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Implementing and Evaluating An E-Textile Curriculum In an Engineering Summer Program for Girls (Evaluation)

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Conference

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Seattle, Washington

Publication Date

June 14, 2015

Start Date

June 14, 2015

End Date

June 17, 2015

ISBN

978-0-692-50180-1

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Evaluation: Exploring the Impact of Summer Programs on K-12 Youth.

Tagged Division

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

20

Page Numbers

26.911.1 - 26.911.20

DOI

10.18260/p.24248

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/24248

Download Count

500

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Paper Authors

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Emma Koller University of St. Thomas

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Emma Koller is majoring in Electrical Engineering as an undergraduate student at the University of St. Thomas.

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Lauren M. Van Beek University of St. Thomas

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Lauren Van Beek is an undergraduate studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of St. Thomas.

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Deborah Besser P.E. University of St. Thomas

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Siddika Selcen Guzey Purdue University, West Lafayette

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Annmarie Thomas University of St. Thomas

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AnnMarie Thomas, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Engineering at the University of St. Thomas where she directs the UST Center for Engineering Education. Her research group, the Playful Learning Lab, focuses on engineering and design education for learners of all ages.

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Abstract

Implementing and Evaluating An E-Textile Curriculum In an Engineering Summer Program for Girls (Evaluation)While many recent reforms call for improving K-12 engineering education there is little researchon the impact of engineering programs on students. There is even less research on engaging girlsin engineering in informal learning environments. To address this need, we conducted a study onthe implementation of a new curriculum, using e-textiles, in a summer engineering and STEMprogram for girls. The summer program for girls is a five-day, cost free camp to introduce girlsexciting applications of science, technology, and engineering. The goal is to help girls learnabout STEM subjects and introduce them to the careers involving STEM. Girls completing 6thgrade or 9th grade can attend the program. The program has been offered for 15 years andreached over 3000 girls.The new curriculum, using e-textiles implemented in the summer 2014 program. The evaluationof the curriculum was done through observations of the e-textile sessions, feedback from theparticipants, and information gathered in participant's engineering notebooks. While the overallfeedback on the e-textile projects was positive, the girls exhibited some displeasure at havingsewing be part of the project. We present the results of this evaluation, as well as a discussion ofthe lessons learned through the design, implementation, and assessment process of this program.

Koller, E., & Van Beek, L. M., & Besser, D., & Guzey, S. S., & Thomas, A. (2015, June), Implementing and Evaluating An E-Textile Curriculum In an Engineering Summer Program for Girls (Evaluation) Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.24248

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