QCC TechASCEND

Cuny Queensborough Community College, Bayside NY

Investigators

Abstract

Over three years, in consultation with high school personnel, QCC Tech-ASCEND will select seven groups of high school students judged to be likely candidates for high technology industries or science careers. The project begins with 25 students and expands to 75 students by the end of the third year. These students will attend weekly two-hour sessions for 30 weeks during the academic year in which they will participate in sustained experiences that explore fiber optics, lasers, CAD/CNC machining and mathematics in a three-cycle program. Experiences will be in an informal setting designed to excite as well as educate. Participants will use a variety of high technology devices and instruments in both structured and non-structured activities. Nontraditional students will be encouraged to participate, and several strategies will be employed to help them succeed. In addition, there will be two mathematics anxiety workshops and twenty mathematics skills workshop sessions. Faculty and student role models will be present. Careful evaluation of attitudinal changes in participants and their parents, together with participant skill mastery, will occur throughout the project. A sourcebook for parents and one for high school counselors and college advisors will be prepared and distributed, as well as videotapes describing career opportunities and educational issues.