Survey 2008

We strongly suggest taking the following actions to facilitate your completion of this and future ATE surveys:

• Print the PDF version of these FAQs and share the document with everyone involved in completing the survey for your project/center.
• Fill out a hard copy of the survey (PDF) and use it as a guide to complete the online survey (and could used to reenter answers if data are lost due to human or technical error).
• Print the e-mail that was sent to you announcing the launch of the survey; it includes all the information you need to access the survey.
• SAVE OFTEN while completing the Web survey.

What is this survey about?

The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to assess the impact and effectiveness of NSF's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. As part of the evaluation effort, we have conducted an annual survey of ATE projects/centers since 2000. NSF will use the information gathered through the survey for its Government Performance Results Act report to Congress.

Note that our focus is on the overall ATE program. We do not use the information to evaluate individual projects or centers.

How/why was I selected for the survey?

This survey is a census of all ATE projects and centers that have been active for a year or more. If you were asked to compete ATE Survey 2008, according to our records you are a principal investigator (PI) for an active ATE project or center, with a funding start date on or before January 1, 2007 (or a renewal of an ATE grant on or after this date).

Are my answers anonymous or confidential?

Your responses to Survey 2008 are not anonymous to the ATE evaluation staff due to the nature of the Web-based system. However, you can be assured that your responses will be kept strictly confidential within the evaluation project to the full extent allowed by law. All answers are treated confidentially and will not be associated with any identifying information in our reports to NSF. Generally, only summary information is submitted to NSF.

The survey looks very long.  Do I have to answer all the questions?

Not necessarily. Everyone is asked to complete the Grantee Characteristics, Organizational Practices, and Collaboration sections. The remaining survey sections (Materials Development, Professional Development, and Program Improvement) are required if the project or center allocated EITHER 30 percent of its annual budget OR at least $100,000 to the activity in 2007. A PI can indicate that a survey section does not apply by clicking on Doesn’t Apply on the survey management page. (Note:  This action may be reversed by clicking on Reopen Section.)

When a survey section is marked Doesn’t Apply, an answer button for that section will not appear on the survey management page, and the survey may be closed and submitted without supplying answers for that section.

Can you just use the information we provided in our annual (Fastlane) report?

Although there is some overlap between the information required for the survey and ATE project/center final reports, our survey is much more specific about ATE activities and outcomes. Moreover, there is no way to aggregate information provided via Fastlane into a report about the overall ATE program.

Can someone other than the PI complete the survey?

Yes, the PI may delegate responsibility for completing the entire survey to someone else (a delegated PI). This is done by clicking on Delegation of PI Responsibilities after logging into the survey and then following the prompts provided.

The PI/delegated PI may assign individual survey sections to others to complete. This is done by clicking on Delegate for the relevant section on the survey management page and following the prompts provided. When a new person is assigned a section, an e-mail message is automatically sent to that person with all the information he or she needs to access ATE Survey 2008.

If the PI delegates responsibility for the entire survey or a survey section to someone else, he or she cannot redelegate him/herself as the responsible person. Therefore, PIs should delegate only if they are completely confident in the other person’s ability and willingness to complete the survey or assigned sections. At all times when the survey is running, however, the PI may view the answers that have been provided for his or her project/center.

How do I log in to the survey?

To enter ATE Survey 2008, you must first go to the survey Web site: www.atesurvey.org/ate_survey2008

To log in to the survey, you need your NSF award number, user name (e-mail address), and password. This information is e-mailed to persons responsible for completing the survey (PIs or their delegates).  If you lose your login information, contact Lori Wingate at or (269) 387-5913.

Will the survey system save my answers automatically?

No, you must click on Save to save your answers as you complete the survey.

Because this is a computer- and Web-based survey and technical problems may arise (e.g., lost data due to power outage or browser problems), we strongly encourage you to SAVE OFTEN as you answer questions. When you save, your answers are checked for validity (e.g., dates are in the proper format). If all the answers you provided are valid, they are saved on our server, so you may return later to complete the section. You may change your saved answers at any time prior to submitting the survey.

To avoid losing your survey answers due to human or technical errors, we advise completing a hard copy of the survey prior to online completion. A PDF version of the survey is available at http://www.atesurvey.org/ate_survey2008/.

I accidentally answered a question that does not apply to my project/center, but I can’t “deselect” it. What should I do?

The survey system will check that your responses are internally consistent and discard extraneous data.For example, if you indicated that your project/center only used an internal evaluator, and then you accidentally answered a question about the use of external evaluators, your response to the latter question would not be saved.We recommend using the View function to review your answers and check their accuracy before the final Close/Submit step.

What’s the difference between View, Start, and Resume?

By clicking on View on the survey management page, a person can view the survey questions and any answers that have been provided. When in View mode, answers are NOT SAVED.

By clicking on Start or Resume on the survey management page, a person may answer questions; answers will be saved when the person clicks on Save. (Start will appear for survey sections not yet opened; Resume will be an option for sections that have been opened.)

PIs who delegate survey sections to others to complete may use the View option to check the answers that have been supplied and monitor progress.

When can/should I Close a survey section?

When all the questions in the survey sections that apply to your project/center have been answered to your satisfaction, you should click on Close Section. If changes are necessary after this point, you may click on Reopen Section to modify and resave your answers.

When can/should I Submit the survey?

All sections need to be marked as Closed or Doesn’t Apply in order for the completed survey to be submitted. When all applicable survey sections have been closed, a Close/Submit Survey button will appear at the top of the survey management page.

Carefully review the answers in all applicable sections to ensure they are complete and accurate. When all the applicable survey questions have been answered to your satisfaction and all applicable sections are Closed, then you should click on Submit/Close Survey to submit your answers.You will no longer have access to the survey questions after clicking on Close/Submit Survey, so do so with caution. This is the final step in the survey process.

You ask questions about things we don’t keep records on.  How should I answer these?

Ideally, you will have records from which to retrieve much of the information we ask for.However, we understand that this may not always be the case.Therefore, we ask that you provide your best estimates. For example, there are survey questions related to enrollments and ethnicity for programs. One suggestion for obtaining a reasonable estimate is to observe a couple of "typical" courses in a program and base your estimates on these courses.

We suggest that you record your answers to the survey on a hard copy. Keeping this copy on file, along with notes for sources of your data, can assist you with this year’s survey and beyond.

What do you mean by _______? (Definitions)

[In Alphabetical Order]

Activity is an instructional exercise designed to achieve or measure a discrete learning outcome, for example, a laboratory experiment or a test (Materials Development section).

Articulation agreements refer to specific agreements that allow students who complete an education program or series of courses to matriculate to a higher level of education at specified institutions (Background Information section).

Collaboration is a relationship with another institution, business, or group that provides money and/or other support to your project or center. Collaborators are not funded by the grant; collaborators may include local businesses, other education institutions, public agencies, industry groups, other ATE projects and centers, or groups within your host institution but outside your project/center (Collaboration section).

Course refers to a stand-alone collection of instructional content and activities to achieve some desired educational outcomes. Courses usually last a semester or a year (Materials Development and Program Improvement sections).

Estimated Monetary Value of In-Kind Support is the estimated value, based on the actual cost basis, of support (e.g., equipment) given to an ATE project (Collaboration section).

Field-Testing refers to testing materials in settings where they will be used when finalized; usually large and more in depth than pilot testing (Materials Development section).

Module refers to a self-contained collection of content and activities designed to achieve a set of specific objectives. Modules are generally shorter than courses and focus on fewer outcomes (Materials Development section).

NSF # is the number for your ATE grant and is needed to login to Survey 2007 (Login).

The Password is randomly generated by the system and needed to login to Survey 2007 (Login).

Pilot Testing refers to brief, preliminary testing of materials or portions of materials; usually done with a small number of sites (Materials Development section).

Professional Development is the provision of instruction and/or support to update participants' knowledge and skills. The survey asks about two distinct forms of professional development:  (1)  ATE-pertinent professional development opportunities for project/center staff (e.g., participation in the annual ATE PI meeting, attendance or presentation at a regional or national conference, participation in a short- or long-term workshop or training program, enrollment in course) (Organizational Practices section), and (2)  Professional development provided by your project/center as part of the ATE grant (Professional Development section).

Program refers to a sequence of classes, laboratories, and/or work-based experiences that leads students to one of the following outcomes:  an appropriate degree, certification, or an occupational competency point (Program Improvement sections).

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

User Name is the e-mail address provided when you were registered with the survey system and is needed to log in to the survey.

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