News
October 29, 2008
UNI takes on new project to increase high school students' interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
Increasing the number of high school students who complete postsecondary majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is the goal of a new project at the University of Northern Iowa that recently received funding.
The Iowa Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) will serve 40 high school students from Black Hawk, Bremer, Butler, Buchanan and Grundy counties who meet the program's requirements and have an interest in going to college and majoring in a STEM field.
The program has two components: academic year and summer. During the academic year component, all project participants will meet with Angela Francis, the project's director, a minimum of once per month during each academic year of their participation in the program. An individual education plan will be developed for each student based on a needs assessment, scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and/or Iowa Test of Educational Development, as well as the student's academic progress in his/her current high school courses. Participants will complete one individual research project or 40 hours of volunteer experience with a STEM-related business or organization during each academic year.
The summer residential component will be conducted on the UNI campus and will allow students to experience college courses while still in high school. Program participants will live on campus (excluding weekends) for six weeks while taking courses in chemistry, physics, natural world, statistics and college writing and research. IMSA summer courses are taught by UNI faculty and are only open to IMSA participants. In addition to coursework, students will participate in daily recreational and enrichment activities.
IMSA is currently recruiting ninth and tenth grade participants. Applications are available at participating high school guidance offices, the UNI Center for Urban Education (UNI-CUE) at 800 Sycamore Street in Waterloo, or by contacting the IMSA office at (319) 433-1260.
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