Support Facilities and Programs
In addition to major instructional and research programs, the College of Education provides service to K-State faculty and students, local schools, and a variety of other entities in the state and region.
Specific services of the College of Education are provided or coordinated through the following centers.
Center for Extended Services and Studies
The center initiates and responds to requests for staff development programs, curriculum studies, staff development needs assessments, program evaluations, and other studies designed to enhance education at all levels and environments. Formalized partnerships have been established through the center to provide technical assistance and leadership to selected education foundations in Kansas.
The center is staffed and maintained through the assignment of faculty and staff in the College of Education and through contracts with faculty from K-State and other professionals as determined by the nature of the project. Coordination of K-State's educational development resources is a major responsibility of this service unit.
Center for Rural Education and Small Schools
Activities designed to address the unique educational needs of small schools and rural communities in Kansas and the plains states are the major focus of this center. Its basic services as ongoing endeavors are in research—to identify unique needs, effective techniques, and decision-making processes—and assistance programs centered on the development, coordination, and delivery of information and services. Development and maintenance of linkages with local schools and state and federal agencies are important functions of the center. A highly successful annual conference on rural education and small schools has attracted national attention and was initiated by the center and the College of Education.
Center for Economic Education
With support from K-State and the Kansas Council on Economic Education, the Center for Economic Education has a mission to improve the quality and increase the quantity of economics instruction in Kansas elementary and secondary schools. Center staff develop and conduct credit and noncredit preservice and inservice programs on economic education and personal finance economics. Teachers are trained and provided with resources to integrate an understanding of economics into other disciplines, including math, language arts, history, science, and other areas. Teachers utilize the center's lending library to enhance economics curriculum development and instruction. The center directs these programs in Kansas: PEP (Personal Economics Program); the Stock Market GameTM, an economic simulation sponsored by the Securities Industry Foundation for Economic Education; and LifeSmartssm, a consumer economic challenge sponsored by the National Coalition for Consumer Education. The center is fully affiliated with the National Council on Economic Education and participates in its EconomicsAmerica programming.
Instructional Media Center
The Instructional Media Center provides a range of services, instructional materials, and audiovisual equipment for faculty and students. Professional-quality materials such as tapes, overhead transparencies, slides, films, and displays are produced for faculty members. Students use the media center to prepare similar materials for use in class projects and in student teaching. Audiovisual equipment of many types is maintained and provided by the center. The instructional materials collection includes films, filmstrips, slides, and tapes used in teacher education.
The Instructional Media Center includes a full range of computers and computer services for use in instructional media classes and for independent use. The facilities include computers with a variety of word processing, database, and spreadsheet programs. Programs and equipment are also available for multimedia presentations with the use of hypermedia and other representation capabilities and also for desktop publishing. Portable workstations with most computer functions are available for use in other classrooms.
A video recording studio is used in the production of instructional television recordings. The Instructional Media Center also includes an outstanding audio recording studio. These studios accommodate production and reproduction of a variety of recorded teaching and individual study materials.
Facilities are available for group and individual uses of instructional media, including rooms for group viewing of films and video tapes, and an independent development laboratory for the individual use of instructional materials. The laboratory includes learning spaces with all materials and equipment needed for totally individualized instruction.
Center for Science Education
Administratively housed in the College of Education, the Center for Science Education is a university-wide vehicle for marshalling and coordinating K-State's historically independent and compartmentalized endeavors in science, mathematics, technology, and environmental education. Groups of faculty affiliates specializing in science, mathematics, computer science, educational technology, and environmental education from across and beyond the K-State campus come together to address teaching and learning issues.
The center's mission is to improve the quality of science, mathematics, and technology teaching and learning throughout Kansas, the prairie states, and the nation from kindergarten through the Ph.D. level. The center facilitates collaboration among individuals and units on and off campus for the purpose of conducting research; developing curriculum materials, pedagogical strategies, and organizational mechanisms; demonstrating their effectiveness in model school sites; and disseminating the latest knowledge to an audience of school administrators, teachers, researchers, other professionals, parents, and citizens in non-formal educational settings.
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