: Projects, Centers and Targeted Research in Technician Education.

• ATE Projects can focus on one or more of the following activities:
  • Program development and improvement.
  • Curriculum and educational materials development.
  • Professional development for educators.
  • Leadership capacity building for faculty.
  • Teacher preparation.
  • Business and entrepreneurial skills development for students.
  • Small grants for institutions new to the ATE program.
  • Conferences and workshops.

• ATE Centers can be national, regional or resource centers. All centers are larger in size and scope than projects. ATE Centers provide models and leadership and act as clearinghouses for educational materials and methods.
• The ATE program also supports targeted research on technician education, the changing role of technicians in the workplace and other topics that advance the knowledge base needed to make technician education programs more effective and more forward-looking.

Fit for Public Broadcasting: Public media stations that have been engaged in distance learning activities, especially in partnership with community colleges, will find a good fit in this program designed to build 21st century skills. This program will also fund teacher training and curriculum development. One recent project, funded for close to $1.5 million, produces short web-based television episodes that are intended to increase the relevance of technician education to modern practices and assure an increased number of students entering the high performance workplace with enhanced competencies.

WGBH has, in the past, worked with Nashville State Technical Community College to produce and disseminate video, web-based and print resources for professional development of faculty and for use in classrooms. You can search for and read about previously funded projects here.

Eligibility: Institutions of higher education are the traditional grantees for this program, but public media stations are beneficial partners.

Anticipated Funding: An estimated $64,000,000 is anticipated to be available for 75 to 90 new and continuing awards in the Advanced Technological Education program in FY 2013. Funding is subject to the availability of funds.

How to apply: Proposals must be submitted via FastLane, the NSF online application system, or Grants.gov. Online submission requires registration, a process that usually takes three to five business days but can take as long as four weeks. Be sure to visit Grants.gov and begin registering well in advance of the deadline.

Resources:
Program Notice
Program Website
Recent Awards