Pennsylvania Governor's School for Information, Society & Technology
Encyclopedia
The Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Information, Society & Technology (PGSIST) is one of the Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence
, a group of five-week summer programs for gifted high school students in the state of Pennsylvania
. PGSIST is hosted by the iSchool
at Drexel University
and aims to provide participants with a strong technological foundation in conjunction with an understanding of how technology impacts society. Participants are required to be Pennsylvania high school students between their junior and senior year and must live in the dormitories for the full five weeks of the program.
Prior to 2006, PGSIST was known as the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Information Technology (PGSIT) and jointly sponsored by both Drexel University
and Pennsylvania State University
http://ist.psu.edu/newsevents/page2.cfm?intNodeID=100&intPageID=736&HeadlineID=360.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
has proposed cutting fund for all the PGSEs
, including PGSIST, from the 2009-2010 budget.
, ethics
, and database design
. The second half of the program consists of what are known as "tracks"; students are assigned to a track based on their preferences and space availability, and they spend the entire academic day studying that particular area. In the past, tracks have included topics such as Networking and Distributed Computing
, Advanced Programming, and E-Commerce, but tracks change from year to year. In addition to coursework, participants are required to complete a project; the project begins shortly after the program starts and commences on the final day with presentations. Several projects from 2005 are described in a Drexel University Press Release.
Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence
The Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence was a five-week, publicly funded summer program for gifted high school students.Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell cut funding for the PGSE program in the state's 2009-2010 budget...
, a group of five-week summer programs for gifted high school students in the state of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. PGSIST is hosted by the iSchool
Drexel University College of Information Science and Technology
The Drexel University College of Information Science and Technology, also called the iSchool, is one of the primary colleges of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
at Drexel University
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...
and aims to provide participants with a strong technological foundation in conjunction with an understanding of how technology impacts society. Participants are required to be Pennsylvania high school students between their junior and senior year and must live in the dormitories for the full five weeks of the program.
Prior to 2006, PGSIST was known as the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Information Technology (PGSIT) and jointly sponsored by both Drexel University
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...
and Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
http://ist.psu.edu/newsevents/page2.cfm?intNodeID=100&intPageID=736&HeadlineID=360.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
Ed Rendell
Edward Gene "Ed" Rendell is an American politician who served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania. Rendell, a member of the Democratic Party, was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 2002, and his term of office began January 21, 2003...
has proposed cutting fund for all the PGSEs
Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence
The Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence was a five-week, publicly funded summer program for gifted high school students.Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell cut funding for the PGSE program in the state's 2009-2010 budget...
, including PGSIST, from the 2009-2010 budget.
Curriculum
The program is roughly divided into two halves. The first half of the program consists of core courses which all students must take, such as programmingComputer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
, ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, and database design
Database design
Database design is the process of producing a detailed data model of a database. This logical data model contains all the needed logical and physical design choices and physical storage parameters needed to generate a design in a Data Definition Language, which can then be used to create a database...
. The second half of the program consists of what are known as "tracks"; students are assigned to a track based on their preferences and space availability, and they spend the entire academic day studying that particular area. In the past, tracks have included topics such as Networking and Distributed Computing
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
, Advanced Programming, and E-Commerce, but tracks change from year to year. In addition to coursework, participants are required to complete a project; the project begins shortly after the program starts and commences on the final day with presentations. Several projects from 2005 are described in a Drexel University Press Release.