George Rebane
Earlier this week Nevada Union High School hosted the second preparatory seminar held this year for Nevada County high school students planning to take TechTest2011. TechTest is the annual merit scholarship exam given to qualified seniors and juniors who are headed toward technical careers. This year’s TT2011 will be given on 26 March from 9AM to 1PM in the NUHS Science Lecture Hall.
Now in its fifth year, the test is written at a level of difficulty that science/math students may expect in their undergraduate lower division years at a first rate research university. It is intended to exercise ‘out of the box’ problem set-up and solution skills that students will encounter in their higher education and on the job. The test is administered and graded by Nevada County high school teachers under the direction of NUHS physics teacher Mr John McDaniel who heads the TT Academic Committee. Scholarships totaling about $15,000 are awarded strictly on the basis of test scores with the top three scorers getting $6K, $4K, $2K respectively. The next ten highest scores each receive $300.
The annual test is sponsored by the Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation (www.sesfoundation.org) a 501c3 organization, and the scholarship fund is made up of contributions by private individuals, county businesses, and SESF members. As SESF’s Director of Research, I have had the privilege of writing the tests. A typical problem (from TT2010) is shown in the above figure.
In these preparatory seminars we go over test taking strategies that will serve the students throughout their educational years, cover critical thinking tools and technical approaches that are not usually taught in high school, and work out example problems from previous TTs. All previous TT copies along with solution keys are available for download from the SESF website.
This year about fifty students attended the two preparatory seminars. These are fun sessions where talk often overlaps into student science projects and workplace situations encountered by scientists and engineers. For me and other SESF members it has been an honor to work with Nevada County’s crème de la crème science and math students who are the new generation that will keep America competitive in world markets and create new industries to employ the country’s workers.
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