Rural Access to Technical Education

Award Number: 0053310

Summary

The University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) Sitka Campus received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for a three-year project to Enhance Rural Access to Advanced Technology Education (ATE) in Alaska. The project builds on a completed DUE ATE funded Rural Alaska Environmental Education Project by creating specific comprehensive teaching/learning materials in environmental technology education for rural high schools; by developing and supporting active, hands-on learning in rural settings; and by enhancing distributive learning in support of the post-secondary environmental technology curriculum at the University of Alaska Southeast.

Both the completed ATE project and the Enhanced Rural Access to ATE in Alaska project arise from the acute need in small, rural Alaskan communities for a trained technical workforce, in general, and in water and wastewater treatment in particular. The need for a greater technical education effort in the villages to establish awareness of the relationship between village sanitation and environmental conditions and public health is most critical.

The project provides a Rural Technical Educator to develop, supervise and support job-shadowing, mentoring and on-site technical experiences at local facilities. The project also involves enhanced access to technical resources by developing an interactive CD-ROM for high school students addressing the technology of sanitation and environmental issues. The Rural Technical Educator will be available to support associate degree distance students in the remote villages and to support rural high school teachers in the use of the newly developed curricular materials and will conduct summer institutes for the teachers.

The project provides a model for collaboration by secondary/post secondary educators, local communities, agencies, and the scientific community to meet the educational needs of rural and minority students.

Project Objectives:

Objective A: To create opportunities for experiential learning in rural “real-life” settings.

1. STRATEGY: Provide a Rural Technical Educator (RTE) to support students and teachers in rural Alaska.
2. STRATEGY: Prepare Remote Maintenance Workers (RMWs) to partner with rural high school and college educators.

Results/Products:

• Employed RTE to visit rural schools
• Begin cooperative training with state agency RMWs

Objective B: To enhance distributive teaching/learning methodologies to address distance learning needs.

1. STRATEGY: Develop, produce and test interactive CD-ROM technologies to support RASE courses in which didactic and laboratory instruction are separate in time and space.
2. STRATEGY: Maintain a web site for RASE students, secondary students, and rural teachers.

Results/Products:

• Interactive CD-ROM/Web Sanitary Chemistry Course
• Web Site for students and teachers

Objective C: To enhance environmental education for rural secondary schools.

1. STRATEGY: Provide continuing education for rural secondary teachers
2. STRATEGY: Purchase and distribute to rural secondary schools reusable laboratory kits.

Results/Products:

• Summer institute for rural high school science teachers
• Ten environmental science kits assembled and distributed