ABSTRACT
Despite helping to solve problems in society and the environment and enabling financial independence, a disproportionately low number of women enter engineering careers. Contributing factors may include a lack of female role models and activities that would increase the interest and confidence in STEM pathways during the developing years. Our university has initiated activities to provide exposure to role models and STEM activities to young females. This year Ron Burton Training Village (RBTV) started a new STEM program for female students grades 6-11 which would span over 6 years. The students would attend a different experience every weekend and conclude the yearly experience with a capstone project. Our university partnered with RBTV for one weekend workshop experience. The program was intended to be an in-person event but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this program was conducted synchronously through Zoom virtual meetings. Our university is well known for “hands-on” learning, and we decided to keep the experience hands-on even if it had to be virtual. Students participated in STEM-related hands-on projects, connecting them to real life applications and boosting students' interests in different STEM disciplines. The program represents part of our university's ongoing efforts to interest young women in STEM. The core of the half-day workshop was three 45-minute STEM modules: Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The students rotated between the different workshops. The three modules are presented in this paper. Civil Engineering project was Soil Testing, Electrical Engineering project was Food Battery, and Computer Science project was Smart Picker. 38 female students participated in this new STEM program. A survey was conducted at the end of the event to evaluate the content of the program. Students were excited about our program, learning, and experiencing different fields of engineering. We received very positive feedback from the students. The students really enjoyed the hands-on experience. Students reflected that they would like to participate in more STEM related activities in the future. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.
ABSTRACT
Labs are a vital component to learning;hands-on labs reinforce the theory that the students learned in lecture. Whether you are conducting experiments, evaluating results, or comparing data, access to the labs on campus is vital to learning. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, accessing the labs on campus has been a challenge. In Fall 2020 first-year students were invited back to campus. Introduction to Engineering is one of the first-year courses having lab components. How to conduct the lab experiment to meet the course requirements and provide a good experience for the first-year students are challenges for instructors. To provide necessary hands-on experience and at the same time to reduce the overall risk of COVID-19 exposure, the first-year students Mechanical engineering labs were carefully classified to virtual and in person labs. This paper describes the design, implementation, and challenges of the virtual/in person labs. Student's feedback was collected to reflect their overall lab experience in this special time. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021