Email Print Share
January 21, 2010

ATE Centers (Image 1)

Esther Worker is a community and youth manager for the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., a software company working in partnership with the National Resource Center for Agriscience and Technology Education, or AgrowKnowledge. AgrowKnowledge supports improved technology education for community college students enrolled in agriculture, food and natural resources programs. [Image 1 of 12 related images. See Image 2.] (Date of Image: 2009)

More about this Image
AgrowKnowledge--supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program (grant DUE 08-02510)--supports improved technology education for community college students enrolled in agriculture, food and natural resources programs. The AgrowKnowledge network includes community colleges, universities and secondary school partners from all regions of the U.S. The center engages in activities developed in partnership with industry and education representatives throughout the country.

AgrowKnowledge supports the capability of community colleges to provide the workforce with the technical and technology skills to apply emerging technologies. AgrowKnowledge does this by disseminating recruitment and retention strategies, identifying and sharing best practices, and suggesting methods for educators to collaborate with agriculture stakeholders. AgrowKnowledge supports professional development of faculty in emerging technologies by organizing and facilitating a series of national and regional workshops. National workshops introduce the newest technologies and innovations in agriculture to a national audience of educators. AgrowKnowledge is located at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. To learn more, visit the center's website Here.

NSF's ATE program supports efforts to improve the knowledge and skills of technicians who work in high-technology fields that drive the nation's economy. The program focuses on undergraduates, secondary school students and incumbent technicians, as well as the educators who teach them. Community colleges are the main providers of education for technicians and have leadership roles in all ATE initiatives, working closely with industry, government and educators in other sectors to enhance the skills of the men and women who are essential to the vitality of the nation's economy. ATE partnerships help create new curricula; reform existing programs; enrich the technical knowledge of experienced college faculty members and teachers; prepare prospective educators with solid foundations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and undertake applied research in technological education. ATE's centers and projects devote significant time and resources to building collaborations with industry and other educators, creating educational materials, providing professional development and improving technological education programs. Further information on NSF's ATE program is available Here.

Credit: Photo from ATE Centers Impact 2008-2010 (www.atecenters.org)


Images and other media in the National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery are available for use in print and electronic material by NSF employees, members of the media, university staff, teachers and the general public. All media in the gallery are intended for personal, educational and nonprofit/non-commercial use only.

Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.

Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.

Also Available:
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (1.8 MB)

Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.