The Exploring Making Through Mobile Emergent Technologies (EMMET) program sought to disrupt the trajectory from rural high school to factory floor by introducing STEM and computational thinking (STEM+C) skills through mentorship training and hands-on activities involving creative production--often referred to as "making." The program…

Nearly one half of students planning to earn a STEM degree either change majors or leave college without a degree. The completion percentage is much lower for underrepresented minorities, of whom less than one third complete their STEM degree within six years. At the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the STEM Boot Camp program was designed to…

Nationwide, women woodland owners are increasingly taking on the primary decision-making role for their land. In Wisconsin and beyond, most existing landowner outreach efforts target mixed-gender audiences. We explored how facilitation techniques can be incorporated into a women-centric workshop to increase women landowners' confidence, knowledge,…

Dwindling public funding as well as greater competition for grant dollars create a challenge for Extension. For Extension to remain a financially viable organization, educators have to be able to produce substantive, measurable program outcomes and impacts. Evaluative data can inform program development and delivery, and helps administrators…

Extension educators are frequently tasked with strengthening organizations they collaborate with or provide education to. When a county government in Wisconsin experienced significant personnel changes in a span of less than 18 months, department heads contacted Extension to request professional development and team-building education for their…

Development of benchtop, portable Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared (IR) spectrometers has opened up opportunities for creating university-high school partnerships that provide high school students with hands-on experience with NMR and IR instruments. With recent changes to the international baccalaureate chemistry…

The low representation of Indigenous people in the sciences is often described as an effect of colonization and the result of a dominant western science paradigm that ignores or dismisses Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). Initiated by Indigenous faculty of the University of Wisconsin, the Tribal Youth…

Purpose/Objectives: The goal of the program was to establish youth gardens across Wisconsin by conducting workshops for school staff and childcare providers on how to start and sustain a youth garden with limited resources. Methods: Evaluation utilized an end-of-workshop questionnaire and follow-up survey. The end-of-workshop questionnaire focused…

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) launched Quality Collaboratives (QC): Assessing and Reporting Degree Qualifications Profile Competencies in the Context of Transfer in 2011 as a three-year project that engaged educational, assessment, and policy leaders in student learning outcomes assessment and transfer pathways.…

This article presents the results of a three-year study of "Gamestar Mechanic" (www.gamestarmechanic.com), a flash-based multiplayer online role-playing game developed for the MacArthur Foundation's digital media learning initiative by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Gamelab in New York. The game's objective is to help children…

Teacher preparation, historically, has involved learning experiences offered by personnel in four distinct settings--faculty in Colleges of Letters and Science, faculty in Colleges of Education, practicing teachers in clinical-based sites, and personnel in local school districts. The disparate nature of these settings often complicates the…

AN 8-WEEK INSTITUTE WAS HELD TO PREPARE SELECTED HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TO INITIATE AND DEVELOP VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS. THE PROJECT INCLUDED FOLLOWUP ACTIVITY FOR 1 YEAR TO IDENTIFY THE APPLICATION OF LEARNINGS ACQUIRED IN THE SUMMER INSTITUTE. THE INSTITUTE PROGRAM WAS WELL RECEIVED, AND ITS GENERAL EVALUATION WAS HIGHLY FAVORABLE. IT WAS RECOMMENDED,…

Based on stated 3-year (1973-1976) project goals, career education activities were provided to the identified adult population (unemployed, underemployed, mid-career, high school dropouts, parents, and women) in rural areas of the North Central Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education District of Wisconsin. Project activities included classes,…

This report describes the process, participants, and recommendations for change evolving from a workshop centered on a review of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) practices relating to the federal Carl Perkins Act. A workshop summary discusses the background, process, and outcomes of the workshop. Highlights are provided from the…

A 16-WEEK TWO-SUMMER INSTITUTE WAS HELD TO ASSIST IN DEVELOPING THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL ESSENTIAL FOR TEACHING SPECIALIZED COURSES IN A 2-YEAR CURRICULUM IN BUSINESS ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING. THE REPORT DESCRIBES THE INSTITUTE'S ENROLLMENT, ENVIRONMENT (AREA AND SCHOOL), TEACHING STAFF, TEXT MATERIAL, AND COURSE OUTLINES. EVALUATIONS BY BOTH THE…