Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Diversity And Inclusion In The Science Classroom, Sowmya Anjur

Faculty Publications & Research

A Diversity, Epidemiology and social justice unit was incorporated into the Physiology and Disease curriculum in Fall 2016. Students discussed topics such as social and cultural influences on diversity thinking, and selective treatment in hospitals based on race. It was very noteworthy that students were united in their thinking regarding diversity and inclusion, despite the fact that they were from different backgrounds and diverse cultures. In 2017, additional discussions were held on equity in education. Students who were otherwise reserved were encouraged enough to express their views, and everyone appreciated the fact that they had been included.

Leadership Education And Development In Stem High Schools, Andrea Stuiber, Katie Berger

Staff Publications & Research

Leadership. Education. Development. How are we inspiring young adults to grow as good and ethical leaders? Leadership should not be defined by a title or label. It’s about developing the perspective, skills and personal style of the whole individual. Through the LEAD program at IMSA, we believe that leadership can be learned through discussion and application. Thus, we have designed a year long course that takes an intricate look at various definitions, theories, models, and conceptualizations of leadership. Students are challenged to think critically about leadership during peer-to-peer facilitated class discussions, hands-on exercises, and group work.

Diversity Plan: Academic Year 2017/2018 Status Report, Illinois Mathematics Amd Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

Below are some highlights of IMSA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work, Academic Year 2017-2018:

• Created Equity and Excellence Policy based on a model of Inclusive Excellence that is now board approved.
• Developed Diverse Fellows program, to be piloted Academic Year 2018-2019.
• Created Diversifying STEM Equity Model.
• Implemented “I am not racist, am I” e-learning curriculum, film and discussion with all juniors, n = 20; 50 faculty/staff were trained to facilitate discussions.
• Conducted a train-the-trainer Safe Zone workshop for 27 faculty/staff, which led to the creation of 68 safe spaces.
• Rolled out Live-Safe app, which promotes student safety and can be …

Leon Lederman, Honoring Our Founder, Christian D. Nøkkentved

Archives Exhibits

To honor Dr. Leon Lederman (15 July 1922-3 October 2018), a Nobel Laureate and former Director of Fermi Lab, and most importantly one of the founders of IMSA. After retiring as director of Fermi Lab, Dr. Lederman served as our resident scientist. In that capacity, he organized the Great Minds Program through which he invited scientists and other scholars to campus. Typically, the visitor would interact with students in the afternoon and then hold a more formal lecture in the evening, often open to the Aurora community.

Notice especially some of his wonderful doodles and cartoons included in this exhibit.

In Memory Of Dr. Leon Lederman, Christian D. Nøkkentved

Archives Exhibits

Dr. Leon Lederman was born 15 July, 1922 and passed away on 3 October, 2018. Dr. Lederman’s ideas expressed in the Urne Report (digitalcommons.imsa.edu/imsa_history/1/) led to the founding of IMSA in 1985 with the Charter Class arriving on campus in September of 1986.

01. Evolution Of Leadership, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

This module serves as an introduction to the academic study of leadership and leadership theory, encouraging students to dissect leadership concepts through an objective and subjective lenses. With a general understanding of how leadership has changed through time and how it is classified today, students can explore where they fit into the definition itself.

07. Gender In Leadership, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

This module encompasses the controversy and broadness of gender. Students begin with recognizing their subconscious gender biases, followed by a providing them with a vernacular of culture to help students better understand and differentiate terms. Then the students will explore the fluidity of gender through discussion on gender X and transgender. Furthermore, there will be an activity about the origin of gender roles, and how that shaped gender roles today. The students will also be able to apply their learnings to the real world by learning how to resolve conflict regarding gender and sexuality.

09. Group Dynamics, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

The Group Dynamics module focuses on informing students about inter/intra group interactions, while also demonstrating the role of an individual within a group. As individuals become a part of a group, they lose a certain distinction between their personal identity and their group personality, or prototype. Individuals become part of a social categorization and comparison, and require the skills of empathy and relations to successfully communicate with not only their ingroup, but also their outgroup. An absence of awareness of the feelings around them can develop the negative effects of groupthink, as individual ideas are unheard. As fitting into the …

05. Leadership And Communication, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

This module covers several topics in communication beyond public speaking. It emphasizes the importance of communication in general and how it relates to leadership. First, students will explore the ideas and applications of negotiation in leadership. To give students the skills to effectively speak and negotiate, the module also allows students to practice concepts of nonverbal communication such as subconscious body language. The module also demonstrates how a leader can use manipulation and persuasion, as well as the distinction between the two topics. Finally, the module has students critically analyze the ethics and necessity of political correctness.

02. Psychodynamics, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

This module will facilitate various psychological models and review the six bases of power. Students will examine conformity to consensus and to authority. Students will gain a clearer understanding of their own psychological preferences and the concept of “acting for the greater good”. The module will also address self-awareness and how it relates to psychodynamics as well as leadership.

04. Leadership In Social Movements, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

This module serves to teach students to think critically and objectively about Social Movements. Social movements have been a prominent piece of history in the United States and several other countries. They are media of expression for people to create change, resist policy, or revolutionize a society. Social movements have been and will continue to be an ongoing activity in human life, making them relevant to students’ lives.

03. Leadership And Religion, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

The purpose of this module is to encourage students to take a step back from their personal lives and their own religion in order to analyze religion as a whole and how it affects leadership, community, an individual’s decision making, etc. The module also focuses on the ways self-discipline is part of religion by tying the skill into the characteristics of religion and analyzing its presence in religious groups.

08. Culture In Leadership, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

This module will be an exploration in cultural theory, practical issues in culture, and many of their implications in leadership. We first give students the necessary vernacular to engage in intelligent discourse on the subject, then move to the higher level content. The module then looks at multiculturalism, pluralism, and assimilation through real world examples. This is followed with a simulation that will make students question their core beliefs through the introduction of cultural relativism. The module will then make explicit leadership connections through empirical evidence with GLOBE studies, and finish with conversation on the highly relevant topic of IMSA …

10. Education, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

As constituents of academia, our students are surrounded by educational systems and models. This module seeks to broaden their horizons regarding educational systems and the process of learning, ranging from individual to societal to global levels. Two leadership theories (transformational and situational) are observed in this module as well as how education and leadership can combine in an effective manner.

2018 Annual Report Of The Work In Imsa’S Archives, Marti Guarin, Christian Nokkentved

Archives' Annual Report

The IMSA Archives, housed in the Leto M. Furnas Information Resource Center, serves to collect and preserve materials relating to the history and ethos of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. The Archives includes both special and general collections with materials about IMSA’s establishment, led by Dr. Leon Lederman and Governor James Thompson. There are materials about the Academy's opening in the fall of 1986 and its development since, as well as about its ideas and programs and how they evolved. We have sample curricula, presidential speeches, samples of student work, as well as material about and from partnership programs …

D-Stem Equity Model: Diversifying The Stem Education To Career Pathway!!!, Adrienne Coleman

Publications & Research

According to the National Science Foundation, “the U.S. STEM workforce must be considered in the context of an expanding and vibrant global scientific and technological enterprise” (2014). “The National Academy of Sciences further suggests that, without the participation of individuals of all races and genders, the increasing demand for workers in STEM fields will not be met, potentially compromising the position of the United States as a global leader”. The stark reality is that there are a disproportionate number of Blacks and Latinos who lack the access and exposure to become STEM-literate. In order for the U.S. to remain a …

Environment: The Global Goals, Lora Vogels, Kinah Deekman

The International Student Science Fair 2018

In 2015, world leaders and the United Nations agreed to 17 goals for a better world by 2030. These goals have the goal to end poverty, fight inequality and stop climate change. Guided by the goals, it is now up to all of us - governments, businesses, civil society, and the general public - to work together to build a better future for everyone. We investigated if these goals are actually achievable within the next years. We also wanted to find out if the people of the Netherlands were aware of these goals, and if they would do something to …

Using Eeg-Validated Music Emotion Recognition Techniques To Classify Multi-Genre Popular Music For Therapeutic Purposes, Dejoy Shastikk Kumaran

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Music is observed to possess significant beneficial effects to human mental health, especially for patients undergoing therapy and older adults. Prior research focusing on machine recognition of the emotion music induces by classifying low-level music features has utilized subjective annotation to label data for classification. We validate this approach by using an electroencephalography-based approach to cross-check the predictions of music emotion made with the predictions from low-level music feature data as well as collected subjective annotation data. Collecting 8-channel EEG data from 10 participants listening to segments of 40 songs from 5 different genres, we obtain a subject-independent classification accuracy …

Effect Of Informal Settlements On Water Quality, Catherine Achieng Olang, Dwaha Ali Daud, Gouri Raja Gopal

The International Student Science Fair 2018

ABSTRACT

Businesses and other informal settlements have said to be the key of polluters of the Kabuthi River. The population pollutes streams of water, especially Kabuthi River by disposing waste into the rivers. This makes the water unsafe for domestic use by the big slums populations that has to buy water for drinking, cooking, washing clothes and feeding animals yet there is a stream that passes by their homes. The settlements include Gachui, Kwanjiku, Mutuini, Kirigu,Mutego and Waithaka among others.

The study was also set out to establish the key polluters of Kabuthi River by investigating the activities the river …

Removal Of Pb2+ Ions From Consuming Water Using A Fabricated Water Filter For Home Use, Pantaree Sodkhoksoong, Papidchaya Chanpong, Thunyarus Rodsawatchuchoke

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Lead contamination in water is one of the worldwide concerned environmental problems. For example, lead leaking from pipe corrosion and solder has been found contaminated in consuming water in many U.S. areas. The uncontrolled release of effluents containing lead from various industries has also caused lead-contaminated water in Thailand. Exposing to lead-contaminated water can lead to serious symptoms (e.g. fatigue, headaches, abdominal pain, irritability, depression, and seizures) or even death. Therefore, the elimination of lead ions (Pb²⁺) from consuming water or from effluents before releasing into the environment is necessary. The selection of adsorbents and the fabrication of …

Using Eeg-Validated Music Emotion Recognition Techniques To Classify Multi-Genre Popular Music For Therapeutic Purposes, Dejoy Shastikk Kumaran

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Music is observed to possess significant beneficial effects to human mental health, especially for patients undergoing therapy and older adults. Prior research focusing on machine recognition of the emotion music induces by classifying low-level music features has utilized subjective annotation to label data for classification. We validate this approach by using an electroencephalography-based approach to cross-check the predictions of music emotion made with the predictions from low-level music feature data as well as collected subjective annotation data. Collecting 8-channel EEG data from 10 participants listening to segments of 40 songs from 5 different genres, we obtain a subject-independent classification accuracy …

2018 Diversity Climate Survey, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

In April 2018, a survey regarding diversity and school climate was administered by the Multicultural Committee adapted from the National Climate Survey developed by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). There were a total of 462 students that took the survey. Those students that had incomplete surveys (n = 16) or who marked all possible choices for sexual orientation (n = 5), race/ethnicity (n = 3), or reasons for being unsafe (n = 1) were excluded from the data analysis. Of the remaining 462 authentic responses, there were 181 Sophomores, 152 Juniors, 115 Seniors,and 14 that did not …

The Exceptional Negro: Racism, White Privilege And The Lie Of Respectability Politics, Traci Ellis

Publications & Research

Overwhelmingly, black folks have close encounters on a regular basis with being marginalized, insulted, dismissed and discriminated against. It is the natural consequence of still being considered little more than a Negro in this country. Especially for the “Exceptional Negroes.” But, as we will see, the truth is that even with our exceptionalism, we are still just “Negroes” to white America and in case we forget that, they will swiftly remind us.

Board Policy On Equity And Excellence, Adrienne Coleman, Traci Ellis

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

The Academy recognizes and acknowledges the historical underrepresentation and marginalization of culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse groups, both universally, and particularly, in STEM education and professions. These disparities also exist in the representation of the Academy’s workforce. We are committed to advancing equity in STEM education and representation and creating a diverse, inclusive community of global citizens who can realize their full potential, and execute our mission to advance the human condition, through a model of Equity and Excellence.