1. F.G.S.L.A.M.P. Florida Georgia Lewis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Research Internship By Bruce Amerosn Gerren Johnson

2. Outline ► Overview of FGSLAMP ► Overview of Program ► Description of work Environment ► Responsibilities and Task ► Conclusion

3. Overview of FGSLAMP ► FGSLAMP is a National Science Foundation (NSF) project ► A coalition of twelve institutions located in Florida and Georgia ► Mainly focused on increasing the number of baccalaureate degrees granted to underrepresented students in Science Mathematics and Engineering disciplines (SEM)

4. Overview of FGSLAMP ► Focused on:  Increasing number of freshen and junior levels students majoring in a SEM’s field  Promoting improved student relationships among students and between students and faculty  Providing a summer experience that will review and preview important mathematics and science concepts as a part of a plan to reduce a high attrition in the freshman year.

5. Overview of Program ► Under the supervision of Derryl Stewart the Internship-Research allowed us to obtain profesional experience in gathering information about technology and business situations ► Trained in bettering Presentation skills ► Instructed in PHP programming language ► The program required a midterm paper, final paper and presentation. ► The information studied will also be presented at the 2004 expo

6. Description of Work Environment ► Location  Athletic Academic Advisement Center,  CIS labs ► Dress code  Informal ► Friendly, Laid-back

7. Responsibilities and Tasks ► Researched  Usability Engineering  Human – Computer Interaction (HCI)  Current use of principles by well-known companies ► Analyzed  Company Needs  Business Plans ► Presented Information about the companies ► Produced  Midterm Report  Final Report  Final Presentation

8. Resources Used ► The Internet ► Various Programming manuals (PHP, HTML) ► RAD Tools such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft FrontPage and Microsoft Visio Professional

9. Timeline ► May 2003  Researched Usability Engineering and performed initial analysis of the subject ► June 2003  Talked with business people from two small companies – Expert Builders, Inc. and Kut-N-Up Catering to examine their business situations

10. Timeline cont. ► July 2003  Started implementation of prototype websites for companies  Prepared Midterm Report ► August 2003  Put prototypes on website (www.iaddition.com) www.iaddition.com  Prepared Final Report and Final Presentation

11. Training ► Learned the PHP programming language ► Reinforced skills in HTML and JSP ► Improved presentation skills by rehearsing in front of professional presenters ► Used knowledge gained from CIS4301 to aid in process

12. Overall Experiences and Lessons Learned ► The experience that we had was an all- around good one. Becoming more autonomous was key in making this internship a success. Instead of asking for help, we read manuals, searched online, etc. for the answers to our questions. Time management was also another key component as well because we were in school at the same time our research was being conducted.

13. Challenges Faced ► Finding out what the real problems were (basically what the businesses wanted) since they did not know any specifics about the design of a site for their company (whether static or dynamic,etc.) ► Searching for the main usability principles to implement in the design of the site ► In the midst of these challenges, the project was successfully completed.

14. Importance to Businesses ► Usability Engineering is important for any business on the web because its principles (whether or not they are adhered to) normally mean the difference between a successful website and a failure. The small things that make websites hard for people to use are the same things that drive them away from sites and therefore contribute to a reduced ROI (Return On Investment).

15. Conclusion ► Benefits of Internship  Increased time management skills  Gained experience in PHP & JSP programming languages and RAD tools  Strengthened Analytical Skills ► Challenges  Analyzing business situations to find the problems that need to be solved

16. Florida & Georgia

17. Contact Information Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation 1540 South Adams Street; Suite-G 1540 South Adams Street; Suite-G Florida A&M University Tallahassee FL 32307 Fglsampcentral@hotmail.com