STEM webinar re-cap: Engineering and Computing in Afterschool

To celebrate last week’s national Engineers Week, the Afterschool Alliance hosted a webinar featuring three incredible afterschool programs engaging students in engineering, computing and technology education. We were joined by:

• Jen Joyce, Director of Professional Development at Techbridge in Oakland, CA
• Andrew Coy, Executive Director of Digital Harbor Foundation in Baltimore, MD
• Maureen Psaila-Dombrowski, Program Coordinator at the Santa Fe Institute, representing Project GUTS

All three were featured in our latest issue brief on computing and engineering, and they were able to provide a clearer picture on what has made their afterschool programs successful. Program profiles in our Afterschool STEM Storybook provide additional information. You can watch the full recording and view the slides on our webinar archives page. Below is a quick re-cap!

Techbridge

Techbridge students work on an engineering challenge with a role model.

Jen says that many girls in Techbridge’s afterschool and summer programs are from underresourced communities, and it’s common for the girls to have never met an engineer or even know what engineering is. This lack of exposure makes engineering seem unapproachable to them.

To counteract this, Techbridge frames engineers as people who simply want to know how and why things work. Lesson topics and activities help demonstrate the engineering is everywhere in our daily lives. Jen describes three specific methods that Techbridge has found to be highly successful:

1. Make a connection through careers. Techbridge programs begin with ice breakers that introduce a new engineering-related career. This helps frame the day’s activity and ties it to the real world. Girls try on different careers by role playing through the activity, allowing them to connect to the career and feel they can make a real impact.
2. Role models help girls personally connect and break down stereotypes. As many girls have stereotypical views of who an engineer is and what they do, a female professional shows a more accurate picture. A key component to a role model’s visit is the sharing of their personal story, which highlights not only the great things about an engineering career, but also the challenges they have faced to get there.
3. The engineering design process should be the foundation of all activities. Consistency in a problem-solving approach helps build girls’ resiliency and confidence in the face of new and tough topics. Content knowledge is built with the focus on application.

Digital Harbor

The driving concept behind all of Digital Harbor’s afterschool and summer programs is that kids should be producers of technology, not just consumers. At Digital Harbor, students combine engineering and computing, working on tech and Maker-style projects that involve Web development; 3D printing; video game programming; and electronics, using Arduino microcontrollers and MaKey MaKey circuit boards.

To understand Digital Harbor’s ethos and approach to learning, Andrew contrasted two opposing views of education—the factory model and the lab model. Traditional manufacturing demands that workers repeat tasks over and over with minimal error. This view applied to education translates into standardized tests, expecting students to give answers on demand, and avoiding failure at all costs.

Treating education and the educational environment similar to a lab gets us different results. In a lab, kids are inventors, not workers, and are encouraged to tinker, create and fail—all while having fun. Andrew believes that afterschool can be the “lab” and provide the supportive environment required for failure. Afterschool has the space and flexibility to innovate and provide new models of teaching and learning.

A Digital Harbor student works on a computer program that controls electrical circuits.

Some of Andrew’s key insights include:

• Position youth as producers. If youth create things that matter, they develop the intrinsic motivation to put in the necessary hard work and seek out additional learning opportunities.
• Adults step back. In Digital Harbor, the role of instructors and volunteers is to provide the guiding topic and additional support as needed. They step back to let kids explore, create and learn.
• Iterate and improve constantly. When the Digital Harbor tech center opened, it wasn’t perfect! They continue to tweak and try new programming.
• Connect with available networks. Baltimore happens to have a robust tech community. Digital Harbor is working hard to make connections and create an ecosystem to support tech education. OST programs need to be good at communicating what they're doing and how that connects to building a better workforce.
• Provide a meaningful experience for professional volunteers. You don’t need to dictate what they do and how they do it. Have fun! It attracts others.

Project GUTS

Middle school students in Project GUTS afterschool clubs create computer models that run simulations of “what if” scenarios to answer questions about real-world concerns.  Curricula topics include ecosystems, epidemiology, climate change and many more locally relevant themes. Students use StarLogo TNG, a block-based programming language that doesn’t require sophisticated mathematics or programming skills. Learning in Project GUTS includes the fundamentals of computer science, core science disciplinary ideas, relevant math skills, and building 21^st century skills. Students initially learn about the topic through a game, create the computer model as a group, and then individually customize their model and test different scenarios. At the end of the semester, students present their projects to peers, parents and community members. Project GUTS is able to meet middle school students’ developmental needs by offering a comfortable context, program flexibility, and a relaxed social environment.  Afterschool clubs are led by a school day teacher who is trained by Project GUTS, accompanied by a GUTS facilitator with expertise in computing and a near-peer mentor.

Screenshot of block-based programming language in StarLogo TNG.

A few of Project GUTS’ best practices for computing afterschool:

• Combine scientific inquiry and computer modeling
• Study locally relevant topics, using communities and schools as context for student research
• Teach with easy-to-use programming platforms, like StarLogo TNG
• Provide back-up technology assistance

Additional program structures can minimize obstacles and maximize the benefits:

• Strong ties to school districts
• Regional coordination of clubs and professional development
• Partnerships with other STEM and computing organizations
• Continuing opportunities for youth through near-peer mentoring or other OST computing programs

This was just a snapshot of the discussions in the webinar. Watch the full recording and view the slides on our webinar archives page.