Private sector companies continued to afford undergraduate students with internship opportunities. Companies engaging in this way in 2022/2023 with the FST included: National Commercial Bank (NCB-UWI Agile Lab, etc.), Sagicor Jamaica Limited, PricewaterhouseCoopers Jamaica, Best Dressed Chicken, Port Authority of Jamaica, STATIN, Digicel, Grace Kennedy Limited, E-Gov Jamaica, Grid Dynamics, Petrojam Limited, Jamalco, J. Wray & Nephew Limited, Industrial Chemical Company (Jamaica) Ltd, Environmental Solutions Limited, Grace Food Processors (Canning) Limited, Bureau of Standards, Jamaica, Rainforest Limited, Berger Paints Jamaica Limited, Edgechem Limited, SEPROD Group of Companies, Grace Food Processors (Meats) Division 13, WISYNCO (True Juice) Division, Caribbean Broilers, Scientific Research Council, Sherwin-Williams Jamaica Limited, PA Benjamin Jamaica Limited, Huawei Technologies Jamaica and CEMEX.
STEM Teaching
The Building Out of STEM Teachers (BOOST) programme established in 2021, was designed to cultivate a steady supply of high-calibre STEM teachers in response to the persistent gap caused by the annual migration of STEM educators in Jamaica. Since its inception, BOOST has successfully recruited 34 Teacher Fellows, with 28 currently active, across 23 different schools spanning eight parishes. Notably, the programme has achieved an impressive retention rate of 80% for Cohort 1, with 12 out of 15 teachers choosing to remain in the classroom for a second year. BOOST’s impact is significant, directly influencing 5,307 students to date. This initiative is sustained through ongoing support of nine strategic partnerships drawn from the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. STEM Teaching Competencies : In an era of rapid technological advancement, educators must be at the forefront of digital transformation using available ICT tools to enhance (not replace) their pedagogical practices. To this end, The UWI, Mona, in collaboration with E-Learning Jamaica Company Limited, successfully conducted an Artificial Intelligence (AI) workshop for secondary school teachers entitled, Artificial Intelligence: An Orientation and Exploration of Its Classroom Applications. The workshop, jointly hosted by the FST and the Faculty of Humanities and Education, welcomed an enthusiastic cohort of approximately 40 teachers eager to explore the potential of integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) in their classrooms.
The Building Out of STEM Teachers
(BOOST) programme established in 2021, was designed to cultivate a steady supply of high-calibre STEM teachers in response to the persistent gap caused by the annual migration of STEM educators in Jamaica.
The Faculty of Science & Technology
These workshops remain a valuable resource with over 1,500 high school students from more than 30 schools across Jamaica participating in the January 2023 edition. In collaboration with Addiscoders Inc, the CHOR Foundation, and members of the diaspora, the Department of Computing hosted the second edition of the JamCoders free residential summer camp . This unique programme exposed 50 secondary school students from Jamaica to a comprehensive four-week journey into coding and algorithms during the summer of 2023. The programme’s success was greatly enhanced by collaboration with 12 partner organizations. The FST also coordinated a Summer Internship programme in conjunction with the Bethel Baptist Church, placing eight secondary school students in various Departments of the Faculty and the Health Centre to give them valuable on-the-job experience. The Faculty continues to play a significant role in engaging numerous secondary institutions, while serving as a central ‘resource centre’ for laboratory activities and educational tours.
continues to play a significant role in engaging numerous secondary institutions, while serving as a central ‘resource centre’ for laboratory activities and educational tours.
63 UWI MONA ANNUAL REPORT 2022/2023
62 UWI MONA ANNUAL REPORT 2022/2023
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