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Peter Johnson, an organic chemistry professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, works with high school students at IIT's "Computer Modeling in Science Program." |
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Kids get hands on IIT computer | ||
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One day last summer, a crowd of high school students rushed aboard an EL train and began measuring the train's speed with a device called an accelerometer. "You can just imagine some wino waking up and seeing all these kids shouting out, plus one, plus two, plus three, " said Peter Johnson an organic-chemistry professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and director of the program the students were taking part in IIT's "Computer Modeling in Science Program." Now in its third year, the program gives high school students a chance to work on a sophisticated computer in a college environment. Last year, students from as far away as Joliet came by car pool every day to attend the sessions. "[The program] helps you to think in college," said Mark Tarmowski, 18, now a freshman at IIT. "In high school you sometimes get away with memorizing things. In college you've got to think." The three-week program is divided into five projects: acceleration, population, radioactivity, kinetics and Monte Carlo (a sophisticated mathematical technique dealing with very large numbers). "What we wanted to do was give them an experience in science, Johnson. |
then set them loose on computers and see if they can mimic or model it " said He said many participants in the program are hackers, " informally skilled computer users who may be lacking in solid scientific and theoretical background. "Some of these kids at 15 are already old dogs, " he said. "And we have to teach them new tricks." In every project, students areencouraged to push their thinking and abilities. In the population segment, after the students have developed a program that tracks population growth curves, they check the accuracy of their model by comparing it against actual census figures for population growth. Not only do the students improve their scientific skills, but they develop other skills as well. "We teach them how to use a word processor, and we put a fair amount of pressure on them to write what they thought about experiments," Johnson said. "We try to make it clear to them that writing and communication are very important." A fringe benefit of the program is that participants are given an account that allows them to access IIT's computer for a year after the program ends. |
"The hope is they will keep active, go back to school and demonstrate to their classes what they did. The surprising thing is about a third of the students actually take advantage of this during the year" Johnson said. "It'squite a benefit. Not every kid on the block has access to a
computer Johnson said the chief reason the program is so successful is the sophistication and dedication of the assistants he uses. The program runs for three weeks, five days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The first session is from June 23 to July 11 and the second from July 14 to Aug. 1. Eligible students will have completed 9th, 10th or 11th grade, earned at least a B in algebra and been nominated by a science or math teacher. Students are responsible for providing their own transportation. No prior experience with computers is required. The program is open to public school students from Chicago and suburbs. Private school students can attend but must pay the $200 tuition that normally is absorbed by the individual school districts. For more information, call Peter Johnson at (312) 567-3440. |
