Coding Camp for Middle School Girls Helps Improve Awareness of Science/Engineering Careers and Pathways

Abstract

Although jobs and career opportunities in computer science continue to grow rapidly, women constitute only 28% of the computer science workforce. There is an urgent need to motivate women at a young age to pursue careers in science and technology. This paper presents outcomes of organizing a summer camp for middle school girls (grades 6th to 8th). The camp was spread out over 6 weeks in a major city in the US and reached out to 120 girls with a different set of girls participating each week. Each week constituted as follows: Day 1 creating animations and stories using scratch; Day 2 physical computing (robotics) using LEGO Mindstorms; Day 3 creating games using scratch; Day 4 showcasing their work on Days 1 -3 by creating a website using Kompozer; and Day 5 tour of a public urban-serving institution. The key pedagogical aspects of the camps were: (1) tasks conducted in groups using online resources and hands-on experiences; (2) creation of mentorship relationships between undergraduate engineering students and camp attendees; (3) competitions based on small projects to increase engagement. Pre-and post-camp survey on a 5-point Likert scale indicated that the girls showed increased awareness of science/engineering careers and pathways, everyday application of coding, and specific coding jobs that require coding. However, the camp did not change their attitude towards pursuing a career in science and engineering. Our results suggest that short coding camps might potentially increase awareness or coding jobs but may not generate long-term interest in pursuing science and engineering careers. Thus, our recommendation is longer exposure to computing, such as dedicated classes in computing in K-12 is essential to increase representation of minorities in computer science. All materials used in the camp is already available for free download on GitHub using this link: https://coderunners2019.github.io/