WCC instructor speaks at national conference
By From staff reports
Published in News on August 12, 2012 1:50 AM
Angela Wall, Industrial Systems and Sustainability Technologies instructor at Wayne Community College, was a presenter at the High Impact Technology Exchange Conference held in Denver in July.
Mrs. Wall joined San Francisco State University doctoral faculty and students in speaking on "Essential Elements for Advanced Technological Education Bridge Programs."
HI-TEC is a national conference on advanced technological education where secondary and postsecondary educators, counselors, industry professionals, trade organizations, and technicians update knowledge and skills. It is produced by a consortium of National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education centers and projects.
Mrs. Wall's session discussed theoretic framework and practical considerations when implementing bridge programs and seven crucial elements of such programs. She talked about some of the strategies employed by WCC's "Project-Based Learning and Learning Communities" in its Sustainability Technologies program, such as teaching college classes in high schools, summer activities like Camp Kilowatt, high school/community college dual enrollment, and project-based learning and learning communities.
"The gist of our presentation was to focus on 'bridges' -- from high school to college, from community college to university, from work back to college [for the unemployed], from college to work, and increasingly from middle schools to innovative high schools -- and how to get students over the tough humps like pre-curriculum classes so they can finish programs and succeed," Mrs. Wall said.