NCSU researchers build 'STEM Teams' for rural areas

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Students who grow up in small, rural towns do not have the same exposure to high-tech jobs as their "big city" counterparts and may not be aware of what it takes to be a rocket scientist or video-game programmer, according to N.C. State University. With an increasing need for workers to fill STEM careers in the United States, educational researchers at N.C. State are finding ways to reach students at a time in their lives when research shows they

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Video game design program boosts interest in science careers

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Designed to increase student interest in STEM subjects in traditionally underserved communities, ITEST project Game Design through Mentoring and Collaboration (GDMC) provides an environment in which students learn the basics of professional-level 3D modeling and animation software as well as the logic of game design and programming. Students also have the opportunity to become paid mentors, helping newer students hone their skills. Live Science

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Game design as a pathway to STEM careers

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An ITEST project called Game Design Through Mentoring and Collaboration, a partnership between McKinley Tech and George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia, is showing students that STEM careers are not limited to white-coat-wearing lab scientists. This project makes STEM relevant by having participants learn and then teach each other game design, 3-D modeling, and animation.

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President Obama highlights success of technology-driven TechBoston Academy

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On March 8, President Barak Obama paid a visit to TechBoston Academy in Dorchester, Mass., a technology-driven pilot school for grades 6-12 within the Boston Public School System (BPS), to promote the importance of education in today's society and to highlight TechBoston as a model school for student success. Teachers at TechBoston represent participation in a wide number of ITEST projects, including the Urban Ecology Institute, the CapsULE

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SRI International, TERC and Girls Inc. partner with AC Transit to inspire high school girls to create greener public transportation solutions

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SRI International, Girls Incorporated of Alameda County (Girls Inc.), TERC, andAlameda - Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) announced a new, scalable community action project, "Green Riders: Innovative Transportation Systems." This project, which is part of the ITEST InnovaTE3 project, guides girls in developing real-world innovations for their own community and serves as a model for youth development programs that promote youth-led

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Lesson in magnetism a big draw

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East Hartford, Waterbury, and New Britain High School freshmen are participating in a series of events in a year-long Cyber-Challenge, an ITEST project aimed at amping up students' engagement and achievement in STEM. Challenges like getting as many paper clips as possible to dangle from a homemade magnet are not only getting students engaged with STEM, they're getting students excited about how STEM works in the real world.

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Pfizer professionals introduce teens to two powerful apps: math and science

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Four Pfizer scientists met with students from New Britain High School's (NBHS) 9th grade academy and their math teachers to talk about their education, their career paths, and the ways they use science every day. The NBHS students were able to meet these real-life scientists through their involvement with Cyber-Challenge, also known as ITEST Project Opening Doors, which is a program designed to increase engagement and achievement in STEM subject

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Connecticut Science Center hosts Cyber-Challenge competition May 21

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Nearly 130 teens will gather at the Connecticut Science Center on Dec. 5 for the start of the third year of Cyber-Challenge (also known as ITEST Project Opening Doors), a program that places high school students in teams to answer complex questions posed by four of Connecticut’s leading STEM companies: General Electric, Northeast Utilities, Pfizer, and United Technologies Corp. The students are freshmen from New Britain High School, East Hartford

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SENSE IT connects students to STEM in the real world

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In celebration of the 2012 theme, Greening STEM: The Environment as Inspiration for 21st Century Learning, EE Week is highlighting five organizations from around the country that are connecting STEM to the environment in unique and creative ways. One of these projects is ITEST's own SENSE IT, highlighted for its flexible instructional modules that can be used in many educational contexts and for a range of youth.

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Growing, from berries to tech

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Launched in 2007 by ETR Associates, a Scotts Valley-based nonprofit focused on health, education and social service issues, Watsonville TEC (also known as ITEST project Animando a Estudiantes con Technologia) has grown from a small program serving middle school girls (known as the ITEST Girl Game Company) to include video game programming classes for middle school boys, separate computer skills tutorials for fifth graders and for parents, and

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