See It, Do It, Learn It: Integrating Experiential Learning into High School Engineering Outreach Programs

Sharnnia Artis; Gregory N. Washington

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Conference: 2021 CoNECD
Location: Virtual - 1pm to 5pm Eastern Time Each Day
Publication Date: January 24, 2021
Start Date: January 24, 2021
End Date: January 28, 2021
Conference Session: CoNECD Session : Day 2 Slot 4 Technical Session 4
Tagged Topics: Diversity and CoNECD Paper Submissions
Page Count: 28
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--36119
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/36119
Download Count: 278

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Paper Authors

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Sharnnia Artis University of California, Irvine

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Dr. Sharnnia Artis is the Assistant Dean of Access and Inclusion for the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. She is responsible for programs at the pre-college, undergraduate, and graduate levels to facilitate the recruitment, retention, and overall success of students from traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering and information and computer sciences. Dr. Artis has 20 years of experience working with education and outreach programs in engineering and over 40 publications in STEM education and outreach. Prior to joining UC Irvine, she was the Education and Outreach Director for the Center for Energy Efficient Electronics Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, Dr. Artis spent nine years at Virginia Tech providing program and student support for the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity and has four years of industry and government experience as a Human Factors Engineer. Dr. Artis holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.

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Gregory N. Washington George Mason University

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Gregory Washington is Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Stacey Nicolas Dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California Irvine. Professor Washington has been involved in multidomain research for the last 20 years. He is the first African-American Dean of Engineering at any of the University of California, Campuses. His core area of interest lies in the area of dynamic systems: modeling and control. During this time he has been involved in the following applications: the design and control of mechanically actuated antennas, advanced control of machine tools, the design and control of Hybrid Electric Vehicles, and structural position and vibration control with smart materials. He has written more than 150 technical publications in journals, edited volumes, and conference proceedings and is internationally known for his research on ultra-lightweight structurally active antenna systems and other structures that involve the use of “smart materials”. Professor Washington has served on several advisory boards to include the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and the National Science Foundation Engineering Advisory Board. He currently serves on the Pubic Policy Committee of the ASEE Engineering Deans Council. Professor Washington received his BS, MS and PhD degrees from NC State.

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Abstract

A Hispanic-Serving Institution in California aims to increase the number of women and students from underrepresented ethnic and racial in engineering through experiential learning. Experiential learning is the process of learning through experience or “learning by doing.” Through a two-week summer experience, the Access Summer Program to Inspire Recruit and Enrich (ASPIRE) program actively engages high school students in the learning process through hands-on projects that introduce students to computing and engineering. The project theme has been Internet-of-Things (IoT), an emerging field where physical objects are embedded with electronics to establish a connectivity between the object and the Internet. Through the program, students are exposed to basic engineering design and coding. Students learn how to use of sensors (devices that sense aspects of the environment like temperature, light and motion) and actuators (devices that act on the environment like motors and LEDs) along with programming using the Raspberry Pi (microcontroller).

Over the past four years, the ASPIRE program has had over 120 high-school participants in the two-week summer program. All of the participants come from a demographic groups that are currently underrepresented in the fields of computer science and engineering. In an effort to ensure that students have the academic foundation needed to successfully complete the programs’ rigorous summer curriculum, all applicants have a minimum GPA of 2.5 to be eligible to participate. The average GPA for program participants was a 3.66. Majority of the participants have no prior experience with engineering and computer science. After the 2-week program, these students reported the following results on the end-of-the-program survey, 97% reported that their knowledge of engineering was average, above average, or well above average; 92% reported that their knowledge of computer science was average, above average, or well above average; 97% reported that their knowledge of Internet of Things was average, above average, or well above average; 59% reported that their knowledge of Linux was average, above average, or well above average; 95% reported that their knowledge of Raspberry Pi was average, above average, or well above average; 92% reported that their knowledge of 3-D printing was average, above average, or well above average; 97% reported that their knowledge of Solid Works software was average, above average, or well above average, and 92% reported that the program made them confident in their ability to perform tasks that will allow them to succeed as a student in engineering or computer science.

This presentation will cover the design of the ASPIRE program, program curriculum, past projects, results from annual formative and summative evaluations, and strategies for sustaining the outreach program.

Citation
Format

Artis, S., & Washington, G. N. (2021, January), See It, Do It, Learn It: Integrating Experiential Learning into High School Engineering Outreach Programs Paper presented at 2021 CoNECD, Virtual - 1pm to 5pm Eastern Time Each Day . 10.18260/1-2--36119

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - A Hispanic-Serving Institution in California aims to increase the number of women and students from underrepresented ethnic and racial in engineering through experiential learning. Experiential learning is the process of learning through experience or “learning by doing.” Through a two-week summer experience, the Access Summer Program to Inspire Recruit and Enrich (ASPIRE) program actively engages high school students in the learning process through hands-on projects that introduce students to computing and engineering. The project theme has been Internet-of-Things (IoT), an emerging field where physical objects are embedded with electronics to establish a connectivity between the object and the Internet. Through the program, students are exposed to basic engineering design and coding. Students learn how to use of sensors (devices that sense aspects of the environment like temperature, light and motion) and actuators (devices that act on the environment like motors and LEDs) along with programming using the Raspberry Pi (microcontroller). 

Over the past four years, the ASPIRE program has had over 120 high-school participants in the two-week summer program. All of the participants come from a demographic groups that are currently underrepresented in the fields of computer science and engineering. In an effort to ensure that students have the academic foundation needed to successfully complete the programs’ rigorous summer curriculum, all applicants have a minimum GPA of 2.5 to be eligible to participate. The average GPA for program participants was a 3.66. Majority of the participants have no prior experience with engineering and computer science. After the 2-week program, these students reported the following results on the end-of-the-program survey, 97% reported that their knowledge of engineering was average, above average, or well above average; 92% reported that their knowledge of computer science was average, above average, or well above average; 97% reported that their knowledge of Internet of Things was average, above average, or well above average;  59% reported that their knowledge of Linux was average, above average, or well above average; 95% reported that their knowledge of Raspberry Pi was average, above average, or well above average; 92% reported that their knowledge of 3-D printing was average, above average, or well above average; 97% reported that their knowledge of Solid Works software was average, above average, or well above average, and 92% reported that the program made them confident in their ability to perform tasks that will allow them to succeed as a student in engineering or computer science. 

This presentation will cover the design of the ASPIRE program, program curriculum, past projects, results from annual formative and summative evaluations, and strategies for sustaining the outreach program.   

AU  - Sharnnia Artis
AU  - Gregory N. Washington
CY  - Virtual - 1pm to 5pm Eastern Time Each Day 
DA  - 2021/01/24
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - See It, Do It, Learn It: Integrating Experiential Learning into High School Engineering Outreach Programs 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/36119
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--36119
ER  -