“TechMath: Real World Math, Technology, and Business Connections” is a three-year program linking businesses, teachers, students, and higher education to enhance rural, underserved student career potential in northeastern North Carolina (NC). TechMath addresses the current educational gap between real-world business and secondary education by arranging partnerships between local business and high school mathematics and science teachers. The tangible products of these partnerships are instructional modules incorporating local, real-world business problems into mathematics instruction.

This project targets approximately 75 STEM teachers (one cohort of 25 teachers each year) and 150 grade 7-12 students over three years, focusing on the Squeak media authoring tool as a modeling environment to infuse IT skills into the core STEM curriculum. Using Squeak allows STEM teachers to create 'virtual laboratories' in which to engage students in inquiry-based learning. The project is proposed as collaboration with New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick County Schools -- all Southeastern North Carolina (SENC) school systems heavily populated by rural, underserved students.

This project, "Highly Interactive, Fun Internet Virtual Environments in Science (HI-FIVES): Using Web–based Gaming to Improve Student Comprehension of Information Technology in Science," will give teachers experiences using web–based gaming and simulation software. Teachers will use authoring systems to develop educational games and try the games out in their classrooms. In the process, they will be learning content as well as programming and technology skills. Teacher participants will be recruited from an existing NSF–funded teacher fellowship program at North Carolina State University.

Photonics Leaders is a year-round science and information technology program for tenth and eleventh grade students from across North Carolina. The program goal is to guide and prepare minority students for success in STEM higher education programs and careers. In three years, nearly 80 underrepresented students of diverse backgrounds have participated in 300 hours of investigations and internships focused on electronics, optics, computer hardware and software at North Carolina State University and the Research Triangle Park.

The SUCCEED Apprenticeship Program is an opportunity for students excited about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to gain the experience and expertise they will need to pursue a technology-intensive career path. The overall goal of this program is to provide students with authentic experiences in the techniques and tools of information technology with a particular focus on computational science.

The primary focus of this project is the creation of the ITEST Academy in order to advance interest in engineering, mathematics, and science among high school students. The Academy is composed of two parts. The Information Technology Academy for Teachers (ITAT) is composed of select teams of mathematics teachers, science teachers, and guidance counselors who participate in a two-week, nonresidential summer program.

US college and universities are experiencing a dramatic decline in enrollment of computing majors, despite a predicted, rapid increase in future jobs in the computer science (CS) and information technology (IT) sectors. This reflects a decline in the number of students taking the AP computer science exam. To address this issue, this project will build statewide networks of college, middle school, and high school faculty who will offer workshops and provide continuing support during the academic year.