Bringing together community college, secondary school faculty, and industry to develop and implement a curriculum and professional development initiative.
AgCentric Partners with CASE
Our Mission
We develop and support excellence in agriculture, food and natural resources programs and career pathways in partnership with K-12, government, other academic institutions, and the industry.
Our Mission
To impact student career readiness by empowering teachers with improved instructional practices and relevant curricula sustained by professional development.
The Agriculture, Robotics, Automation, & Technology (ARAT) Project
A project funded by the National Science Foundation
The Agriculture, Robotics, Automation, & Technology (ARAT) project brings together community colleges, secondary school faculty and industry to develop and implement a curriculum and professional development initiative.
The partners, led by AgCentric and CASE (Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education) along with Northland Community and Technical College, St. Cloud Technical and Community College, and industry collaborators, will leverage their resources and experience to ensure this project meets industry, student, and faculty needs in agricultural, robotics, automation and technology education.
Project Abstract (NSF Award #2348815)
The ARAT curriculum will introduce students to concepts in automation and robotics in three systems: animal, plant, and food. The first unit introduces core concepts in automation and robotics, while the last unit guides students through an open-ended design project. Between these two units are three modules – animal, plant, and food applications. Teachers can incorporate these units independently or incorporate them together to meet their local curricular needs.
This project aims to serve the national interest by developing a new, industry and college-driven robotics and automation technician curriculum for secondary and two-year college students. The project includes professional development aligned with the curriculum. The project meets a documented industry need for increased numbers of qualified technicians nationwide with robotic competencies to work in both urban and isolated, rural areas. The significance and importance of this project will be reflected in the impact of the project to (1) meet current, pressing workforce needs in agriculture technologies and (2) enable students to potentially gain college credit or concurrent or articulated enrollment with 2- and 4-year institutions. The project meets the mission of NSF and the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program to advance, define, and disseminate the knowledge and skills that expand the progress of science knowledge and applications. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation’s economy.
Curriculum Project Team
As developed by AgCentric and CASE with NSF funding.
The Technical Applications in Agriculture (TAA) Project
A project funded by the National Science Foundation
The Technical Applications in Agriculture (TAA) project brings together community colleges, secondary school faculty and equipment manufacturers and dealers to develop and implement a curriculum and professional development initiative.
The partners, led by AgCentric and CASE (Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education) along with Northland Community and Technical College, Ridgewater College, and industry collaborators, will leverage their resources and experience to ensure this project meets industry, student, and faculty needs in agricultural technician education.
As developed by AgCentric and CASE with NSF funding.
