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ASCEND Scholars participate in three activities during the summer:
The weekly schedule is shown in the table below:
| Time/Day | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| 9am-Noon | Math Enrichment | Math Enrichment | Math Enrichment | Math Enrichment |
| Noon-1pm | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch |
| 1pm-3pm | Research Experience | Seminar | Research Experience | |
| 3pm-4pm | Research Experience | Peer Workshop | Research Experience |
All ASCEND scholars participate in a small (12 student) math enrichment program led by a mathematics graduate student. Students receive an individualized assessment of their math skills through a customized diagnostic test. Based on the student’s performance, math materials are selected to strengthen the scholars’ skill sets, understanding and use of mathematics materials.
The research experience is adapted from the NSF-supported Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education. The research modules provide students with critical technical and general skills needed to conduct research. Students complete a research project associated with the module, using self designed research procedures. The research experience ends with a presentation of research results in a poster session on the UIC campus. The research experience also uses an innovative peer leader approach. Peer leaders introduce ASCEND scholars to important topics such as experiment design, note keep, research ethics, and challenges related to working with scientific literature.
ASCEND scholars meet once a week in a seminar led by the ASCEND co-directors along with the academic advisor. The seminar runs for two hours and focuses on academic advising; orientation to campus resources; and discussions related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics opportunities at UIC.