The major objectives of this Engaging Girls in Ubiquitous Intelligence and Computing (GUIC) project are to: 1) enhance secondary female students’ academic self-concepts in computing and engineering fields through a constructivist learning environment; 2) enhance secondary female students’ knowledge, skills, and interests in these fields; 3) increase the number of secondary female students’ participating in STEM competitions; and 4) investigate the factors that influence female students’ career choices in STEM and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) fields.
This three-year project will involve 120 female students from Grades 6-12 in a five-week GUIC summer camp to learn Python and Arduino programming, and then integrate these tools to develop ubiquitous intelligent systems in tiered teams co-mentored by college students and STEM teachers. In each year, a one-week mentor training workshop will be held to train the mentors, and a two-day Fall STEM Competition Workshop will be organized to promote STEM teachers to organize teams to participate in STEM competitions. A GUIC virtual learning cloud will engage the students and mentors in building the learning community during and after the summer camp.
A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods will be used to address research questions including: To what extent do the participating students develop their academic self-concept and enhance their knowledge, skills, and interests in learning computing and engineering through the established constructivist learning environment? How does the project experience impact secondary female students’ attitudes towards participation in STEM competitions, and career choices in STEM/ICT fields?
Dr. Mei Yang, Professor in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Email: Mei.Yang@unlv.edu, Phone: (702) 895-2364
Dr. Shaoan Zhang, Professor in Teaching and Learning, Email: Shaoan.Zhang@unlv.edu, Phone: (702) 895-5084