ATE Survey Report 2021
Findings from the Annual Survey of Principal Investigators in the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education Program
Introduction
The Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act (1992) called for establishing “a national advanced technician training program utilizing the resources of the nation’s two-year associate-degree- granting colleges” (Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992, Pub. L. No. 102-476, 106 Stat. 2297, 1992). In response, the National Science Foundation (NSF) created the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. The ATE program makes awards ranging from $70,000 to $7.5 million to support an array of initiatives to improve the education of technicians at undergraduate institutions and secondary schools, with an emphasis on two-year colleges. Examples of high-technology fields of interest include advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, energy and environmental technologies, engineering, information technologies, and nanotechnologies.
This report summarizes data gathered in the 2021 survey of ATE program grantees. EvaluATE, the evaluation hub for the ATE program, located at The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University, has conducted this survey annually since 2000. Included in this report are findings about ATE projects and their activities and achievements during the 2020 calendar year (and, for budget-related questions, the 2020 fiscal year).
The 2021 survey was a census of ATE principal investigators (PIs) with active grants (N=344). Ninety-one percent of PIs (n=313) responded to the survey. The survey included sections about grantee characteristics and practices, evaluation, collaboration, academic program or course development, educational materials development, instrument acquisition, student services and support, professional development for educators or future educators, professional exchange, research and publications, and ATE program services. Grantees were asked to complete sections that pertained to their work.
Survey questions were substantially revised in 2018, resulting in the modification of existing questions and addition of several new questions to capture a wider range of activities supported by ATE grants. Readers are cautioned against comparing results of the 2021 survey with those prior to 2019. In some cases, changes in the survey questions and structure led to fewer respondents reporting in some areas. In a tradeoff, this report includes data on several types of activities not addressed by the ATE survey prior to 2019, such as workplace-based learning experiences for students, support for students transitioning into college, and acquisition of equipment for use in instruction.
Reported numbers of participants, products, and activities throughout this report are rounded to the nearest ten. The n that appears with tables and figures indicates the number of respondents for a given item.
Additional reports based on annual ATE survey data dating back to 2000 are available at https://atesurvey.evalu-ate.org/survey-resources/. Custom reports may be developed upon request. For more information, contact.