--Excerpts from an article by J. W. Skiles jskiles@mail.arc.nasa.gov, Ames Research Center, in the electronic newsletter "Education Program Update," Nahid Khazenie nkhazeni@pop100.gsfc.nasa.gov, Managing Editor, MTPE Education Program
ACTES is a project funded by NASA Headquarters Office of Human Resources and Education and Office of Mission to Planet Earth. The objectives of the project, now in its second year, include the development of a teaching laboratory, a curriculum, transferable classes using remote sensing, technical reading and writing, an occupational certificate based on specified courses, and dissemination of the materials by publicly accessible techniques.
This project has three major goals: 1) implementing remote-sensing data use in a broad range of community college courses; 2) creating curriculum modules and classes that are transportable to other community colleges via the World Wide Web, and 3) establishing a WWW server that will be an ongoing source of data and curriculum materials to other community colleges.
The result of this curriculum will be hands-on learning for students whether they are at a two-year college for an AA degree, retraining to improve their job skills, or taking classes to satisfy requirements for four-year colleges. The expectation is that these students will be able to continue their education in remote sensing/Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at a senior college, move into entry level positions at local companies where remote-sensing and GIS technologies are used, or have valuable skills to append to their resumes.
A sequence of courses has been established at a community college in San Mateo County, California for students wishing to earn an AA degree in this area of expertise. Following are titles of each of the five courses:
This course sequence will give students the ability to identify, use, and analyze basic data structures from the point of view of sensor data, data base organization, and data representation. Students will be able to acquire data by a range of techniques including downloading from the Web, use of CD-ROMs, scanners, and satellite-transmitted data. Students will also gain a basic understanding of sensor technology and remote-sensing concepts, and will be able to acquire and use data from remote-sensing sources.
At the completion of the project, colleges throughout the nation will be able to download materials from the ACTES WWW site and use them for their own related course work and programs. These materials will include course outlines, classroom exercises, individual lessons, supporting graphics, and images.
For more information, please contact J. W. Skiles, NASA Ames Research Center, telephone (415) 604-3614, e-mail jskiles@mail.arc.nasa.gov.