The Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Computing has received a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its Georgia Computes! program, which promotes computer science to both students and teachers across the state. The program’s initiatives include encouraging women, minorities, and people with disabilities to participate in computer science programs, doubling the number of schools that provide Advanced Placement computer science classes and the number of Hispanics that take the exam, designing eight summer computing camps, and improving 25 percent of the computing programs in George at the university level. Elementary and high school students are guided by mentors from a variety of backgrounds, including high school students, undergraduates, or members of youth organizations. Students ages 10 to 18 can attend summer computing camps, while high school teachers can attend computing workshops. Undergraduate students can attend computing workshops as well, and can serve as mentors to elementary and high school students. Researchers are studying why there is less interest in computer science at the undergraduate level. Graduate students can work as mentors and also chart the number of computer science majors in Georgia. In the future, Georgia Computes! will add computer centers to Columbus State and Armstrong Atlantic State University and will provide online access to computing workshops and classes. The program also will study state university computer science programs and will chart the course students take from secondary school-level summer camps, workshops, and classes to their current majors.
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