Dissemination: A key element of the ATE program

Download: Report_2001_Consideration_Dissemination

“For the National Science Foundation (NSF) to derive maximum benefit from its investment in technology education and workforce development, it is essential that research findings, newly developed curricula, and innovative instructional strategies developed at Advanced Technological Education (ATE) centers and projects (i.e., projects) be effectively disseminated and used by others. This paper: (1) highlights key findings from previous studies of dissemination, (2) reports findings related to dissemination from the WMU evaluation project’s 2000 and 2001 surveys and site visits to selected ATE projects, (3) describes comprehensive dissemination examples, (4) shares findings from a dissemination survey of ATE center directors and from an analysis of ATE centers’ Web sites, (5) proposes a new paradigm for dissemination, and (6) presents recommendations for strengthening NSF proposal requirements for dissemination, improving practices at ATE projects, sharing effective practices, and evaluating the impact of dissemination. The findings from this paper should be especially useful to NSF and ATE staff but also helpful to other educators and researchers looking for new ideas regarding dissemination.”