July 2, 2008

Teachers, counselors visiting Purdue to learn ways to attract students to computer careers

Twenty-four teachers, 13 school guidance counselors and 76 high school students, mainly from Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, will participate in Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized Through Information Technology (SPIRIT), a $1.26 million, three-year project funded by the National Science Foundation. This marks the first year of the program.

The teacher program begins on July 7, and the student and counselor programs will begin on July 14. All programs finish July 18.

The SPIRIT project's goal is to encourage more young women to pursue computing careers, such as information technology, computer science, network engineering and technology support. Its focus is on educating high school teachers and counselors — those who have direct influence on students' career choices – about the wide variety of career options in those fields and the direct impact students with computing skills can have on society.

"There has been a significant decline in the number of female freshmen interested in computing programs in the last several years," said Alka Harriger, SPIRIT director, professor and assistant head of the Department of Computer and Information Technology. "Girls often don't associate these fields with having a positive impact on society, they think the jobs are boring and they believe they don't require interaction with people. Our main goal for this project is to change those perceptions."

Harriger said events during this year's workshop include a talk by Tim Wedge, a computer crime specialist at the National White Collar Crime Center on permanent loan to Purdue, who will talk about information technology's impact on law enforcement; a talk by a Microsoft employee who will discuss robotics and Xbox software development; and a panel discussion of recent computing graduates who will share the impact they have made on society with their computing skills.

During the two weeks, all participants will work on projects and will complete a variety of surveys that will measure the effectiveness of what was presented. All participants receive a daily stipend for their participation.

Upon completion of the workshop, teachers will be expected to use what they have learned to enhance instruction in their own classrooms. They also will receive technical and design support, software, textbooks and sample lesson plans. Teachers who complete the workshop will be eligible to apply for one of five internships provided by IBM and one paid internship provided by Cummins Inc.

In addition, teachers and counselors may apply for graduate course credit, certification renewal units or continuing education units upon the successful completion of the SPIRIT program. Partial travel support also will be available to teachers who present their work at teacher conferences.

Workshops are planned for the summers of 2009 and 2010. Applications will be available on the SPIRIT Web site at https://www.itpossibilities.org/  in late fall for the 2009 program.

For additional information about the SPIRIT program, contact Harriger at (765) 494-2565, harrigea@purdue.edu.

Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu

Source: Alka Harriger, (765) 494-2565, harrigea@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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