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Welcome to FI³T Project!

 The Fostering Interest in Information Technology (FI³T) project is a part of and sponsored by the National Science Foundation (**[|NSF]**)'s Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (**[|ITEST]**) program.

FI³T project is designed to increase the opportunities for underrepresented and underserved high-school students, particularly those from disadvantaged urban communities in Southeastern Michigan, to learn, experience, and more importantly use information technologies (IT) within the context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and explore 21st century career and educational pathways. The project accomplishes its goals and objectives through the creation of a “Community of Designers”—an environment in which high-school students, K-12 STEM teachers, undergraduate/graduate student assistants (U/GSAs), and STEM content area faculty and experts work together as a team.

FI³T creates four project-based design teams, one for each STEM area. Each team has access to year-round, two-year IT/STEM enrichment experiences to create high-quality learning projects, strategies and curriculum models for use in after school, weekend, and summer settings through hands-on, inquiry-based activities with a strong emphasis on non-traditional approaches to learning and understanding. The project participants learn about environmental science, web-based applications (games, databases), robotics, and bioinformatics while gaining experience using GIS, GPS, STELLA, Visual Studio, IGRIP, and Minitab software systems. It’s anticipated that such experiences will provide awareness of and insightful solutions to collaborative leading-edge IT developments at the college and high-school level while also directing students into 21st century IT careers.