Almost 1000 students from 26 schools took part in the Mathematics, ICT, Science and Technology (MIST) conference held at CQUniversity Bundaberg over three days last week (Oct 27-29).

School of Education lecturer Dr Rosie Thrupp said the event builds interest and encourages children in Grades 6-9 to study these areas later.

Highlights of MIST in Bundaberg - LINK for larger images

In the past there have been Girls in the MIST events, but the latest conference included sessions for boys.

"This year we had one day for girls, one day for boys ... and because of the huge interest, we had a third day which had boys and girls. On the third day however, we kept the children separate, so there were boy workshops and girl workshops. This is due to the research that shows that in the areas of maths, science, design technology, the mixing of genders can minimize learning."

The 969 participants included 128 high schoolers and 841 primary schoolers, with 460 boys and 509 girls. Registrations were capped at 30 per school per day.

Schools included Mt Perry, Avondale, Cordalba, Gin Gin Primary, Gin Gin High, Isis High, Childers Primary, Wondai and most of the local schools in Bundaberg.

The event was supported by the Office of Women, Education Queensland, our Faculty of Arts, Business, Informatics and Education, our University IT Division and our Bundaberg marketing team, along with the Australian Computer Society and private providers such as itc publications and EDUUS.

"Workshops were all hands on. All six computer labs on campus were in use with Google Maps, Ghost Hunters, Scratch and Moviestorm," Dr Thrupp said.

"A major facet of the event was the volunteers. Each day there were 25 volunteers supporting presenters. These included STEPS graduates, BLM students and students from Environmental Science.

"Many Bachelor of Learning Management students had the opportunity to hone their teaching skills by presenting workshops. This provides the great opportunity of refining lessons as they repeat the workshops several times.

"This is a united effort which utilises all rooms on Bundaberg campus."