Support Facilities and Programs

Specific services of the College of Education are provided or coordinated through the following centers.

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.

The Catalyst
The Catalyst, formerly called 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 Catalyst 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 Catalyst 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.

Topics within Education:
	Advising		Secondary Education Teaching Fields		Educational Administration and Leadership
	University General Education		Optional Secondary Licensure Programs		Elementary Education
	Honors Program		Optional Secondary Licensure Program at the Middle Level		Foundations and Adult Education
	Support Facilities and Programs		Secondary Education Programs Outside the College of Education		Secondary Education
	Teacher Education		Other Program Choices		Special Education
	Elementary Education Program		General Courses
	Secondary Education Program		Counseling and Educational Psychology