A Comparison Between a Week-Long Electrical and Computer Engineering Summer Camp’s Session on Middle School Students’ Interests in STEM (Evaluation)

Joshua E. Katz; Yang Victoria Shao; Yuting W. Chen

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: Scaling Impactful Pre-College STEM + C Programs: Lessons from Transportation, Technology, and Engineering Camps
Tagged Division: Pre-College Engineering Education Division (PCEE)
Page Count: 21
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55345

Paper Authors

biography

Joshua E. Katz University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign orcid.org/0009-0001-3320-2536

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Joshua E. Katz is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, DELTA program, at UIUC, where his research centers on collaborative learning in engineering education and other STEM disciplines. He obtained his B.S. in Technology and Engineering Education in 2019 and his M.S. in STEM Education and Leadership in 2021 from Illinois State University. Additionally, he holds a professional educator license for secondary education in Technology and Engineering Education in Illinois.

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biography

Yang Victoria Shao University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

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Yang V. Shao is a Teaching Associate Professor in electrical and computer engineering department at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She earned her Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. She has worked with University of New Mexico before joining UIUC where she developed some graduate courses on Electromagnetics. Dr. Shao has research interests in curriculum development, assessment, student retention and student success in engineering, developing innovative ways of merging engineering fundamentals and research applications.

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Yuting W. Chen University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Dr. Yuting W. Chen received the B.S. degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2007, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2009 and 2011, all in Electrical Engineering. She is currently a Teaching Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Director of Women in Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her current interests include recruitment and retention of under-served students in STEM, leadership development for undergraduate and graduate students, and curriculum innovation in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

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Abstract

Middle school is a crucial period for students developing interests, forming identities, and exploring career choices. STEM summer programs have demonstrated that these aspects can be effectively influenced by including various hands-on learning activities. Structuring the camps to have interactive, hands-on sessions is vital to aligning students’ values and interests within STEM disciplines. Within these summer camps, it is essential to identify which activities significantly increase the student’s likelihood of pursuing careers in STEM fields. This study compares two cohorts of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) summer camps to find which camp structure better fosters student interest in STEM fields and disciplines. One camp structure features more activities throughout the day for a shorter period of time, while the second involves longer sessions with fewer activities overall. In the summers of 2023 and 2024, 18 and 19 students, respectively, participated in week-long summer camps covering ECE concepts and practices. Each camp, lasting four to five days, included hands-on activities, tours of ECE laboratories, and a week-long group project where students built circuits using the SparkFun Inventor’s Kit. The students worked in groups during the project phase, each with an undergraduate mentor who facilitated and assisted in the various collaborative activities. For both offerings, the middle school students completed validated and reliable pre and post-surveys adapted from the Student Attitudes Toward STEM (S-STEM) Survey and the Group Work Skills Questionnaire Manual. The S-STEM survey assessed STEM interests, while the Group Work Skills Questionnaire Manual Survey evaluated collaboration. Preliminary results from a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test indicated positive significance that the 2024 ECE summer camp sessions led to greater enjoyment for campers than the 2023 offering. Daily reflection surveys were also administered to understand the comparison of cohorts and the impact of individual activities students participated in each day. Results were analyzed to identify activities in which each cohort positively improved domains in student interests. This approach provides meaningful insights for developing more inclusive and impactful STEM education interventions, ultimately enhancing the structure and effectiveness of STEM summer camps.

Citation
Format

Katz, J. E., & Shao, Y. V., & Chen, Y. W. (2025, June), A Comparison Between a Week-Long Electrical and Computer Engineering Summer Camp’s Session on Middle School Students’ Interests in STEM (Evaluation) Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/55345

TY - CPAPER
AB - Middle school is a crucial period for students developing interests, forming identities, and exploring career choices. STEM summer programs have demonstrated that these aspects can be effectively influenced by including various hands-on learning activities. Structuring the camps to have interactive, hands-on sessions is vital to aligning students’ values and interests within STEM disciplines. Within these summer camps, it is essential to identify which activities significantly increase the student’s likelihood of pursuing careers in STEM fields. This study compares two cohorts of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) summer camps to find which camp structure better fosters student interest in STEM fields and disciplines. One camp structure features more activities throughout the day for a shorter period of time, while the second involves longer sessions with fewer activities overall. In the summers of 2023 and 2024, 18 and 19 students, respectively, participated in week-long summer camps covering ECE concepts and practices. Each camp, lasting four to five days, included hands-on activities, tours of ECE laboratories, and a week-long group project where students built circuits using the SparkFun Inventor’s Kit. The students worked in groups during the project phase, each with an undergraduate mentor who facilitated and assisted in the various collaborative activities. For both offerings, the middle school students completed validated and reliable pre and post-surveys adapted from the Student Attitudes Toward STEM (S-STEM) Survey and the Group Work Skills Questionnaire Manual. The S-STEM survey assessed STEM interests, while the Group Work Skills Questionnaire Manual Survey evaluated collaboration. Preliminary results from a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test indicated positive significance that the 2024 ECE summer camp sessions led to greater enjoyment for campers than the 2023 offering. Daily reflection surveys were also administered to understand the comparison of cohorts and the impact of individual activities students participated in each day. Results were analyzed to identify activities in which each cohort positively improved domains in student interests. This approach provides meaningful insights for developing more inclusive and impactful STEM education interventions, ultimately enhancing the structure and effectiveness of STEM summer camps.

AU - Joshua E. Katz
AU - Yang Victoria Shao
AU - Yuting W. Chen
CY - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DA - 2025/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - A Comparison Between a Week-Long Electrical and Computer Engineering Summer Camp’s Session on Middle School Students’ Interests in STEM (Evaluation)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/55345
ER -